The Brandon Wheat Kings have added over 120 games of WHL experience, 27 playoff games, size, and defensive reliability in a trade with the Portland Winterhawks. And they brought a local boy home while they were at it.
The Wheat Kings announced today they’ve acquired defenseman Cole Slobodian from the Winterhawks in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2028 and a third-round pick in 2030. The 2006-born blueliner has played both games for Portland so far this season, collecting one assist.
“Cole is a three-year veteran of the league and is a guy that has relished playing a shutdown role in Portland,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “He plays against the other team’s top line night in and night out, he eats a lot of minutes, and we’re looking forward to welcoming him to our hockey club.”
Standing 6-foot-2 and weighing in at 198 pounds, Slobodian has the size to play that shutdown role and as a 2006-born player he has plenty of experience in the league. On a relatively young blueline freshly faced with some injury troubles, the Wheat Kings expect him to be a stabilizing presence.
“It takes some stress off of some guys who might be playing too many minutes right now,” Murray said. “And we just lost (Ilari) Kapenen for four to six weeks with an injury, and that brought us down to six defensemen starting this road trip. We felt the need to have another healthy body in here, and Cole will play a significant role and take some stress off of some other guys.”
The Wheat Kings have acquired players from the Portland Winterhawks a couple of times in the last few seasons (most recently Marcus Nguyen) and when players have to travel across most of a continent in a trade, there can be an adjustment period. Two things lessen that adjustment in this case: one, Slobodian will be meeting the Wheat Kings on the road out west already, and two, he is already familiar with many of his new teammates going back to his days with the U18 AAA Wheat Kings.
“He’s been around quite a few of these guys,” said Murray, “obviously the Brandon guys but also the guys that have skated in Brandon over the summer. He’ll know a good chunk of the guys off our team, so there’s always an adjustment period but hopefully it can be expedited with his familiarity with our group.”
One other key factor in acquiring Slobodian was his playoff experience. He suited up in five games for the Winterhawks during their run to the WHL Finals in 2023-24, then played in 22 more postseason games over the next two seasons.
“We’re happy with our young defensive core, and they’ve played well, but to get some experience back there will help,” Murray said. “It’ll push guys too. Going from six to seven, we want guys to be comfortable but at the same time we want to have a healthy competition.”
Slobodian played two seasons with the U18 AAA Wheat Kings, including the 2022-23 season in which he skated alongside Jaxon Jacobson and Brady Turko. The next season he joined the MJHL’s Virden Oil Capitals.
