The Seattle Kraken prospect left the NCAA and has signed with the Winterhawks.
After acquiring the rights to Tyson Jugnauth from the Kamloops Blazers on Wednesday, the Portland Winterhawks announced Thursday they had signed the Seattle Kraken prospect to a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement. One of the few players drafted twice into the WHL, the Toronto-born defencemen had been playing at the University of Wisconsin the last two seasons but had seen his ice time dimmish over the past few games. With his addition to the lineup, Portland now has five NHL-affiliated prospects on their roster, with four being defencemen.
Prior to making the jump to the NCAA, Jugnauth played 75 games with the West Kelowna Rockets of the BCHL. During that time, he recorded 67 points and was named the BCHL's Top Defenceman for the 2021-22 season. A few months later, he would hear his name called at the 2022 NHL Draft when the Kraken selected him in the fourth round, 100th overall.
Acquiring Jugnauth was not cheap for the Winterhawks, as they had to part with four draft picks over the next three years. In the deal, Portland sent Kamloops a 3rd round pick in 2024, a 2nd round pick (via Brandon) in 2026, a conditional 6th round pick in 2024 and a conditional 2nd round pick in 2025. While the details of the conditions were not released, expect them to be met now that Jugnauth has signed with the Winterhawks.
This move by Portland not only makes them deeper on the blue line but also firmly plants them as the favourites to represent the WHL in the Memorial Cup. Not only do they have one of the best offences in the league, but they are also one of the best defensive teams in the WHL. This was a genius move by Mike Johnston as he once again stole a player away from the University of Wisconsin.