The Red Deer Rebels lineup looks very different following this week's Western Hockey League trade deadline.
From Dec. 31 to the trade deadline on Thursday, Jan. 9, the Rebels have traded away defencemen Hunter Mayor and Matteo Fabrizi, forwards Carson Birnie, Cole Peardon and Trae Wilke, and goaltender Taylor Tabashniuk.
During this same time, Red Deer has added 18-year-old forward Nishaan Parmar from the Seattle Thunderbirds, 17-year-old forward Ty Coupland from the Swift Current Broncos, 20-year-old defenceman Keaton Dowhaniuk from the Moose Jaw Warriors, 17-year-old forward Parker MacDougall and 16-year-old forward Ethan Dundas from the Calgary Hitmen, 18-year-old defenceman Doogan Pederson and 15-year-old forward Miller Robson from the Prince Alberta Raiders, and signed import forward Gleb Semenov. The team has also signed 17-year-old goaltender Matthew Kondro. Additionally, the Rebels have acquired nine WHL draft picks, while trading away four, since mid-November.
"The makeup of the team needed to change," Rebels owner and general manager Brent Sutter said the day following the trade deadline.
"We had a lot of guys struggling in their game, especially our older guys. It was time (to make changes). You can go through all the stats you want to go through, whether that's goals for, goals against, our power play, penalty killing, goal differential, puck possession time — a lot of those boxes weren't checked off for me. We need to play a lot better. We need to play a better team game. We lacked in scoring because we didn't get scoring from individuals we expected it from."
Heading into the trade deadline, Red Deer had lost seven straight games and was sitting ninth in the Eastern Conference with a 15-18-3-2 record.
"We need to be a harder team to play against. We need to have more puck possession, we need to score more goals. We need to spend more time in the offensive zone. We chase the game too much right now and that's not a recipe for success," Sutter said.
Through the past couple weeks, the Rebels have added players "who have skill and can make plays," said Sutter.
"On the back end, we wanted our team to be more mobile. We've been able to do that by adding Dowhaniuk and Pederson. They're guys who can handle the puck. If you look at the game today and the direction it's going, that's a big part of it," Sutter said, adding the new forwards will provide an offensive boost.
"Coupland ... is going to score goals in this league — he's a really good player. Parmar is a really good player, too. We added MacDougall the other day and he's a guy who put up big numbers in midget hockey while playing the game the right way. With (Semenov), a big Russian player, we've been very fortunate he fell our way. He fits into our group of kids. We wanted to improve the '07 and '08 age group and we wanted to be quicker, faster and have more skill."
Sutter said he expects the team to push for a playoff spot, but also understands some patience will be required with a new-look Rebels lineup.
"When you make a turnover like this, it's going to take a little bit (of time). I expect the coaches will have things in order and get these guys to gel. Hopefully, we can be a good hockey team from now until the end of the year," he said.
Fans will be able to get a look at many of the new additions, as the Rebels host the Prince Albert Raiders on Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Peavey Mart Centrium. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
