The Canadian Hockey League is confident the Moose Jaw Warriors are serious contenders this season, most onlookers are of the same belief and now it appears the team itself has decided it’s time to go all in.
Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger pulled off a major trade on Thursday afternoon, bringing in NHL-drafted defenceman Kalem Parker and talented forward Brayden Schuurman in exchange for Ben Riche and a suite of Western Hockey League draft picks.
The move raised eyebrows all over the league, and came only 24 hours after it was announced that NHL-drafted forward Martin Rysavy had been returned to the team by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
And as the first major deal of the WHL season, it’s safe to say a message has been sent.
“I think as an organization, when you have special players like Brayden Yager, Jagger Firkus and Denton Mateychuk, these guys don’t come around often and when you do have them you have to take the opportunity to try to win,” said Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger, adding that Mateychuk’s return from Columbus would be the final piece in the immediate puzzle.
“We’ll drop the puck on Friday night and see where the team is at and cross our fingers that Denton comes back. Being selfish, we’d like to see him come back, but we understand he wants to be in the NHL. It’s our job to develop guys for the NHL, but if he comes back he’ll be a huge part of the team and we’ll see what happens then.”
Thursday’s trade was designed to shore up a couple areas of concern Ripplinger had identified through the first couple weeks of the season while also addressing an age gap -- the team is mostly comprised of 18-year-olds, with only two 2004-born players on the team prior to the trade.
“It’s an older league and if you want to win you have to have an older team and we just felt that if we can get a 19-year-old defenceman who’s an NHL-drafted player who can play top minutes, that’s a move that we should make,” Ripplinger said. “Then when Jagger and Brayden weren’t here, we struggled to score, and if those guys are gone for the World Juniors, now we have Shuurman and Rysavy who can score for us. So it’s a deal that should help us in the long run.”
While it might be a cause for concern seeing five draft picks going to Victoria, the Warriors will actually retain picks in every round except the first in 2026. That’s because of previous trades and assets Ripplinger made sure to acquire at the time, with plenty still left in the tank.
“When you break it all down, you’re sending (Marek) Howell, Riche, (Eric) Alarie and a first and you’re getting back Schuurman, Parker, Semeniuk and an eighth. So we didn’t empty the cupboards, we didn’t sell the farm, we still have a lot of picks. That’s giving us an advantage where if we feel we have to do something down the stretch, we still have the assets to improve our hockey club.”
Of course, with the good news comes a bit of disappointment. In order to make room for Rysavy as an overager, the Warriors had to send five-year veteran Alarie to Seattle in addition to losing a highly touted prospect in Riche.
“Any time you trade a five-year player like Eric, someone who has been a Warrior since we drafted him, is a great human being as well and has grown up here in Moose Jaw, those decisions are hard to make,” Ripplinger said. “But it’s a hockey decision and sometimes you have make those decisions. As a general manager you have to go with your gut and what you think is right for the organization.”
As for Riche, “it’s always disappointing when you’ve got to trade somebody that you put a lot of time into, but for Ben, he’s going to get an opportunity to play in their top-six and that’s what Ben wanted,” Ripplinger said.
Now, the Warriors wait and see what happens with Mateychuk. The Warriors 19-year-old captain and the 12th overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft was a healthy scratch the last three pre-season games for Columbus but dressed on Thursday, picking up yet another assist as Columbus fell 4-2 to Washington.
“We haven’t heard too much, but we believe he’s going to come back,” Ripplinger said. “He doesn’t come back it would hurt, but we’re in good hands with the players we have right now. If he does come back, he completely changes our team and there’s a lot of potential there.”
The Warriors are back in action Friday night when they travel to Lethbridge to face the Hurricanes. Next home action is Tuesday, Oct. 10 when they host the Calgary Hitmen.
