It was a busy start to the final week before the Christmas break for the WHL-leading Moose Jaw Warriors.

The Warriors pulled off a pair of trades, acquiring 19-year-old forward Vince Loschiavo from Kootenay and 18-year-old forward Ryan Peckford from Victoria.

Four-year veteran Noah Gregor was sent to the Royals in exchange for Peckford.

These were a pair of deals that the Warriors feel make them strong overall with the addition of two big and skilled forwards to their already deep forward group, which has a WHL-leading 144 goals through 32 games.

The decision to move Gregor wasn’t an easy one according to Warriors general manager Alan Millar, but it was a trade that he feels makes the team better moving forward.

“This is a good opportunity for Noah with the Royals and we believe that he will do very well, but in saying that, Ryan Peckford is a guy that we’ve had our eye on for a long time, he’s a big body, hard player, has a good skill set and we feel that he complements our group very well,” said Millar. 

The Warriors dealt Noah Gregor back to Victoria after originally acquiring him in the Travis Brown deal with the Royals. (Photo: Marc Smith)

Peckford comes to the Warriors with 13 goals and 27 points in 33 games this season, which will help make up for the loss of Gregor’s 36 points.

In 140 career WHL games, Peckford has registered 34 goals and 72 points. His 13 goals this season matches his career-high that was set last season in 45 games.

“We believe that he’s a guy that can fit really nicely on the left side with (Brett) Howden and (Jayden) Halbgewachs,” said Millar.  “He’s a guy that complements our group and come the toughest part of the year — March and April and hopefully well into May — that he’s helping us with a long playoff run with the way that we want to play.”

The addition of Loschiavo, who had 29 goals last season with Kootenay, should add more depth to the Warriors’ scoring. The 19-year-old has gotten off to a slow start this season with seven goals and 13 points in 28 games.

Moose Jaw feels that a fresh start with the Warriors will be just what the doctor ordered for the WHL veteran.

“He’s played parts of four years in the league and he scored 29 goals last year on a rebuilding Ice team, he brings a right shot to our forward group, which gives our coaches a lot of options in our top-six, top-nine and power play,” said Millar.

“He’s an experienced guy that can score and gives us more depth with another veteran player in our group.”

The Warriors are hoping that both players will be in the lineup on Tuesday night when they host the Kelowna Rockets at Mosaic Place to open the final week of games before the midseason break.

Moose Jaw currently leads the WHL with a 25-5-1-1 record and they are riding a five-game winning streak heading into this week’s three games.