DUMBA DEALT
RED DEER, AB – Brent Sutter, General Manager/Head Coach of the Red Deer Rebels Hockey Club, announced today a trade with the Portland Winterhawks. The Rebels have dealt the rights to 19-year old defenceman Mathew Dumba, and a conditional pick in the 2014 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft, to the Portland Winterhawks in exchange for 18-year old forward Presten Kopeck and conditional draft picks in the WHL Bantam Draft.
Kopeck is in his second season in the WHL. He has played 88 career games with the Winterhawks, scoring 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points. Kopeck was a 3rd round choice, 60th overall, by Portland in the 2010 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.
Mathew Dumba is currently with the Minnesota Wild of the National Hockey League.
It appears the first volley has been fired by Portland, who I surmise want to return to the Memorial Cup. I would expect the other real contenders will follow suit pretty soon. Depth is the factor that carries you a long way. A number of teams will have to decide if they want to step forward or step back.