The Saskatoon Blades have made two trades in the past week, trading backup goalie Ethan McCallum to the Penticton Vees and then moving 20-year-old forward Dominik Petr to the Spokane Chiefs for German import Elias Pul and 17-year-old defenseman Kaden Allan.
“I felt over the past month that our group needed a shake-up,” he said Blades general manager and president Colin Priestnerafter the Spokane deal. “With the significant long-term injuries we have on the blue line, we thought it was a great opportunity to add a big 17-year-old defenseman who we think has a great chance of being called up to the NHL this summer… We also really enjoyed adding Elias to our group to complement our other two Germans.”
For a team expected to aim for first place in the Eastern Conference, the Blades have had an up-and-down season that threatens to leave them in the same spot they will be in 2024-2025, quickly falling prey to a tough opponent in the first round of the play-offs. With almost half of the season now over, the Blades need to get back on track to what they know they can be: a team capable of competing for the WHL title.
McCallum makes room for promising young people
It was an unusual choice for the Blades to start the season with two 19-year-old goalkeepers. In the past, they typically went with one veteran and one youth. That’s how Evan Gardner got his start, playing occasionally behind Austin Elliott until he took over the fold in the 2024 Western Hockey League (WHL) Playoffs. But McCallum kept the Blades alive when Gardner missed 13 games last season due to injury, posting a .902 save percentage (SV%) over that stretch while taking a whopping 36 shots per game.
But this season hasn’t gone so smoothly for the Blades’ backup. In his 13 games in Saskatoon in 2025-26, McCallum had an SV% of 0.886 and a 3.49 goals against average, and managed just three wins. Then, in late November, 17-year-old Ryley Budd was called up for his WHL debut. There were some bumps throughout the match, but overall he looked incredibly consistent despite his lack of experience.
Budd’s performance seemed to be the last straw McCallum was traded to the Vees less than two weeks after the rookie’s first WHL game. In return, the Blades received a fifth-round pick in both the 2026 and 2027 WHL Drafts, but more importantly, they now have room to give their young goaltenders some much-needed experience. “We have two excellent younger potential goalkeepers in Taye Timmerman and Ryley Budd, who we believe are up for the challenge of competing for our backup spot and showing what they have at this level, learning from Gards and our goalkeeping coach, Jeff Harvey,” said Priestner.
While Timmerman is currently participating in the Junior A World Challenge for Canada WestBudd was called up to the Blades to serve as Gardner’s backup. However, expect to see both for the rest of the season.
Petr moved to younger options
Petr had a fantastic start this season with the Blades, starting with a four-game point streak that led to six goals and 11 points in his first seven games in Saskatoon. He showed fantastic chemistry with Hunter Laing and David Lewandowski on the second line, and big things were expected from the speedy veteran.
Unfortunately, Petr only managed three points in the next seven games. While it was hoped it would be a blip for the veteran, it has become the norm. In his last fifteen games with the Blades, he has recorded seven points and registered a plus/minus of minus-11 while playing on different lines, trying to recapture his initial spark. His 21 points in 29 games were far from bad, but they were below what was expected of a top winger.
Related: Saskatoon Blades’ future is in good hands after Ryley Budd’s debut
With the Blades slipping in the standings, the team was out of options and decided a change of scenery was necessary, which led to Petr heading west to Washington, along with a fifth-round pick in 2029. Returning to Saskatoon are two younger players in Allan and Pul. A ‘W’-rated prospect eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, Allan has a towering size at 6-foot-1 while showing above-average skating and competitiveness. He didn’t have the best of chances in Spokane, finishing his time with just nine points in 63 games with the Chiefs, but there is potential for him to fit in well with the Blades’ defensive group.
Pul, a 19-year-old in his first season in the WHL, is a very intriguing forward with plenty of international experience for Germany. Like Dustin Willhoft, who joined Saskatoon to start the 2025-26 season, Pul brings a lot of speed and energy to the ice but hasn’t had the easiest transition to North American hockey. In 22 games with the Chiefs, he has three goals and six points. But before he came along, his name was the best young player in German DEL2. If he can recapture some of the chemistry he had with Willhoft and Lewandowski at the 2024 U18 World Juniors, he could be exactly what the Blades need in their lineup.
Saskatoon is trying to get back on track
Over the past month, the team has seen a four-game win streak surrounded by two five-game losing streaks. Two days after losing 9-3 to the Medicine Hat Tigers, they took on the East-leading Edmonton Oil Kings, pushing them to the brink in a 6-5 regulation loss. They then defeated the Moose Jaw Warriors 9-3 on the road on December 9, two days after losing 4-0 to the Regina Pats.
“No one is happy right now,” head coach Dan DaSilva said after the loss to the Pats. “It’s been a long time here, to be honest, when we went to the US, where we really felt like we weren’t getting good results. It’s been a long period of time, we’ve done a lot of good things, we’ve worked hard in training… I almost feel like we’re afraid of losing, rather than going out and winning, which is a very different mindset and mindset.”
Changing mindsets can be incredibly difficult, especially in junior hockey, where players are still developing and learning how to overcome challenges both on and off the ice. To help them get out of their funk, Priestner made a few moves to bring in new faces. Previously, the Blades brought in defensemen Tyrone Sobry and Derek Thurston to help deal with some injuries on their blueline, but that didn’t seem to move the needle all that much, leading to more changes.
With the Christmas holidays just around the corner, the Blades have a chance to get back to basics and recalibrate the mentality that made them a top team last season. The Blades have defeated the Oil Kings and Prince Albert Raiders, the top two teams in the East, this season and have held the high-flying Portland Winterhawks to just two goals. These two moves will bring in a number of players who can help Saskatoon achieve that. If not, there are likely more moves on the horizon.
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