If you’re keeping score at home, the Saskatoon Blades are now at five older, veteran players and one draft pick traded out with five younger players, 10 draft picks and a new import skater coming in.
That follows news Wednesday morning that the Bridge City Bunch have dealt 19-year-old centre Ben Riche (pictured) to Prince George for 18-year-old, Calgary Flames prospect right winger Hunter Laing, an unsigned 15-year-old defence prospect in Luke Dumas, a first round selection in the 2026 W-H-L Prospects Draft and a fifth round choice in 2028. Riche was the Blue and Gold’s offensive leader with 54 points in 37 games, including 23 goals, in his first season with Saskatoon . Laing is 6’6″ tall and a sixth round pick of the Flames in last year’s N-H-L Draft. He had 10 goals amongst 22 points in 36 games with the Cougars this season. Both players will be joining their new teams Wednesday.
In addition, the Blades announced that 6’5″ centre Frantisek Dej will be joining the team Thursday. The 19-year-old played for Slovakia at the just-completed World Junior Championship in Ottawa. He was a C-H-L free agent after playing in the Quebec-Maritimes League last season. Following are the news releases from the Blades…..
Blades acquire Flames draft pick Laing in blockbuster with the Cougars
Saskatoon, SK – The Saskatoon Blades are excited to announce the acquisition of Calgary Flames draft pick Hunter Laing, 2009-born defenceman Luke Dumas, and two WHL Prospects Draft picks in exchange for 19-year-old centre Ben Riche.
The picks include the Cougars 2026 first-round selection and their 2028 fifth-round pick.
“Ben is a major reason we are in first place in the Eastern Conference,” said Blades general manager and president, Colin Priestner, “His improvement over last year is remarkable, and we’re very excited for him to get an opportunity to play with some incredible players in Prince George in their pursuit of a championship.”
Riche was acquired by the Blades in May of 2024 in exchange for overage forward Vaughn Watterodt. The Bethune, SK product scored 23 goals and 31 assists for 54 points in 37 games with the Blades, all career highs.
The Blades want to thank Ben for his contributions to our organization and the community of Saskatoon. We wish him all the best in Prince George.
“Ben wasn’t with us for long, but what an impact he made in such a short time, giving us a bona fide first line centre after playing a mostly depth role last year in Victoria,” said Priestner, “Thanks to Ben, we’ve now fully restocked our first-round draft pick chart that we had depleted over the last season, and the opportunity to get an NHL drafted 6-foot, top-six forward on top of the picks was too good an offer to refuse.”
Laing, a Kelowna, BC native, comes to the Bridge City with 110 career WHL games. The 2006-born centre scored 11 goals and 14 assists in 66 games last season with Prince George during his rookie year. The towering 6-foot-6 forward was drafted by the Flames in the sixth-round (170th overall) at the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft. In 36 games this season with Prince George, Laing’s potted ten goals and dished 12 helpers, tacking on 26 penalty minutes.
“Hunter brings a ton of size, leadership, tenacity, and excellent hands and skill to our club,” said Priestner, “He is 18 years old, so he is eligible to play with us for another 2 1/2 years. We feel he is just growing into his big frame and has the opportunity to play both centre and wing for us and be a big part of what we are trying to do over the next several years. I said on many occasions we would not move any of our top players without getting really good younger players back along with high draft picks, and this deal pretty much encapsulates that goal.”
Dumas, a Beaverlodge, AB product, has nine goals and seven assists in 16 games as a defenceman this season with the Junior Prospects Hockey League’s (JPHL) Titans Hockey Union U17. The right-handed shot has also appeared in nine U18 games with the Titans this year, scoring one goal and four assists.
“Luke Dumas is one of the youngest listed players in the WHL as he just turned 15 two weeks ago,” said Priestner, “Our player development coach, Dustin Kohn, has been raving about Luke as his head coach in the JPHL this season since training camp. As a former NHL defenceman, Dustin has had a great eye for the next wave of defenceman and believes Luke has all of the size and tools to be a future top four defenceman for us.”
Laing is expected to suit up for the Blue and Gold during tonight’s game against the Edmonton Oil Kings at Rogers Place.
“With these major moves now behind us, we are very excited about the group that we have,” said Priestner, “That includes the addition of 2005-born Slovakian forward Frantisek Dej, who will join the team Friday for the remainder of the season after playing in his second World Junior Hockey Championship for Slovakia last week.”
“Our goal this deadline season was to remain as competitive as possible while getting younger roster players, restocking our first and second-round draft picks, and adding depth to our prospect pool. We feel we now have the means to continue the winning tradition that started eight years ago here in Saskatoon without any painful rebuilding type years in the near future.”
The Blades want to welcome the Laing and Dumas family to the organization and city of Saskatoon.
Saskatoon, SK – The Saskatoon Blades are happy to announce the signing of 2005-born centre František Dej to a Western Hockey League (WHL) Standard Player Agreement.
“František brings two years of World Junior experience making team Slovakia as an 18 and 19-year-old,” said Blades general manager and president, Colin Priestner, “We were able to add him thanks to a rule where former CHL players who played in a previous season are eligible to be picked up by one of the other leagues, and Dej has been playing in the top men’s league in Slovakia. We looked over all the potential names across the CHL over the past two years of players who did not return after their first season, and Dej was the top candidate for what we were looking for.”
The Bratislava, SVK native scored one goal and two assists with Slovakia at this year’s World Junior Championship in Ottawa, ON. After four goals and 12 assists in 50 games with the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League’ (QMJHL) Sherbrooke Phoenix last season, Dej returned to his home country for the 2024-25 campaign. The 19-year-old forward’s notched two assists in 15 games this season with HK Dulca Trencin of the Slovak Extraliga, the top pro league in Slovakia.
“Dej is a 6-foot-5 centre who wins a lot of faceoffs, has edge and toughness, and can play in all different situations,” said Priestner, “He was quite a handful for teams at the World Juniors given his size and willingness to engage. We are really excited to have him for the second half.”
Dej is expected to join the team Friday in Calgary for their game against the Hitmen.
The Blades want to welcome the Dej family to Blade City, and look forward to František joining the Blue and Gold on the ice.
