Fresh off winning gold at the 2023 World Junior Championships, Colton Dach will now be suiting up for a different WHL team for the rest of the season.
Dach was involved in a trade on Saturday (Jan. 7) morning that saw the Kelowna Rockets move the Fort Saskatchewan native to the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for Ty Hurley, Ethan Mittelsteadt, a first-round draft pick in 2024 and two conditional draft picks.
The deal comes days before the WHL trade deadline on Tuesday (Jan. 10).
Dach has spent the last year and a half playing Kelowna, scoring 98 points in 75 games with the Rockets. He was named captain of the team before this season began.
He moves from a struggling Kelowna team to a Seattle team currently sitting in first place across the WHL. It's expected that Dach will become a key piece as the Thunderbirds chase the Memorial Cup.
It's not clear when Dach will make his debut with the Thunderbirds as he is still recovering from an injury he sustained on New Year's Eve while playing in the World Juniors.