Canes reduce roster to 25 players

By Lethbridge Herald on September 10, 2025.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Hurricanes reduced their preseason roster to 25 players after reassigning two players and releasing another on Wednesday.

Goalie Brody Rotar  and forward Tyler Deakos were reassigned, while 20-year-old forward Trae Johnson was placed on Western Hockey League waivers and cleared them.

Johnson was picked up in a trade by the Canes from the Kelowna Rockets in July 2024 and played a full 68-game regular season last year where he collected 20 points (seven goals, 13 assists) and had  five points in 16 playoff games.

“Johnny was such a great soldier for our organization,” said Hurricanes General Manager Peter Anholt, in a release.

 “He was a great teammate and was a big, big part of our team last season with his competitiveness and leadership. We really wish Trae and his family the best moving forward.”

The 16-year-old Rotar is  being assigned to the Kootenay International Junior Hockey League’s Creston Valley Thunder Cats.

He was a fifth-round pick of the Canes in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft.

Rotar played in one preseason game for Canes where he went 0-1, had a 6.00 goals against average and an .813 save percentage.

Rotar had a 4-12-6 record, a 4.15 GAA and .881 save percentage last season with the Lethbridge U18AAA Hurricanes.

“We are happy with Brody’s progress since we drafted him in 2023 and we feel that he still has a lot of potential as a young goaltender for our organization,” said Anholt. “We think that Brody going and playing a lot at a lower level will continue to help his development and we will certainly be monitoring his progress as the season goes while keeping him as an affiliate for this year.”

The 18-year-old Deakos was assigned to Drumheller of the Alberta Junior Hockey League after appearing in two preseason contests with the Canes where he was held pointless.

He collected 33 points last season with the Airdrie CFR Bisons U18AAA team.

“We’d like to thank Tyler for his work ethic through our camp,” added Anholt. “His play made it a competitive camp, but he was in tough against some young, talented players. We’d like to wish him the best moving forward.”

The Canes roster is now down to two goalies, eight defencemen and 15 forwards as they head into the last two exhibition games this weekend.

Lethbridge  visits the Red Deer Rebels in more preseason action on Friday and host the Calgary Hitmen in their exhibition finale on Saturday.