Hurricanes acquire D-man and forward at trade deadline

By Lethbridge Herald on January 10, 2024.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes continued to deal as the Western Hockey League trade deadline arrived on Wednesday.

The team announced Wednesday afternoon that it had acquired 2004-born defenceman Brandon Wynne from the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for a seventh-round draft pick.

Wynne, 19, was undrafted in the WHL draft but signed by the Edmonton Oil Kings in 2021.

The team also acquired 2004-born forward Hayden Pakkala from the Prince Albert Raiders in exchange for a third-round draft pick. 

Wynne, a product of Coquitlam, B.C. has skated in 20 games this season with the Thunderbirds collecting three assists with two penalty minutes and a plus-3 rating. In his career between the T-Birds and Oil Kings, Wynne has appeared in 115 career games totaling 13 points ( one goal and 12 assists) along with 32 penalty minutes.

“We’re happy to be able to add Braeden to our group to give us some added depth on the blueline,” said Hurricanes General Manager Peter Anholt in a press release. 

“We wanted to add a defenceman and we think he will be able to come in and give us some quality minutes on the back end while bringing some championship experience to our group.”

The 6’2, 175-pound defenceman was a part of Edmonton’s 2022 WHL Championship team where he went pointless with four penalty minutes. 

Wynne appeared in 52 games during the 2022-2023 season with the Oil Kings collecting two points (one goal, one assist) while setting a career-high for points with eight assists during the 2021-2022 season with Edmonton.

With the acquisition of Wynne, the Hurricanes now have seven defencemen on their roster including Joe Arntsen, Logan McCutcheon, Noah Chadwick, Tristen Doyle, Kale Tipler and Will Sharpe.

Pakkala, 18, was originally drafted by the Winnipeg ICE (now Wenatchee Wild) in the seventh-round (142nd overall) in the 2019 WHL Draft. The Okotoks product has skated in 166 career regular season games with the Raiders totaling 59 points (23 goals and 36 assists) along with 187 penalty minutes. The left-shot centre has collected 18 points  along with 42 penalty minutes and a plus-5 rating in 38 games this season with Prince Albert. He has also skated in five career post-season games going pointless with two penalty minutes.

“We’re excited to add Hayden from the Raiders to continue to add to our depth up front,” said Anholt. “He’s a good two-way centre who gives us another left shot in the middle and is a strong penalty killer with the ability to help offensively.”

The Hurricanes end a season-long four-game homestand on Friday when they host the Medicine Hat Tigers in the first of a back-to-back, home-and-home set.