Penticton, B.C.- Before the Penticton Vees had played their first WHL game, General Manager and Head Coach Fred Harbinson made it clear he aimed to make the WHL Playoffs in Year One.
Just past the midway point of the 2025-26 season, the Vees lead the B.C. Division, sit second in the Western Conference and boast a seven-game win streak.
Now, the Vees are bolstering their offence with the addition of 19-year-old centreman Samuel Drancak from the Red Deer Rebels.
Not to be outdone, the Rebels will take on 2026 NHL Draft-eligible defenceman Jiri Kamas in the deal.
Drancak has notched 11 goals (including one game-winner) and 10 assists for 21 points in 27 games this season.
That alone has him sitting third on the Rebels in points and goals, while leading the team with .78 points per game.
The 6-foot, 195-pound centreman found the scoresheet for every game in November while going on an impressive 11-game point streak (9G-6A).
Drancak also tied for the Rebels’ second-longest goal streak with strikes in eight consecutive games.
Originally selected by Red Deer with the 54th overall pick in the 2023 CHL Import Draft, the Strakonice, Cze. product has totalled 33 goals and 43 assists for 76 points in 160 games over three seasons.
He’s freshly returned to Canada after helping Czechia win silver at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he potted a goal in four appearances.
On the international stage, he also captured a silver at the 2023 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Kamas, 17, has picked up two goals and seven assists for nine points in 22 games in his rookie WHL run.
The Vees snapped up Kamas with the 62nd overall pick in the second round of the 2025 CHL Import Draft.
A 6-foot-1, 187-pound right-shot defender, Kamas also scored three times in four games at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
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