Red Deer Rebels Owner/President/General Manager Brent Sutter announced Tuesday that the club has completed a trade with the Calgary Hitmen.

The Rebels have acquired 20-year-old defenceman Jackson Van De Leest from the Hitmen in exchange for 20-year-old forward Blake Stevenson, 18-year-old defenceman Trey Patterson, and a conditional second-round selection at the 2022 Western Hockey League Prospects Draft (originally belonging to Winnipeg).

Van De Leest, a native of Kelowna, BC, has 11 points and 39 penalty minutes in 26 games this season with the Hitmen. A former first-round selection, 16th overall at the 2016 WHL Prospects Draft, van de Leest attended camp this past fall with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers.

Jackson Van De Leest

Position: Defence

Shoots: L

Height: 6'7

Weight: 238

Birthdate: 2001-06-15

Hometown: Kelowna, BC

GP        G          A          PTS      +/-     PIM

26        1          10        11        7          39

Also Tuesday, the Rebels returned the following affiliated players to their respective U18 AAA clubs:

G - Chase Wutzke ('06 - Saskatoon Contacts)           G - Justen Maric ('04 - Edmonton CAC Canadians)