The Lethbridge Hurricanes have announced the acquisition of 2005-born forward Brayden Yager and 2005-born goaltender Jackson Unger from the Moose Jaw Warriors. In exchange, the Warriors are getting 2006-born forward Landen Ward, 2005-born goaltender Brady Smith, the WHL playing rights to 2009-born defenceman Colt Carter and six draft picks.
The selections include a first-round and a third-round pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft, a fourth-round and fifth-round pick in the 2026 draft and an additional first-round and second-round draft pick in the 2028 WHL Draft.
The 19-year-old Yager was originally selected third overall in the 2020 WHL Draft by the Warriors. The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan product has skated in 21 games this season with Moose Jaw, totalling 30 points, along with four penalty minutes.
In his career, he had appeared in 232 regular season games collecting 280 points and 60 penalty minutes. Last season, he had a career-high 95 points, along with 20 penalty minutes in 57 games – while adding 27 points and 12 penalty minutes in 20 post-season games to help Moose Jaw to their first WHL Championship.
He also added six points in four games at the 2024 Memorial Cup. The centre, who has served as Moose Jaw’s captain this year, was drafted 14th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2023 National Hockey League Entry Draft before his NHL rights were acquired by the Winnipeg Jets.
Internationally, Yager has represented Canada at the U18 level serving as an assistant captain for Canada at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup – where he totalled nine points in five games, winning a gold medal. He also represented Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championship in Sweden, amassing five points, along with two penalty minutes at the tournament.
Yager will also attend the 2025 World Junior Championship in Ottawa this month and will leave for the Canadian Selection Camp next week. Yager was named the recipient of the Jim Piggott Memorial Award winner, as the WHL’s Rookie of the Year in 2021-2022, while being named the Canadian Hockey League Rookie of the Year. He was also named the WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player in 2022-2023 and 2023-2024.
Last season, he was also named the CHL’s Sportsman of the Year, while being named a WHL East Division Second Team All-Star.
“We’re very excited to be able to add Brayden to our group,” says Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt. “He is one of the premiere players in junior hockey. He’s a world junior guy and knows what it takes to win at our level. He is going to be a great addition and is going to help our team in every way.”
Unger, 19, was originally drafted by the Warriors in the third-round in the 2020 WHL Draft. The Calgary goaltender has appeared in 126 regular season games in his career, posting a record of 62-49-3-3 with a 3.64 goals against average and a .892 save percentage with five shutouts. This season, he has started in 21 of Moose Jaw’s 25 games, posting a record of 4-11-3-1 with a 4.36 GAA and an .887 SV per cent with one shutout.
Last year, the netminder appeared in a career-high 54 games posting a 35-15-0-2 record with a 3.08 GAA and a .908 SV per cent and three shutouts. Unger appeared in all 20 playoff games for the Warriors, going 16-1-2-0 with a 2.90 GAA and a .910 SV per cent, capturing the Ed Chynoweth Cup. He posted a 5.09 GAA and a .869 SV per cent with a 1-3-0-0 record at the 2024 Memorial Cup.
Unger was named an East Division First Team All-Star in the WHL last season, finishing with a league-high 35 victories. He finished second in games played, second in minutes played, third in saves, fourth in shutouts, 14th in goals against average and sixth in save percentage in the WHL in 2023-2024.
Internationally, Unger represented Canada at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup – where he, along with Yager, captured a gold medal in Slovakia – while representing the WHL at the 2023 CHL/NHL Top Prospects game.
“Jackson is a championship goaltender and (Jackson) being in the deal was a big part of us making this trade,” says Anholt. “He’s proven himself as one of the top-end goaltenders in our league, was a first-team all-star last year and we think he is going to steady our goaltending – while also being able to help [Koen] Cleaver develop.”
Smith, 19, was originally drafted by the Hurricanes in the sixth-round in the 2020 WHL Draft. The Cloverdale, British Columbia product has appeared in 36 career regular season games with the ‘Canes, posting a 14-11-2-1 record with a 3.49 goals against average and an .885 save percentage. He has posted an 8-4-1-1 record this season with a 3.31 GAA and a .886 save percentage. He appeared in one post-season game in 2024 for Lethbridge.
The 18-year-old Ward was drafted in the fourth-round by the Hurricanes in the 2021 WHL Draft. The Lloydminster player has appeared in 86 career games, amassing 10 points – along with 159 penalty minutes. The forward has skated in 22 games this season, totalling two points and 39 penalty minutes. He has also suited up in four post-season games, going pointless in 2024.
“It’s tough to trade good people and important pieces of your team at any point, especially now,” adds Anholt. “Both Brady and Landen have been key guys in their role for our team over the last two years and were important in helping us, not only make the playoffs last year, but have a good start to the season this year. Both the Ward and Smith families have also been outstanding. They’ve been great supporters of our program and first-class people in their time with our organization.”
Carter, 15, was drafted by Lethbridge in the sixth-round in the 2024 draft. The Drayton Valley athlete led the AEHL U15 league in scoring by a defenceman with 55 points, along with four penalty minutes in 34 regular season games with the St. Albert Sabres U15 team.
He added 22 points in nine playoff games. Carter had collected 18 points in 15 games with the St. Albert Raiders U18 team. He recently represented Team Alberta, capturing the 2024 WHL Cup in Red Deer, earning one assist in five games.
“Carter is a good young player who we took in the draft last year and really liked, but you have to give quality to get quality back,” notes Anholt. “We really would like to wish all three – Brady, Landen and Colt, the very best in their hockey careers.”
Both Yager and Unger will join the Hurricanes for Tuesday’s game, when Lethbridge welcomes their former team the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7 p.m. at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.
