With basically nothing at stake the final week of the season, Seattle goes 2-2. Most importlantly was the chance to rest up some players before the playoffs arrive and they got a chance to insert some young players into the lineup.
I certainly don't want to make more than there is of a a young prospect's debut in game 68 of a 68 game season, when there is nothing on the line for the team as he skates in the WHL for the first time. It's a tremendously small sample size.
But then I remember that the Thunderbirds, under the direction of General Manager Bil LaForge and Director of Player Personnel Cal Filson, have done such an amazing job of evaluating talent and finding quality players in the middle and late rounds of the draft. So I get a little more than intrigued when I see a player like Nishan Parmar come out and look like one of the regulars on this team, as he did Satruday night against Portland.
Parmar was Seattle's seventh round pick in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, taken 148th overall. He just signed his standard WHL Player Agreement a few weeks back. Certainly the Thunderbirds did their due diligence. They kept evaluating him over his last two seasons. They believe he has the makings of a Thunderbird.
Is he the next Reid Schaefer or Nico Myatovic, two recent players selected in the eighth and sixth rounds respectively of their WHL Prospects Drafts? That's a lot of pressure to put on him. let's just let Nishan be Nishan. But at the very least, I'm going to trust in the track record of the T-Birds scouts who have been more right than wrong over the last five to six years.
The scouts are the unsung heroes of the WHL. Most do the work as a side job to their regular employment. They do it because they love the game enough they're willing to put in thousands of miles or kilometers on their cars, traversing Western Canada and the U.S. hoping to unearth a gem who might one day hear his name called from the podium of an NHL Draft, or at the very least, hoist a Chynoweth Cup. They sacrifice their weekends. They drive through the frigid prairie winters, sometimes in blinding snow and darkness, often just to evaluate one player.
So as we close up the 2022-23 regular season and get ready for the playoffs, remember this team wasn't put together by happenstance. Most of this roster was built through the hard work of that team of scouts. They are the unsung MVPs of this club.
Another young 'Bird made his debut Saturday night as well. Defenseman Kaleb Hartmann was chosen by Seattle in the second round of the 2022 draft, 37th overall. There seemed to be no hesitation with him in shooting the puck and it appears he has a nice, heavy shot. He's already listed at 6'0", 170 lbs. He looks like he is going to be a solid presence for the next four of five years on the T-Birds back end.
So, if you are keeping score at home and wondering how the Thunderbirds will fill a roster after all the draft picks they traded this season, here's what we know is available the next few years:
2023-23 T-Birds rookie of the year Gracyn Sawchyn, a point per game player, soon to be drafted by an NHL team. Scott Ratzlaff, who at age 17 led the WHL in shutouts with five. He finished second in the WHL this season with a 2.18 goals against average and his .918 save percentage was second as well. Did I mention he won a gold medal with Canada last summer at the U18s?
Defenseman Sawyer Mynio, another 17 year old who could hear his name called at the NHL Darft this summer as he has crept up onto the Central Scouting Draft rankings. He played in all 68 games this season and finished at +50. And don't sleep on Coster Dunn. Another of those mid-round draft picks (2020 7th round). He appears poised for a breakout.
Can we talk about Seattle's 2021 draft class? The top three picks alone make this an excellent draft with Tij Iginla, Hyde Davidson and Bryce Pickford. When next fall's NHL Central Scouting's "One to Watch" list comes out, all three should see their names somewhere on those rankings. But they're not the only players from that draft who will make an impact on the T-Birds future.
Three others from that class have already made their Thunderbirds debuts. Simon Lovsin, like Davidson and Pickford, was a second round pick. Goalie Spencer Michnik is 2-0 in the WHL and now we've seen a glimpse of Parmar.
Meanwhile the 2022 draft class says hold my root beer. The T-Birds moved up five spots in that draft, sacrificing a third round pick, to get in position to select Braeden Cootes tenth overall in the first round. I think they're pretty high on him. What we've seen of him in just seven games, seems to justify that move.We just saw the debut of Hartmann, one of two second round picks. They picked Kazden Mathies one spot after Hartmann. Mathies just finished off a 47 point season playing in 40 games with the Warman Wildcats U18AAA squad, then added eight more points in eight playoff games.
The T-Birds have already signed three other players from that draft, fourth rounder Antonio Martorana, a forward, defenseman Caleb Potter, a fifth round pick, and ninth rounder Samuel Charko, another forward, You know who else was a ninth round selection in his draft year? Mekai Sanders. Again, we know Seattle's recent success with mid to late round picks, so if they're signing a ninth rounder this early, I'm going to trust they know what they're doing.
Let's also not lose sight of the fact that the T-Birds hold the rights to Lucas Sawchyn, Gracyn's younger brother. He was Seattle's first round pick in the 2022 U.S. Prospects Draft. He's not signed yet but let's hope Gracyn is a really good recruiter! Playing for Shattucks St. Mary's 16UAAA team Lucas put up 66 points in 50 games this season. You know who also put up 60 points when he played for Shattuck's 16UAAA team? Gracyn.
Is 2021 U.S. Prospects Draft first round pick Macklin Celebrini out of the picture now that he is playing in the USHL with the Chicago Steel and has made an NCAA verbal commitment? Probably. But you never close the door on a player considered to be the top pick for the 2024 NHL Draft. It's a longshot, but most probably said the same of all these mid round picks Seattle made recently, getting drafted into the NHL. How's that working out?
Finally, don't forget the Import Draft. Seattle will make two selections this summer.
So when I see people lament the future, or some even reveling in the thought that the T-Birds are heading toward rock bottom in a few years, I chuckle. They just don't know that the strength of this team is not in their roster, but in those who are putting the roster together. Will they be Cup contenders? maybe not. But they're not falling off the side of a cliff either.
One of the best feel good stories in my time with the Thunderbirds organization has to be Jared Davidson. From an undrafted, camp invite at age 16 to a team MVP at age 20 after leading the team in scoring for a second straight season. Along the way he did enough to get drafted by the NHL's Montreal Canadians.
He was invited to camp five years ago because he just happened to play on the same U16 team as the son of the T-birds goalie coach at the time. I remember talking to GM LaForge that fall when Davidson made the team. He said, just you watch, he's gonna be a good player in this league, especially by the time he's 20. Except for not getting that 100th career WHL goal, it's been a great five years as a T-Bird and just another reason to trust this team's talent evaluators. they know what they're doing.
My Three Stars for the T-Birds just completed regular season:
Third Star: This might surpise you but I'm going with Scott Ratzlaff. When Seattle lost Thomas Milic for a month to Team Canada for World Juniors I'm betting a lot of folks were saying, hey, just get through the month at .500 and we'll be satisfied. Instead, the T-Birds went 11-0-0-1 in twelve games. They kept pace with the teams at the top of the standings. Ratzlaff started ten of them and went 9-0-0-1. Sure, he got help from the team around him but he carried the workload in net and proved he could handle it. He led the league this season with five shutouts and was second in GAA and SVPCT. Because Milic was away Ratzlaff actually ended up with more starts and minutes played.
Second Star: D Jeremy Hanzel. Similar to Ratzaff. Seattle lost two top defensemen to Team Canada for a month because of World Juniors. No Kevin Korchinski, no Nolan Allan, no problem. Again it was a team effort and Luke Prokop and Sawyer Mynio were just as solid on the back end but Hanzel was Seattle's most consistent defenseman all season. He finished with career bests in goals and points. He absolutley obliterated the franchise record for plus/minus at +70 (the old record was +50). A lot of hockey people aren't the biggest believes in the plus/minus stat but it says to me more good things were happening on the ice for Seattle when Hanzel was out there.
First Star: C Jared Davidson. On a team that is filled with first round NHL draft picks, it was Davidson who led the team in points and goals. Yes, he ended up one goal shy of 100 for his WHL career, but remember, he lost the end of the 2019-2020 season and all but 23 games in 2020-21 to the Covid pandemic. No question had he had a full five year WHL career, he would not only have reached 100 goals but certainly zipped past it. To go from camp invite to a two-time leading point producer on two of the best teams in franchise history is a remarkable accomplishment for the Montreal Canadians prospect.
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