Medicine Hat, Alta.- The Medicine Hat Tigers are joining the Eastern Conference arms race in style with one of the biggest trades of the year just ahead of the WHL Trade Deadline.
The Central Division leaders have landed Nashville Predators prospect Tanner Molendyk in a Monday night blockbuster, reuniting the veteran blueliner with his World Juniors teammate, Gavin McKenna.
The move sees Molendyk and winger Misha Volotovskii head west to join the Tigers, while the Saskatoon Blades pick up 17-year-old forward Hayden Harsanyi, 17-year-old blueliner Jack Kachkowski, a first and second-round pick in the 2025 WHL Prospect Draft, a third and fourth-round pick in 2026 and a fifth-round selection in 2028.
Molendyk’s smooth skating and playmaking have made him one of the craftiest blueliners across the Western League.
Originally drafted by the Blades with the fifth overall pick in the 2020 WHL Prospect Draft, Molendyk has racked up 26 goals and 108 assists for 134 points and a +66 rating in 210 games over five seasons.
The McBride, B.C. product has also been an alternate captain for the Blades for the past two years.
Nobody can fire it the way Tanner Molendyk can!
The @PredsNHL's prospect gives the @BladesHockey the second-period lead. pic.twitter.com/vLTJPZzT2I
— The WHL (@TheWHL) October 18, 2024
He played a crucial role in Saskatoon’s 51-win season in 2023-24, clinching the Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy as WHL regular season champions.
Molendyk potted another 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in 16 playoff matches as the Blades and eventual WHL Champion Moose Jaw Warriors clashed in an epic seven-game Eastern Conference Championship that saw six of seven games go to overtime.
Two of his playoff goals stood as game-tying tallies, while the 6-foot, 184-pound blueliner also teed up Toronto Maple Leafs prospect Fraser Minten for the overtime winner in Game 5.
Molendyk was also named a WHL East Division First Team All-Star.
This season, Molendyk has four goals (including two game-winners) and 17 assists for 21 points in 21 contests, ranking ninth among all WHL defencemen in points per game.
The Nashville Predators selected Molendyk with the 24th overall pick in the first round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft and signed him to a three-year, entry-level contract just weeks later.
On the international stage, Molendyk served as an alternate captain for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship and was named one of Canada’s top three players of the tournament with two assists. He had made the squad in 2024 but sustained an injury in pre-tournament action that held him out of the event.
He also won gold at the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup with a goal and three assists in five games.
Molendyk is joined by Volotovskii, a 19-year-old with nearly 200 games of experience.
Volotovskii, a Calgary, Alta. product, was drafted by the Blades in the fourth round of the 2020 WHL Prospects Draft.
The 6-foot-2, 189-pound forward has potted 19 goals (including three game-winners) and 16 assists for 35 points in 195 games.
Misha Volotovskii may stand 6'2" but he's still a short[handed] king in our eyes!@BladesHockey pic.twitter.com/ORyaekDrvw
— The WHL (@TheWHL) November 22, 2023
Heading to the Bridge City is up-and-coming forward Hayden Harsanyi.
The 17-year-old Calgarian, who clocks in at 5-foot-10, 177 pounds, had a goal and three assists in seven games this year before being sidelined by a lower-body injury, but is close to making his return to the ice.
Harsanyi was chosen with the 16th overall pick in the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft and has collected 13 goals and 19 assists for 32 points in 79 regular-season tilts, in addition to a goal in five playoff appearances.
Hayden Harsanyi has a case of the zoomies!@tigershockey pic.twitter.com/btVOjcqBk9
— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 17, 2024
Jack Kachkowski is a 6-foot, 178-pound defenceman who has eight assists and a +4 rating in his second WHL season.
A 2022 fifth-rounder, he has a goal and 12 assists in his young career, in addition to a postseason assist.
Medicine Hat (22-15-2-0) leads the Central Division and own the tiebreaker against the Blades to sit first in the Eastern Conference.
The Tabbies are also the second-highest-scoring team in the league, averaging 3.92 goals per game.
Medicine Hat hosts Prince Albert (19-13-3-0) on Wednesday, January 8 at 7:00 p.m. MST.
Saskatoon (21-12-2-2) remains atop the East Division.
The Blades kick off a three-game Central Division road trip on Tuesday, January 7 as they face the Red Deer Rebels at 7:00 p.m. MST.
The 2025 WHL Trade Deadline is Thursday, January 9 at 6:00 p.m. MST.
