Riders beat Lions to punch ticket to CFL West final
Nov 03, 2024
The Riders are back in the West final for the first time since 2021.
The newest member of the Saskatoon Blades is familiar to the area, yet the reasoning behind the trade remains up in the air.
According to Blades general manager Colin Priestner, the acquisition of Kamloops Blazers forward Josh Pillar was more of a “collaboration on a personal level,” between the two clubs.
Pillar, a Warman product, is currently at home recovering from a “private medical situation,” according to the two clubs. He was swapped for conditional draft picks in 2022 (third round) and 2024 (second round).
“Kamloops knew that the best place for Josh to be right now would be at home,” Priestner said.
“Sometimes the best thing for a player is to be in their hometown … (Kamloops) wanted to make something work with us.”
Pillar is a fourth-round draft pick of the Minnesota Wild. His name was called in 2021, 127th overall in the NHL Entry Draft.
His career with the Blazers spanned five seasons, with 43 goals and 126 points in 183 games played. The former Prince Albert Mintos forward hasn’t suited up for the club since Dec. 29.
“It wasn’t something we were looking to take advantage of,” Priestner continued. “In life, karma is important. I would just think you want things to happen the way you would want to happen if they happened back.”
The Blades GM said Pillar’s timetable to return is around one month. He confirmed it is a health issue for Pillar personally, not a family member.
Earlier in the day, Blades import forward Moritz Elias was released to play for the second-division men’s league in his home country of Germany.
“No hard feelings from us,” said Priestner of the 2004-born import.
“(We) wish him nothing but the best.”
He added that Elias was feeling homesick during his time in Saskatoon.
In the case of imports, Saskatoon now only has one within the club. Their second import spot could have been used for top prospect Brad Lambert, highly considered as a top-three pick in the 2022 NHL draft.
The Blades hold his rights, but Priestner said there wasn’t any discussion on bringing Lambert back to Saskatoon during trade deadline preparations.
In a random twist to Priestner’s deadline day, Lambert became available at one point when he left his team in Finland, JYP Jyväskylä earlier Monday.
“They kind of told us, all along, that their priority was to stay in pro in Finland and if it didn’t work out on his team in JYP that he had other options within that league,” Priestner explained.
“I had about 30 text messages (this morning) on my phone of people congratulating me on landing Brad Lambert, because (it) showed he opted out of his contract.”
The Lambert sweepstakes lasted around five minutes, Priestner said, with the top prospect signing back onto the team he played for previously in the Lahden Pelicans.
“At the end of the day, they wanted to stay in pro. That was their plan all year,” Priestner said.
Quiet deadline comes to a close
The 2022 WHL trade deadline didn’t include many fireworks.
The day began with Moose Jaw swapping forward Cade Hayes and a third-round pick in 2022 to Spokane for 2001-born forward Cordel Larson.
Larson, a Weyburn product, has 17 points in 30 games this season with Spokane.
Eatonia’s Hayes has 19 points in 35 games in the 2021-22 season, a career-best.
The Pats made a couple of moves Monday as well. The team traded 2002-born Drew Englot — a Candiac, Sask. product — to Kamloops for Saskatoon-born forward Tye Spencer, who was born in 2004.
The team also sent Saskatoon-born defenceman, Tom Cadieux to Vancouver for a third-round draft pick in 2023 and a fifth-round draft pick in 2022.
There were seven trades made before the 4 p.m. WHL trade deadline, with 12 players changing addresses, along with 10 draft picks now owned by new clubs.