On Dec. 16, the Cowichan Valley Capitals conducted a blockbuster trade with the Spruce Grove Saints. The Capitals received 2005-born defenders Adam Lang and Ryan Harvey from Spruce Grove for 2005-born defenders Luke McCrady and Frédéric Deschênes.
This trade is a straight-up swap of blueliners. This article is a look at the BCHL careers of these four players. Before we examine what either team received, I will discuss each team’s regular season before January.
Cowichan Valley’s season
Before the calendar switched to 2025, Cowichan Valley was in third place in the Coastal Conference. As of this writing, Cowichan’s record is 21-13-3-0. In front of Cowichan Valley are the Victoria Grizzlies, Surrey Eagles, and Chilliwack Chiefs.
The Capitals have already surpassed their 2023-24 regular season record when they finished with a record of 16-34-3-1.
In terms of roster turnover, there are too many changes to list. I will mention that 2004-born Alexei Noskov has returned to Russia while 2004-born goaltender Liam Sztuska has since joined the team.
Spruce Grove’s Season
At the start of January, Spruce Grove sat in eighth place in the Interior Conference. Spruce Grove’s record is currently 15-19-4-0. The Saints sit behind West Kelowna, Cranbrook, Salmon Arm, Sherwood Park, Brooks, Trail, and Penticton.
Last season, the Saints joined the BCHL in January and played the remainder of the 2023-24 season against the other Alberta-based teams in the league.
In 66 games last season combined between the Alberta Junior Hockey League and the BCHL, Spruce Grove finished with a 26-34-6-0 record, which was fifth out of the five Alberta-based teams who joined the league mid-season.
What Cowichan Valley receives
Both Lang and Harvey are six feet tall and weigh more than 185 lbs. Before being traded, they were each in the Saints’ top ten in scoring. Lang was ninth in overall scoring on Spruce Grove while Harvey was 10th. Team offense is something the Saints have struggled with this season.
The two are also veteran defenders. Lang has played for the Saints since the 2022-23 season. As for Harvey, he played 89 games for his hometown Stouffville Spirit of the Ontario Junior Hockey League from 2022 through last season. He signed with the Saints in February 2024 after Spruce Grove joined the BCHL.
As of this writing, Harvey has fit in well with Cowichan Valley, putting up a goal and two assists in eight games. Lang has seen his offensive output tail off a bit with just two assists in eight games with the Capitals.
What Spruce Grove receives
Both McCrady and Deschênes are also veteran defenders. McCrady played for the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Niverville Nighthawks in 2023-24 before joining the Capitals for this season. As for Deschênes, he started his Tier 1 career with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League in 2022-23.
Like Lang and Harvey, each player heading to Spruce Grove is tall and weighs more than 181 lbs. McCrady is six-foot-three and Deschênes is six-foot-two.
Neither McCrady nor Deschênes light the lamp a ton. Before being traded, McCrady posted eight assists in 29 games for the Caps. He has since notched one assist in nine games with Spruce Grove.
As for Deschênes, he had four goals and 23 assists in 52 career BCHL games before the deal. Since the trade though, he has broken out with two goals and eight assists in 11 games for the Saints as of this writing.
What this trade accomplishes
Sometimes, players need a change of scenery. Trades like these happen. If a player isn’t doing well on one team, they may get traded away just to shake things up.
Cowichan Valley and Spruce Grove got equal value for this trade. Both players get a change of scenery in different provinces. Spruce Grove is over 1200 kilometres away from Duncan.
There’s also a low risk of either player coming back to burn their former team. Cowichan Valley and Spruce Grove don’t play each other during the regular season. There’s a chance they could meet in the playoffs, but that’s likely only if each club advances to the Fred Page Cup final series.
Featured image credit: Garrett James Photography
