Three games into the new season and it's still a learning process as we try to discover what this current incarnation of the Thunderbird will be. They sport an early above .500 record of 2-1-0-0, though they've yet to put together what I think head coach Matt O'Dette would call a complete sixty minutes of hockey. It's been three winnable game and they've managed to win two.
Here are a few of my early season takeaways:
Second year winger Dillon Hamaliuk is discovering that self confidence and a belief in your skills can lead to good things. I thought at times last season he played with some hesitation. I'm not seeing that so far this go round. It's fun to watch a big power forward skate with the puck in tight spaces as he did in all three games. He's becoming what I always thought Brendan Troock would be, but never fully did become in his tenure with the T-birds a few years back, a power forward whose skating and puck handling ability makes him hard to play against. That will start opening up ice for his linemates.
It's only three games but Hamaliuk has already elevated his game from his rookie campaign a year ago and he's only going to get better as the confidence grows. After pulling the T-birds within a goal in the third period in Portland he almost tied it minutes later on a gorgeous power move to the net, only to be denied off his backhand as the puck rolled just wide after he got the goalie down and out. Six points (3g,3a) through three games and a +5? That's a 136 points pace! Certainly that's not sustainable but half of that ( 34g, 34a, 68 pts) might be a too conservative estimate. Seattle brass has always had faith in Hamaliuk. Remember, in the Championship series two years ago against Regina, they brought him up after his 16 year old season ended, to log a few shifts in the first game. It got his name engraved on the Chynoweth Cup. Now, the rewards for their faith in him are starting to pay off.
The three power play goals allowed to the Winterhawks aside (two of those goals were a bit "flukey"), Seattle appears to have a solid, deep group of penalty killers. Nolan Volcan and Noah Philp lead the way but Zach Andrusiak is no slouch and guys like Jaxan Kaluski, Graeme Bryks and Tyler Carpendale showed their mettle shorthanded too. Then throw in all the young defenseman who are out there and it can be a very green, but affective group.
When on the power play Seattle spends a lot of time in the attacking zone. Unfortunately they are only 2-for-17 in the early going with the man advantage. At times they may have hesitated to shoot but I think the real culprit was not jumping on second chance opportunities. You get the feeling though that once they get a couple in, the damn will burst. I expect their power play to be a real weapon for them.
The Thunderbirds have played so far without the services of their most veteran and seasoned defenseman, Jarret Tyszka, still out with concussion symptoms. They've only had their other 19 year old d-man Reece Harsch for two games and that comes after missing all of training camp and preseason. He's still shaking off some rust. They've used two 17 year old rookies and one 16 year old rookie quite a bit in the early going. Despite that I haven't seen glaring holes in the back end. Certainly areas to work on but in three games Seattle has allowed only three even strength goals. The combination of a pair of 17 year olds, Jake Lee and Simon Kubicek, have been eating up monster minutes. Think about this, Seattle is going to get three full years out of that pairing. By the time they hit their 19 year old seasons, there may not be a better tandem in the WHL.
Seattle may have found a perfect third line to hopefully compliment their top two. The combination of Bryks centering Kaluski and Payton Mount showed an eager willingness to play the 200-foot game. Saturday in Portland they created scoring chances by moving the puck up ice efficiently and taking it to the net. Friday in Langley, Kaluski drew two straight penalties against the Vancouver Giants. One of them led to a crucial Seattle power play goal that ended up being the difference in a one goal game. Being hard on the puck, he drew another penalty against Portland. He has a little Scott Eansor in him. The coaches showed enough confidence in Bryks to have him take some key late game faceoffs. The 16 year old Mount earned two assists on the weekend and showed flashes of his cerebral game and playmaking potential. I think they're good enough that Seattle coaches won't be worried about throwing them out there against an opposing team's top line.
Home or road, O'Dette showed little concern over line matching. He believes in his top two lines and if the third line continues to perform, it makes his job a little easier. With the way Bryks has played early, the T-birds appear strong down the middle with Matthew Wedman, Philps and Bryks centering those three lines. If they can get Sam Huo going they're set on all four lines, but rookie Jared Davidson is an option there too.
Not much to say, nor needs to be said about goaltender Liam Hughes. To paraphrase a former NFL coach, he is who we thought he was. A solid start to pick up where he left off last season. One of the best things you can say about a goalie is his play between the pipes gives his teammates the "want" to play well out in front of him. That's Hughes in a nutshell. The only question in goal is how Cole Schwebius will perform when its his turn. Hughes can't play all 68 games so Schwebius will need to show he can handle the reins when called upon.
A few notes: Matthew Wedman making his goals count early on, has both of the game winners. Late in games, whether protecting a lead or chasing for an equalizer and rookie 16 year olds Mount and defenseman Ty Bauer are getting ice time and not looking out of place. I love that. D-man Cade McNelly played under control vs. Vancouver and Seattle won. McNelly got a little, shall we say "exuberant" versus Portland and the T-birds lost. He can be physical and effective without being out of control. He's still learning how to skate that fine line. Jake Lee is going to open even more eyes by the end of the season. He's going to get drafted but I think he's going to go earlier then expected because he's going to log a lot of minutes. Just a smart hockey player.
My T-birds Three Stars for the first three games:
Third Star: LW Nolan Volcan. The team captain leads by example. Three points through three games on 2g,1a but I believe he's just getting warmed up and hasn't hit his stride yet. Was a workhorse on the five minute penalty kill at the end of the second period down in Portland. Still plays like a pit bull.
Second Star: G Liam Hughes. Was a deserved first star in the road win against Vancouver with 31 saves on 32 shots. A pair of crazy bounce power play goals belied how well he played in the loss to Portland on a 38 save night. Often times it isn't how many saves you make but how timely are those saves. he has a knack for making the key save in a key moment.
First Star: LW Dillon Hamaliuk. He still is working on his consistency but could you have had a better start to your first season of NHL draft eligibility then Hammer had in the first three games? Going back to the last game of the 2017-18 regular season, he now has a four game goal scoring streak under his belt. A couple of goals he just missed might have been prettier then the pretty goals he scored. There are times in the game you're waiting and waiting for him to erupt, then boom, he goes Mount St. Helens on you.
Sunday, September 30, 2018
Tuesday, August 7, 2018
The Puck Stops Here
It would have been interesting to see what a Liam Hughes-Carl Stankowski goaltending tandem could have done together with the Thunderbirds this season. We'll not get that opportunity though, after the announcement Tuesday that Seattle has traded Stankowski to the Calgary Hitmen for a draft pick and the rights to a U.S. born prospect. The goaltending job, at least the number one spot, now belongs to Hughes.
The T-birds/Stankowski relationship is like that of star-crossed lovers who can't overcome the obstacles to making the relationship a long lasting one. Instead, all we got was that one, shining moment. If Mat Barzal and Ethan Bear were the superstars of the T-birds 2017 WHL Championship team, Stankowski was the surprise revelation. The barely 17 year old netminder started all 20 playoff games that spring in place of an injured 20 year old Rylan Toth, and went 16-4 on the way to a Chynoweth Cup. He almost stole the playoff MVP honors from Barzal with his effort.
And that's what Stankowski will be remembered for as a T-bird; that glorious playoff run, because, well, that's all there is. In two years with Seattle Stankowski spent more time injured, more time away from the organization getting treatment or rehabbing, then he spent with the team. That's no fault of his. Injuries are part of the game and some are more significant then others. Then there were other health issues that again are no fault of Carl's. Just more a matter of genetics. The reality though is that over the course of a two year career with the club, he played in only seven regular season games. He missed all of last season to health issues, not even making it to training camp and barely dropping by the rink near season's end to say hello to his teammates.
Because of Stankowski's absence the T-birds were forced to make the trade for Hughes last September and then later for Dorrin Luding two months later. It was his long term 2016 injury that necessitated the trade that brought in Matt Berlin.
Those three goaltenders played in a combined 90 regular season games the past two seasons while the Thunderbirds waited, and waited, for Stankowski to heal up. Individually all three saw more regular season ice time as T-birds then did Stankowski. Luding got into 17 games in just over half a season with the club. So far, after just one season as a T-bird, Hughes has played in 36 regular season games, plus five postseason games, and Berlin was in net for 37 games in just over a year with the team. In fact, if not for the injury to Toth, we may have seen very little of Stankowski in a Thunderbirds jersey.
But what we saw in that playoff run was legendary. There is no erasing the important part Stankowski played in T-birds history. It started in the very first playoff game against Tri-City when he stopped a number of third period breakaways to preserve a Seattle lead. It was besting Everett's Carter Hart in a second round sweep. It was a near shutout performance in both Game 3 and Game 6 of the Western Conference Championship Series ,on the road both times, against Kelowna. It was a crucial early save in the overtime of the sixth and decisive game against Regina in the Championship Series. Even then though, Stankowski was apparently playing at less then 100-percent. That's what his dad told Any Eide this spring in an article posted at mymorthwest.com.
And it's those health issues that still concerned the T-birds. So they reached a crossroads with Stankowski. Do they gamble he'll stay healthy or do they move on? They made the choice to move on. Only time will tell if they've made the right decision. Stankowski still has three seasons of WHL eligibility left. I hope he can or has already figured out a way to stay on the ice. His dream is to be an NHL goalie and I'm rooting for him. I want him to overcome those health issues. If it were not for those health issues, there would be no need to trade him, if not for those health issues there would have been no need to acquire Hughes, or Berlin, or Luding. If not for those health issues, the return on this trade would have been greater.
But Seattle made the deal from a position of strength. They aren't in the same quandary they were the past two seasons that necessitated trading for three goalies in a 13 month span. First and foremost they have Hughes, the 19 year old who had a strong second half. Strong enough that he finished among the league leaders in save percentage. They have two, young signed prospects in 17 year old Cole Schwebius and 16-year old Eric Ward, and just spent a 2018 third round bantam pick on Thomas Milic. Seattle has now traded three goalies (Berlin, Luding and Stankowski) in the last seven months. You don't do that unless you have confidence in the young prospects coming up through the system.
The T-birds/Stankowski relationship is like that of star-crossed lovers who can't overcome the obstacles to making the relationship a long lasting one. Instead, all we got was that one, shining moment. If Mat Barzal and Ethan Bear were the superstars of the T-birds 2017 WHL Championship team, Stankowski was the surprise revelation. The barely 17 year old netminder started all 20 playoff games that spring in place of an injured 20 year old Rylan Toth, and went 16-4 on the way to a Chynoweth Cup. He almost stole the playoff MVP honors from Barzal with his effort.
And that's what Stankowski will be remembered for as a T-bird; that glorious playoff run, because, well, that's all there is. In two years with Seattle Stankowski spent more time injured, more time away from the organization getting treatment or rehabbing, then he spent with the team. That's no fault of his. Injuries are part of the game and some are more significant then others. Then there were other health issues that again are no fault of Carl's. Just more a matter of genetics. The reality though is that over the course of a two year career with the club, he played in only seven regular season games. He missed all of last season to health issues, not even making it to training camp and barely dropping by the rink near season's end to say hello to his teammates.
Because of Stankowski's absence the T-birds were forced to make the trade for Hughes last September and then later for Dorrin Luding two months later. It was his long term 2016 injury that necessitated the trade that brought in Matt Berlin.
Those three goaltenders played in a combined 90 regular season games the past two seasons while the Thunderbirds waited, and waited, for Stankowski to heal up. Individually all three saw more regular season ice time as T-birds then did Stankowski. Luding got into 17 games in just over half a season with the club. So far, after just one season as a T-bird, Hughes has played in 36 regular season games, plus five postseason games, and Berlin was in net for 37 games in just over a year with the team. In fact, if not for the injury to Toth, we may have seen very little of Stankowski in a Thunderbirds jersey.
But what we saw in that playoff run was legendary. There is no erasing the important part Stankowski played in T-birds history. It started in the very first playoff game against Tri-City when he stopped a number of third period breakaways to preserve a Seattle lead. It was besting Everett's Carter Hart in a second round sweep. It was a near shutout performance in both Game 3 and Game 6 of the Western Conference Championship Series ,on the road both times, against Kelowna. It was a crucial early save in the overtime of the sixth and decisive game against Regina in the Championship Series. Even then though, Stankowski was apparently playing at less then 100-percent. That's what his dad told Any Eide this spring in an article posted at mymorthwest.com.
And it's those health issues that still concerned the T-birds. So they reached a crossroads with Stankowski. Do they gamble he'll stay healthy or do they move on? They made the choice to move on. Only time will tell if they've made the right decision. Stankowski still has three seasons of WHL eligibility left. I hope he can or has already figured out a way to stay on the ice. His dream is to be an NHL goalie and I'm rooting for him. I want him to overcome those health issues. If it were not for those health issues, there would be no need to trade him, if not for those health issues there would have been no need to acquire Hughes, or Berlin, or Luding. If not for those health issues, the return on this trade would have been greater.
But Seattle made the deal from a position of strength. They aren't in the same quandary they were the past two seasons that necessitated trading for three goalies in a 13 month span. First and foremost they have Hughes, the 19 year old who had a strong second half. Strong enough that he finished among the league leaders in save percentage. They have two, young signed prospects in 17 year old Cole Schwebius and 16-year old Eric Ward, and just spent a 2018 third round bantam pick on Thomas Milic. Seattle has now traded three goalies (Berlin, Luding and Stankowski) in the last seven months. You don't do that unless you have confidence in the young prospects coming up through the system.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Signs, Signs, Everywhere Sign(ing)s
When it was announced that former Thunderbird Alexander True had signed an NHL deal with the San Jose Sharks Wednesday morning, it meant seven players off the T-Birds 2017 Chynoweth Cup winning roster are now under contract to NHL teams. True spent last season, his first as a pro, playing in the Sharks system, but on an AHL deal with the San Jose Barracuda. The new contract just signed is an entry level NHL deal.
Earlier this year True's former Seattle teammate, Scott Eansor, inked a two-way deal with the New York Islanders. While Eansor is likely to be on the roster of the Islanders AHL affiliate the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for a second season, he's now officially part of the Islanders NHL family.
A day before the announcement of the True deal with San Jose, it was announced that last year's T-Birds captain, Turner Ottenbreit, had inked his first professional contract with the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. Of course during last season another T-Birds defenseman, Austin Strand, signed an entry level deal with the NHL's L.A. Kings.
Besides all being part of that T-Birds WHL championship roster, what else do those four players have in common? They were all signed as free agents. Not a one of them was an NHL draft pick. It means that after they were passed over in the NHL draft, they didn't stop working to reach their dream. And True and Eansor initially signed AHL, not NHL deals, but they weren't satisfied and used their first year as pros to improve their stock.
Having a rink side seat every night of their T-Birds careers, it was easy to root for these four players as they grew not only as players but young men. Those undrafted guys are like the underdogs and we seems to always root a little harder for the underdog. We know they haven't yet reached their ultimate goal of actually playing in the NHL, but these signings are another successful step along that journey. I don't have a crystal ball that will tell me if that journey will, in the end, be a success, but having seen how hard they have worked to get to this point, it's hard to not imagine them reaching that goal.
Not every player is fortunate to get drafted into the NHL like Mat Barzal, Ryan Gropp, Keegan Kolesar and Ethan Bear were. But like the Eansor's and True's of the world, those players still have to prove their worth every day. They are all on the same footing now, not necessarily equal in skill, but they all have the same shot. Draft status no longer matters. As much as we rejoiced in the NHL debuts of Barzal and Bear, tell me you aren't stoked for the chance to see Eansor or True take a shift in an NHL game? Tell me you don't expect Ottenbreit to someday follow True's lead and turn that AHL deal into an NHL contract?
Add in the signing of Sami Moilanen to a pro deal in his native Finland and that makes nine players from the championship roster who have signed pro deals. The signings may not be done. Defenseman Jarret Tyszka is looking to impress the Montreal Canadiens, the team that drafted him in the fifth round of the 2017 NHL draft, and earn a pro contract in their system. Younger players like Jake Lee and Dillon Hamaliuk are entering their first season of draft eligibility. Maybe an undrafted player will emerge this season and follow the path of Eansor, True, Ottenbreit and Strand by impressing an NHL scout enough that they earn a pro deal.
If nothing else these most recent signings should show that being passed over in the NHL draft is not the end of the road.
Earlier this year True's former Seattle teammate, Scott Eansor, inked a two-way deal with the New York Islanders. While Eansor is likely to be on the roster of the Islanders AHL affiliate the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for a second season, he's now officially part of the Islanders NHL family.
A day before the announcement of the True deal with San Jose, it was announced that last year's T-Birds captain, Turner Ottenbreit, had inked his first professional contract with the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the NHL's Colorado Avalanche. Of course during last season another T-Birds defenseman, Austin Strand, signed an entry level deal with the NHL's L.A. Kings.
Besides all being part of that T-Birds WHL championship roster, what else do those four players have in common? They were all signed as free agents. Not a one of them was an NHL draft pick. It means that after they were passed over in the NHL draft, they didn't stop working to reach their dream. And True and Eansor initially signed AHL, not NHL deals, but they weren't satisfied and used their first year as pros to improve their stock.
Having a rink side seat every night of their T-Birds careers, it was easy to root for these four players as they grew not only as players but young men. Those undrafted guys are like the underdogs and we seems to always root a little harder for the underdog. We know they haven't yet reached their ultimate goal of actually playing in the NHL, but these signings are another successful step along that journey. I don't have a crystal ball that will tell me if that journey will, in the end, be a success, but having seen how hard they have worked to get to this point, it's hard to not imagine them reaching that goal.
Not every player is fortunate to get drafted into the NHL like Mat Barzal, Ryan Gropp, Keegan Kolesar and Ethan Bear were. But like the Eansor's and True's of the world, those players still have to prove their worth every day. They are all on the same footing now, not necessarily equal in skill, but they all have the same shot. Draft status no longer matters. As much as we rejoiced in the NHL debuts of Barzal and Bear, tell me you aren't stoked for the chance to see Eansor or True take a shift in an NHL game? Tell me you don't expect Ottenbreit to someday follow True's lead and turn that AHL deal into an NHL contract?
Add in the signing of Sami Moilanen to a pro deal in his native Finland and that makes nine players from the championship roster who have signed pro deals. The signings may not be done. Defenseman Jarret Tyszka is looking to impress the Montreal Canadiens, the team that drafted him in the fifth round of the 2017 NHL draft, and earn a pro contract in their system. Younger players like Jake Lee and Dillon Hamaliuk are entering their first season of draft eligibility. Maybe an undrafted player will emerge this season and follow the path of Eansor, True, Ottenbreit and Strand by impressing an NHL scout enough that they earn a pro deal.
If nothing else these most recent signings should show that being passed over in the NHL draft is not the end of the road.
Thursday, June 28, 2018
An Import-ant Draft
For the first time in a few years, the Seattle Thunderbirds used both of their picks in the annual CHL Import Draft. The T-Birds needed to fill the slots on their roster previously occupied by Sami Moilanen, who signed a pro deal back in his native Finland, and Nikita Malukhin, the Russian winger Seattle chose not to bring back for a second season.
Before we get to the two players the T-Birds selected let me put down a few thoughts about Moilanen and Malukhin.
Here's the one thing you need to know about Sami. After Seattle lost the 2016 WHL Championship series to Brandon, they still brought back a solid core to compete for a title in 2017. At training camp that August, before the start of the 2016-17 season and just a few practices into camp, I asked then head coach Steve Konowalchuk what could be the difference between losing the title in 2016 and winning it in 2017. Along with his roster of core players being a year older, one of the first things he said to me was in 2016 they didn't have Moilanen. He had only seen Sami skate at a few sessions but he already knew he was going to be an impactful player and provide the team with needed depth up front.
Of course Seattle would go on to win the WHL Championship in 2017 and Moilanen had a big goal in the Game 6 clincher. He had a terrific rookie campaign. Still though, because of injuries last season, I don't think we ever saw the full potential of Moilanen. He got hurt just before going to prospects camp last summer with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and never got the chance to show the Avs what he could do. He had a terrific start to last season then got hurt in December at training camp with Finland's U-20 team, an injury that cost him a chance to play at the World Juniors. He came back in time for the playoffs, then was hurt in the opening round loss to Everett.
I think those injuries were a huge reason he decided to forego a third year with the T-Birds and go back home and start earning a paycheck rather then continue as an amateur. He was undersized but didn't shy away from physicality but it almost made the injuries inevitable. His size, or lack there of, seemed to make him play with a chip on his shoulder. I'll always remember him as the missing piece that completed the puzzle that led to championship.
Malukhin was Seattle's lone selection in the 2017 Import Draft. I never got the sense that Seattle brass were counting on him to be the next great T-Birds player from Russia. I think from the very beginning they took a "let's bring him over and see what he's got" very reserved approach with him. He had size and a heavy shot. He was a very quiet and polite young man. I think his foot speed and skating were his biggest liabilities. Malukhin is the poster child for the CHL Import Draft. You just don't know what you've got until they get here and then you hope for the best. Teams are relying a lot on word of mouth. He wasn't a bad player, he just didn't fit at the WHL level.
Which brings us to Seattle's two newest import players, Slovak winger Andrej Kukuca and Czech defenseman Simon Kubicek. I know close to nothing about either. I can read their stat pages and try to formulate an opinion, but that's it. I've never seen them play, yet they are going to be counted on to fill a couple of significant gaps on the T-Birds roster for the 2018-19 season.
The 19-year old Kukuca is going to need to be a top six, if not top three forward. He's going to have to be this year's Moilanen and produce offense. Without his injuries Moilanen was on a 30+ goal pace last season as an 18-year old. He would have been projected to potentially score 40 this season with the T-Birds as a 19-year old. Can Kukuca fill that void? His numbers from playing in Slovakia say he's an offensive talent. Will that translate to North America? That's a lot of pressure for a young man who won't meet his new linemates until late August.
There's not as much pressure on Kubicek. Seattle does have a lot of returning d-men but they also lost two big-time veteran contributers in Turner Ottenbreit and Austin Strand. Still, Kubicek's arrival is going to ratchet up the competition for both ice time and roster spots among the T-Birds d-corps. Kubicek is, like Seattle second year d-man Jake Lee, entering his 17-year old season, but he's a late birthday and won't be NHL draft eligible until 2020, one year after Lee is most likely drafted. His inclusion gives the T-Birds a nice group of d-men to grow together over the next few seasons. It could be him, Lee, Reece Harsch, Owen Williams, Tyson Terretta, Cade McNelly and Ty Bauer together for the next 2-3 years. This coming season, veteran Jarret Tyszka is on hand as well. There's not a lot of elbow room in that d-man room. Will someone get elbowed out?
One thing I noticed about Kubicek playing back in his native Czech Republic? It appears he got consistent opportunities to play with and against older players, including four games on the Czech U-20 team as a 16-year old. He's participated in international competition, so while young, he has some seasoning. He's the same height as the older-by-two-years Kukuca (6'2") but already 20 pounds heavier.
The label every player selected in the import draft gets is "potential". Let's see if that potential gets realized, beginning this September.
Before we get to the two players the T-Birds selected let me put down a few thoughts about Moilanen and Malukhin.
Here's the one thing you need to know about Sami. After Seattle lost the 2016 WHL Championship series to Brandon, they still brought back a solid core to compete for a title in 2017. At training camp that August, before the start of the 2016-17 season and just a few practices into camp, I asked then head coach Steve Konowalchuk what could be the difference between losing the title in 2016 and winning it in 2017. Along with his roster of core players being a year older, one of the first things he said to me was in 2016 they didn't have Moilanen. He had only seen Sami skate at a few sessions but he already knew he was going to be an impactful player and provide the team with needed depth up front.
Of course Seattle would go on to win the WHL Championship in 2017 and Moilanen had a big goal in the Game 6 clincher. He had a terrific rookie campaign. Still though, because of injuries last season, I don't think we ever saw the full potential of Moilanen. He got hurt just before going to prospects camp last summer with the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and never got the chance to show the Avs what he could do. He had a terrific start to last season then got hurt in December at training camp with Finland's U-20 team, an injury that cost him a chance to play at the World Juniors. He came back in time for the playoffs, then was hurt in the opening round loss to Everett.
I think those injuries were a huge reason he decided to forego a third year with the T-Birds and go back home and start earning a paycheck rather then continue as an amateur. He was undersized but didn't shy away from physicality but it almost made the injuries inevitable. His size, or lack there of, seemed to make him play with a chip on his shoulder. I'll always remember him as the missing piece that completed the puzzle that led to championship.
Malukhin was Seattle's lone selection in the 2017 Import Draft. I never got the sense that Seattle brass were counting on him to be the next great T-Birds player from Russia. I think from the very beginning they took a "let's bring him over and see what he's got" very reserved approach with him. He had size and a heavy shot. He was a very quiet and polite young man. I think his foot speed and skating were his biggest liabilities. Malukhin is the poster child for the CHL Import Draft. You just don't know what you've got until they get here and then you hope for the best. Teams are relying a lot on word of mouth. He wasn't a bad player, he just didn't fit at the WHL level.
Which brings us to Seattle's two newest import players, Slovak winger Andrej Kukuca and Czech defenseman Simon Kubicek. I know close to nothing about either. I can read their stat pages and try to formulate an opinion, but that's it. I've never seen them play, yet they are going to be counted on to fill a couple of significant gaps on the T-Birds roster for the 2018-19 season.
The 19-year old Kukuca is going to need to be a top six, if not top three forward. He's going to have to be this year's Moilanen and produce offense. Without his injuries Moilanen was on a 30+ goal pace last season as an 18-year old. He would have been projected to potentially score 40 this season with the T-Birds as a 19-year old. Can Kukuca fill that void? His numbers from playing in Slovakia say he's an offensive talent. Will that translate to North America? That's a lot of pressure for a young man who won't meet his new linemates until late August.
There's not as much pressure on Kubicek. Seattle does have a lot of returning d-men but they also lost two big-time veteran contributers in Turner Ottenbreit and Austin Strand. Still, Kubicek's arrival is going to ratchet up the competition for both ice time and roster spots among the T-Birds d-corps. Kubicek is, like Seattle second year d-man Jake Lee, entering his 17-year old season, but he's a late birthday and won't be NHL draft eligible until 2020, one year after Lee is most likely drafted. His inclusion gives the T-Birds a nice group of d-men to grow together over the next few seasons. It could be him, Lee, Reece Harsch, Owen Williams, Tyson Terretta, Cade McNelly and Ty Bauer together for the next 2-3 years. This coming season, veteran Jarret Tyszka is on hand as well. There's not a lot of elbow room in that d-man room. Will someone get elbowed out?
One thing I noticed about Kubicek playing back in his native Czech Republic? It appears he got consistent opportunities to play with and against older players, including four games on the Czech U-20 team as a 16-year old. He's participated in international competition, so while young, he has some seasoning. He's the same height as the older-by-two-years Kukuca (6'2") but already 20 pounds heavier.
The label every player selected in the import draft gets is "potential". Let's see if that potential gets realized, beginning this September.
Saturday, May 5, 2018
Future Earnings
The 2018 WHL Bantam draft has come and gone and when it was done Seattle had added nine prospects to the fold. As always, it will be a few years before we know the impact these young players will have on the franchise as none of them are eligible to play full time with the T-Birds until the 2019-20 season. Among their picks, the Thunderbirds selected six forwards.
That includes first round selection Kai Uchacz. Uchacz, from De Winton, Alberta was said, by those who follow Western Canadian Bantam players closely, to be a "fast riser" among his age group. In other words he had a very good bantam season that got him a lot of notice. Uchacz was captain of his Okotoks Oilers Bantam AAA team, putting up 42 points, including 25 goals, in 33 games. Like three of his fellow draftees, Uchacz also participated in the Alberta Cup where he put up 12 more points (8g, 4a) in just five games.
Seattle's Director of Player Personnel Cal Filson, said the mandate going into the scouting process is to find players who project out to be good, two-way, 200 foot players. “We just want to bring in guys that work hard, good skaters, good hockey sense and they have some character." But in the top rounds there seemed to be another theme. Find guys who can light the lamp. With their two second round selections, their own and one obtained in trade from Medicine Hat, Filson and the T-Birds selected two players who combined to earn 159 points in 64 games. Edmonton product Lucas Ciona registered 48 of those points in 30 games playing for the Northern Alberta Extreme Bantam Prep team. Ciona would seem to be a playmaker as 35 of his points were assists. Winnipeg's Conner Roulette was Seattle's other second round choice. All he did this past season was break Jonathan Toews record for points in Manitoba. Yes, that Jonathan Toews, the one who has led the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup titles. There is no guarantee that it will translate to the WHL level, but Roulette had 52 goals and 49 assists for 101 points in 34 games with the Winnipeg Hawks Bantam AAA team.
The T-Birds entered this year's draft without a third round pick. They did have two on the books for next year's draft though. It appears they used one of those, plus a 2018 sixth rounder they obtained from Red Deer in the Austin Strand trade to acquire the Rebels 2018 third rounder. With that pick Seattle chose Coquitlam, BC goalie Thomas Milic. Playing this past season with the Burnaby Winter Club Bantam Prep team, Milic was 13-7 with a 2.06 GAA and .925 save percentage. Filson likened his style to current T-Birds netminder Carl Stankowski. The T-Birds have done well as of late when drafting goalies in the third round or higher. Stankowski (2015) and Calvin Pickard (2007)were second round selections and Logan Flodell (2012) was a third round choice.
This move made me curious. Scouts, I'm sure, have an idea of the depth of not only this draft but of next year's draft as well, both in terms of overall talent and by position. Seattle could have held on to that 2019 pick for next season and had two third rounders, to go along with their first and two seconds. Are they making an educated gamble that Milic will be better then any goalie they could have had with one of those five picks in the first three rounds next spring? Or is the thinking that it is better to use those high 2019 draft picks on forwards and defensemen because the strength of next years draft will be in one of those two positions, so get the high end goalie now? If you want to be a scout, a GM or a Director of Player Personnel, I'm sure these are things you take into consideration.
Seattle picked their first defenseman of the draft in round four, plucking Roblin, Manitoba's Aiden Brook off the roster of the Parkland Rangers Bantam AAA team. Brook was described as a big, strong two-way defenseman. He comes from good blood lines. His brother Josh, also a defenseman, went fourth overall to Moose Jaw in the 2014 draft then was taken in round two (56th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. Meanwhile brother Jakob, a winger, was a 2017 second round pick of the Prince Albert Raiders.
Seattle went back to the point-producing forward well in the fifth round adding Sam Popowich from Camrose, Alberta. Playing with the Camrose Red Wings Popowich produced 45 points (19g) in a 34 game season. In round seven the T-Birds picked defenseman Noah Barlage, another player with good WHL bloodlines. In 2016, his older brother Logan was the fourth overall pick in the first round of the bantam draft, going to Swift Current. Logan, a forward, was the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade between the Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes this past winter. Noah may have some room to grow. He's currently listed at 6'0" but brother Logan is now 6'4".
For their last two selections Seattle again chose a couple of forwards. Eighth rounder Reid Schaefer is described by Filson as a "hard-nosed power forward who makes room on the ice for his teammates." The Spruce Grove, Alberta native played last year for OHA Edmonton Bantam Prep where he had 23 points in 27 games.
And with their last selection of the draft Seattle kept it close to home by choosing Gig Harbor native Mekai Sanders. This past winter Sanders played with the Detroit Compuware 14U and put up 18 points in 20 games. Like most US born players, you don't know what path he will take in his hockey career. Will it be the WHL or NCAA? But at least his mom was excited to have Seattle choose him, tweeting a picture from 2014 of Mekai with his late grandfather from his playing days with the Junior Thunderbirds.
That includes first round selection Kai Uchacz. Uchacz, from De Winton, Alberta was said, by those who follow Western Canadian Bantam players closely, to be a "fast riser" among his age group. In other words he had a very good bantam season that got him a lot of notice. Uchacz was captain of his Okotoks Oilers Bantam AAA team, putting up 42 points, including 25 goals, in 33 games. Like three of his fellow draftees, Uchacz also participated in the Alberta Cup where he put up 12 more points (8g, 4a) in just five games.
Seattle's Director of Player Personnel Cal Filson, said the mandate going into the scouting process is to find players who project out to be good, two-way, 200 foot players. “We just want to bring in guys that work hard, good skaters, good hockey sense and they have some character." But in the top rounds there seemed to be another theme. Find guys who can light the lamp. With their two second round selections, their own and one obtained in trade from Medicine Hat, Filson and the T-Birds selected two players who combined to earn 159 points in 64 games. Edmonton product Lucas Ciona registered 48 of those points in 30 games playing for the Northern Alberta Extreme Bantam Prep team. Ciona would seem to be a playmaker as 35 of his points were assists. Winnipeg's Conner Roulette was Seattle's other second round choice. All he did this past season was break Jonathan Toews record for points in Manitoba. Yes, that Jonathan Toews, the one who has led the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup titles. There is no guarantee that it will translate to the WHL level, but Roulette had 52 goals and 49 assists for 101 points in 34 games with the Winnipeg Hawks Bantam AAA team.
The T-Birds entered this year's draft without a third round pick. They did have two on the books for next year's draft though. It appears they used one of those, plus a 2018 sixth rounder they obtained from Red Deer in the Austin Strand trade to acquire the Rebels 2018 third rounder. With that pick Seattle chose Coquitlam, BC goalie Thomas Milic. Playing this past season with the Burnaby Winter Club Bantam Prep team, Milic was 13-7 with a 2.06 GAA and .925 save percentage. Filson likened his style to current T-Birds netminder Carl Stankowski. The T-Birds have done well as of late when drafting goalies in the third round or higher. Stankowski (2015) and Calvin Pickard (2007)were second round selections and Logan Flodell (2012) was a third round choice.
This move made me curious. Scouts, I'm sure, have an idea of the depth of not only this draft but of next year's draft as well, both in terms of overall talent and by position. Seattle could have held on to that 2019 pick for next season and had two third rounders, to go along with their first and two seconds. Are they making an educated gamble that Milic will be better then any goalie they could have had with one of those five picks in the first three rounds next spring? Or is the thinking that it is better to use those high 2019 draft picks on forwards and defensemen because the strength of next years draft will be in one of those two positions, so get the high end goalie now? If you want to be a scout, a GM or a Director of Player Personnel, I'm sure these are things you take into consideration.
Seattle picked their first defenseman of the draft in round four, plucking Roblin, Manitoba's Aiden Brook off the roster of the Parkland Rangers Bantam AAA team. Brook was described as a big, strong two-way defenseman. He comes from good blood lines. His brother Josh, also a defenseman, went fourth overall to Moose Jaw in the 2014 draft then was taken in round two (56th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft by the Montreal Canadiens. Meanwhile brother Jakob, a winger, was a 2017 second round pick of the Prince Albert Raiders.
Seattle went back to the point-producing forward well in the fifth round adding Sam Popowich from Camrose, Alberta. Playing with the Camrose Red Wings Popowich produced 45 points (19g) in a 34 game season. In round seven the T-Birds picked defenseman Noah Barlage, another player with good WHL bloodlines. In 2016, his older brother Logan was the fourth overall pick in the first round of the bantam draft, going to Swift Current. Logan, a forward, was the centerpiece of a blockbuster trade between the Broncos and Lethbridge Hurricanes this past winter. Noah may have some room to grow. He's currently listed at 6'0" but brother Logan is now 6'4".
For their last two selections Seattle again chose a couple of forwards. Eighth rounder Reid Schaefer is described by Filson as a "hard-nosed power forward who makes room on the ice for his teammates." The Spruce Grove, Alberta native played last year for OHA Edmonton Bantam Prep where he had 23 points in 27 games.
And with their last selection of the draft Seattle kept it close to home by choosing Gig Harbor native Mekai Sanders. This past winter Sanders played with the Detroit Compuware 14U and put up 18 points in 20 games. Like most US born players, you don't know what path he will take in his hockey career. Will it be the WHL or NCAA? But at least his mom was excited to have Seattle choose him, tweeting a picture from 2014 of Mekai with his late grandfather from his playing days with the Junior Thunderbirds.
Sunday, April 29, 2018
The Draft is on Tap
This week the Western Hockey League will hold its annual Bantam Draft as the 22 teams will choose the stars of tomorrow. The Seattle Thunderbirds will have three of the top 35 picks. They choose tenth overall in round one and will have two selections in round two. They have the 32nd pick which is their own, and the 34th pick, a selection they acquired from Medicine Hat in the Elijah Brown deal.
The T-Birds do not have a third round pick. That belongs to Swift Current. It was the price Seattle paid two years ago to acquire goaltender Landon Bow at the 2016 WHL trade deadline. At the time of the trade it was a conditional second rounder going back to the Broncos. Apparently the conditions weren't met and it reverted to a third round choice.
Bow of course would help lead Seattle to the WHL Championship series that year against Brandon, a series they would lose in five games. Seattle would return to the WHL Championship last spring and claim the Chynoweth Cup for the first time in franchise history, besting Regina in six games. Once again Seattle surrendered a third round pick to help strengthen their team for the playoffs. They acquired defenseman Aaron Hyman from Calgary. But that third round pick was originally Price Albert's, one Seattle got in the Cavin Leth trade.
Now, there were other deals made along the way to improve the T-Birds roster for their two runs to the league final, but the highest price they paid in both instances was a third round draft pick, one of which wasn't even their own. I emphasize that point to make this point; the best way to build a championship caliber team is through the Bantam Draft. I'm not saying it is the only way, I'm saying it is the best way.
Look at three of the four teams remaining in the postseason heading into the week of April 30th. Everett, Swift Current and Tri-City paid steep prices for their deep playoff runs. At a minimum, all gave up at least one first round bantam draft pick. All three gave away young prospects. Other teams, who have since been eliminated from the postseason, paid big prices for a shot at the holy grail too. Teams like Portland, Regina, Victoria and Moose Jaw all made splashy trades at the deadline that cost them either first rounders or young prospects and in most cases both. A year ago it was Prince George selling the farm for a chance at the Cup. Meanwhile in two runs to the Chynoweth Cup Finals Seattle never sent their first rounder, or for that matter their second round pick, away in a trade. They didn't mortgage the future. Because they drafted well, they didn't need to.
You could argue Seattle lost first rounders along the way too. That is true but it wasn't because of a deal to help them win their first ever WHL title. Seattle had two first round picks in 2013 but neither of them made an impact on the team. Defenseman Dante Fabbro never signed, foregoing the WHL for the NCAA. Winger Kaden Elder was with the team until being dealt to Swift Current in December of 2015 in exchange for Owen Seidel. That trade was made to accommodate a dissatisfied 17 year old Elder who was not happy with his ice time on Seattle's fourth line. Unfortunately Seidel, after a promising start with the T-Birds, got hurt and retired from the game just before the start of the 2016-17 season.
Again a disagreement over ice time led the T-Birds to trade 2015 first round bantam pick Elijah Brown this winter to Medicine Hat in exchange for a second and a third round draft pick but Brown was still on the roster for their Championship win.
Of the players on Seattle's Cup winning team, 17 of 24 were either drafted or listed by the T-Birds. 14 were bantam draft choices, two were import picks and one, Scott Eansor was a listed player. Ten of those players were selected in either the first or second round of their bantam drafts. Two were first round Import Draft selections. I'm no math expert, and I'm sure someone out there will point that out to me after reading this, but I believe that is about 66 percent of that roster coming out of the bantam draft and 42 percent of the championship roster built through the first two rounds. The draft is key!
The players they acquired in trade? Hyman, Turner Ottenbreit, Rylan Toth, Tyler Adams, Austin Strand, Anthony Bishop and Zack Andrusiak. Only two of those players they traded for cost Seattle a draft pick, Hyman and Toth. You could argue though that the acquisition of Hyman really was at the expense of Leth. Remember before the start of the 2016-17 season Seattle traded Leth to Prince Albert for Andursiak and a third round pick, then sent the third round pick to Calgary in January 2017 for Hyman.
In a January trade with Regina T-Birds GM Russ Farwell turned Hyman into a 2019 second round pick and young defenseman Owen Williams. The T-Birds also got a draft pick back in the Strand trade, acquiring the defenseman in December of 2016 along with a sixth round pick from Red Deer for Brandon Schuldhaus.
Four years of Ottenbreit was acquired from Saskatoon for a few months of 20-year old Adam Henry. Seattle sent prospect Mackenzie Wight to Swift Current for Adams. Acquiring Toth and having a young Carl Stankowski made former third round pick Logan Flodell expendable prior to last season. He was dealt to Saskatoon for Bishop. Bishop subsequently was dealt to Victoria for Blake Bargar.
In the past I've mentioned how Seattle has found gems late in the draft. Recently graduated out Donovan Neuls being a prime example. There have been others such as current defenseman Reece Harsch or even a guy like Lane Pederson, a former fifth rounder who spend most of his WHL career with Swift Current. Plain and simple though, Seattle built their Chynoweth Cup winner specifically through the top of the draft, then didn't sacrifice future drafts to supplement it.
Which brings us to this week and the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft. Three picks in the top 35. A draft that, if you listen to those in the know, may not have tremendous superstar power throughout, but is thought to have tremendous depth.
Three picks in the top 35 doesn't guarantee success. Twice recently Seattle had a similar scenario. In 2012 they ended up with Barzal, Kolesar and Bear. In 2013 they selected Fabbro, Elder and Nolan Volcan. You might rush to say in one instance it worked out and in another they fell a bit short. I will argue they got the picks right in both instances. At the time of the 2013 draft they had no way of knowing Fabbro would spurn them for the NCAA or that Elder would ask for a trade two years later, primarily because Seattle had a team full of older, quality forwards.
No one bats a thousand but the T-Birds have made more contact then not when they swing away at the draft recently. Four of those six players mentioned are now NHL draft picks and two of them, Barzal and Fabbro were first round NHL selections. Barzal and Bear are already in the NHL with Barzal soon to be named the NHL's Calder Trophy winner as 2017-18 NHL Rookie of the Year.
Kolesar, property of the NHL's Las Vegas Golden Knights, just finished a strong season in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves. Volcan, will be the T-Birds captain next year and is on the path to earning a pro deal. He's already been to and had a solid NHL camp with Pittsburgh. Meanwhile Elder is currently helping Swift Current as they chase a WHL Championship. Let's also not forget that Seattle's first round pick before those two drafts, 2011's Ryan Gropp was drafted into the NHL, and their first round pick after those two drafts, 2014's Jarret Tyszka, was as well.
The scouts have done their work. If the T-Birds can have similar success with their first three picks later this week, they will be well on their way to continuing to build upon the culture of winning they have created. Remember too, not only does Seattle have three selections in the top 35 picks this year, but next spring, barring trades, Seattle could potentially have five picks in the first three rounds. That includes their own first, second and third round choices, plus Regina's second rounder obtained in the Hyman trade and a conditional third rounder from Medicine Hat acquired in the Brown deal. So Seattle conceivably will end up with eight players from the top of the next two bantam drafts. That could constitute the core of a championship contender.
The T-Birds do not have a third round pick. That belongs to Swift Current. It was the price Seattle paid two years ago to acquire goaltender Landon Bow at the 2016 WHL trade deadline. At the time of the trade it was a conditional second rounder going back to the Broncos. Apparently the conditions weren't met and it reverted to a third round choice.
Bow of course would help lead Seattle to the WHL Championship series that year against Brandon, a series they would lose in five games. Seattle would return to the WHL Championship last spring and claim the Chynoweth Cup for the first time in franchise history, besting Regina in six games. Once again Seattle surrendered a third round pick to help strengthen their team for the playoffs. They acquired defenseman Aaron Hyman from Calgary. But that third round pick was originally Price Albert's, one Seattle got in the Cavin Leth trade.
Now, there were other deals made along the way to improve the T-Birds roster for their two runs to the league final, but the highest price they paid in both instances was a third round draft pick, one of which wasn't even their own. I emphasize that point to make this point; the best way to build a championship caliber team is through the Bantam Draft. I'm not saying it is the only way, I'm saying it is the best way.
Look at three of the four teams remaining in the postseason heading into the week of April 30th. Everett, Swift Current and Tri-City paid steep prices for their deep playoff runs. At a minimum, all gave up at least one first round bantam draft pick. All three gave away young prospects. Other teams, who have since been eliminated from the postseason, paid big prices for a shot at the holy grail too. Teams like Portland, Regina, Victoria and Moose Jaw all made splashy trades at the deadline that cost them either first rounders or young prospects and in most cases both. A year ago it was Prince George selling the farm for a chance at the Cup. Meanwhile in two runs to the Chynoweth Cup Finals Seattle never sent their first rounder, or for that matter their second round pick, away in a trade. They didn't mortgage the future. Because they drafted well, they didn't need to.
You could argue Seattle lost first rounders along the way too. That is true but it wasn't because of a deal to help them win their first ever WHL title. Seattle had two first round picks in 2013 but neither of them made an impact on the team. Defenseman Dante Fabbro never signed, foregoing the WHL for the NCAA. Winger Kaden Elder was with the team until being dealt to Swift Current in December of 2015 in exchange for Owen Seidel. That trade was made to accommodate a dissatisfied 17 year old Elder who was not happy with his ice time on Seattle's fourth line. Unfortunately Seidel, after a promising start with the T-Birds, got hurt and retired from the game just before the start of the 2016-17 season.
Again a disagreement over ice time led the T-Birds to trade 2015 first round bantam pick Elijah Brown this winter to Medicine Hat in exchange for a second and a third round draft pick but Brown was still on the roster for their Championship win.
Of the players on Seattle's Cup winning team, 17 of 24 were either drafted or listed by the T-Birds. 14 were bantam draft choices, two were import picks and one, Scott Eansor was a listed player. Ten of those players were selected in either the first or second round of their bantam drafts. Two were first round Import Draft selections. I'm no math expert, and I'm sure someone out there will point that out to me after reading this, but I believe that is about 66 percent of that roster coming out of the bantam draft and 42 percent of the championship roster built through the first two rounds. The draft is key!
The players they acquired in trade? Hyman, Turner Ottenbreit, Rylan Toth, Tyler Adams, Austin Strand, Anthony Bishop and Zack Andrusiak. Only two of those players they traded for cost Seattle a draft pick, Hyman and Toth. You could argue though that the acquisition of Hyman really was at the expense of Leth. Remember before the start of the 2016-17 season Seattle traded Leth to Prince Albert for Andursiak and a third round pick, then sent the third round pick to Calgary in January 2017 for Hyman.
In a January trade with Regina T-Birds GM Russ Farwell turned Hyman into a 2019 second round pick and young defenseman Owen Williams. The T-Birds also got a draft pick back in the Strand trade, acquiring the defenseman in December of 2016 along with a sixth round pick from Red Deer for Brandon Schuldhaus.
Four years of Ottenbreit was acquired from Saskatoon for a few months of 20-year old Adam Henry. Seattle sent prospect Mackenzie Wight to Swift Current for Adams. Acquiring Toth and having a young Carl Stankowski made former third round pick Logan Flodell expendable prior to last season. He was dealt to Saskatoon for Bishop. Bishop subsequently was dealt to Victoria for Blake Bargar.
In the past I've mentioned how Seattle has found gems late in the draft. Recently graduated out Donovan Neuls being a prime example. There have been others such as current defenseman Reece Harsch or even a guy like Lane Pederson, a former fifth rounder who spend most of his WHL career with Swift Current. Plain and simple though, Seattle built their Chynoweth Cup winner specifically through the top of the draft, then didn't sacrifice future drafts to supplement it.
Which brings us to this week and the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft. Three picks in the top 35. A draft that, if you listen to those in the know, may not have tremendous superstar power throughout, but is thought to have tremendous depth.
Three picks in the top 35 doesn't guarantee success. Twice recently Seattle had a similar scenario. In 2012 they ended up with Barzal, Kolesar and Bear. In 2013 they selected Fabbro, Elder and Nolan Volcan. You might rush to say in one instance it worked out and in another they fell a bit short. I will argue they got the picks right in both instances. At the time of the 2013 draft they had no way of knowing Fabbro would spurn them for the NCAA or that Elder would ask for a trade two years later, primarily because Seattle had a team full of older, quality forwards.
No one bats a thousand but the T-Birds have made more contact then not when they swing away at the draft recently. Four of those six players mentioned are now NHL draft picks and two of them, Barzal and Fabbro were first round NHL selections. Barzal and Bear are already in the NHL with Barzal soon to be named the NHL's Calder Trophy winner as 2017-18 NHL Rookie of the Year.
Kolesar, property of the NHL's Las Vegas Golden Knights, just finished a strong season in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves. Volcan, will be the T-Birds captain next year and is on the path to earning a pro deal. He's already been to and had a solid NHL camp with Pittsburgh. Meanwhile Elder is currently helping Swift Current as they chase a WHL Championship. Let's also not forget that Seattle's first round pick before those two drafts, 2011's Ryan Gropp was drafted into the NHL, and their first round pick after those two drafts, 2014's Jarret Tyszka, was as well.
The scouts have done their work. If the T-Birds can have similar success with their first three picks later this week, they will be well on their way to continuing to build upon the culture of winning they have created. Remember too, not only does Seattle have three selections in the top 35 picks this year, but next spring, barring trades, Seattle could potentially have five picks in the first three rounds. That includes their own first, second and third round choices, plus Regina's second rounder obtained in the Hyman trade and a conditional third rounder from Medicine Hat acquired in the Brown deal. So Seattle conceivably will end up with eight players from the top of the next two bantam drafts. That could constitute the core of a championship contender.
Saturday, April 14, 2018
The Coaching Game
When Steve Konowalchuk took the reins as Seattle's head coach nearly seven years ago, one of the reasons he cited for accepting the position was the chance to work with and develop raw, young players into professionals. Working with the younger players in the Colorado Avalanche system was something he had done a little of while on that staff of the NHL team. Coming to Seattle allowed him to do it full-time.
He was pretty good at it too. Mat Barzal was going to be an NHL player but Konowalchuk showed him that talent alone was not enough. In conversations with media at various times during his rookie season with the New York Islanders this past year Barzal often cited the influence of Konowalchuk on his total game.
Barzal was the no brainer in the group though, almost pegged as a surefire NHLer before Kono even arrived in Seattle. Konowalchuk's biggest fingerprint might be on guys like Scott Eansor and Alexander True, a couple of undrafted players who signed AHL deals. Like Barzal he showed them as well that it takes more then talent to make it at hockey's highest level. He instilled a work ethic in them that says you can't cut corners.
In his last four years behind the Seattle bench, Konowalchuk had a secret weapon to help him in developing those players. that secret weapon was Matt O'Dette. O'Dette too had his influence on those players. As the primary assistant coach, he was in charge of the defensemen. Two of them, Shea Theodore and Ethan Bear, earned WHL Defenseman of the Year honors under his tutelage. Both were drafted into the NHL and both are now NHLers. Then there is Austin Strand, recently signed by the NHL's L.A. Kings, and Turner Ottenbreit who has hooked on with the AHL's San Antonio Rampage (Colorado Avalanche affiliate) for the end of their season. O'Dette has had a significant impact on the development of their game as well and it continued after Konowalchuk left.
O'Dette also was responsible for the penalty kill under Kono and Seattle's PK has been fairly consistently a top ten penalty kill team in the WHL over that span, often in the top five. So, O'Dette had cache before he took over for Konowalchuk behind the bench this season. So how did he do bringing all that out in the open his first year at the helm?
Let's start with this, in the end coaches are always going to be judged by wins and losses. In his first season O'Dette took a team devoid of the star players it had the previous four campaigns and led them to a 34-28-8-2 record and into the first round of the playoffs. It's one season but he had them playing winning hockey. You can check that box in his favor.
He accomplished that record with a staff lacking in coaching experience. The only guy standing behind the T-birds bench with any previous coaching on his resume when this season began was O'Dette. His two assistants were coaching neophytes. The previous season both Kyle Hagel and Castan Sommer were still pro hockey players. So O'Dette wasn't just coaching the players, he was also coaching up the coaches. He had a hand in picking his assistants then integrating them into his systems.
Personally, I think it went seamlessly. First, it appears he picked the right guys. Both Hagel and Sommer are enthusiastic, fresh voices who can smartly articulate the message to the players. In retrospect I think it was a good idea to get two guys just entering the coaching profession to work with a roster featuring a lot of young players pushing their way onto the Thunderbirds roster for the first time. Guys like Sam Huo, Holden Katzalay, Payton Mount and Graeme Bryks are the recipients of that new positive energy Hagel and Sommer are bringing. Would it have worked with a more veteran roster featuring NHL drafted players like Barzal, Bear, Kolesar and Gropp? I'm not so sure.
As we know, O'Dette's first year as head coach featured a roster with no Barzal, no Bear, no Kolesar, no Gropp, no Eansor and no True. He had some solid returning vets in Ottenbreit, Strand, Donovan Neuls, and Nolan Volcan but when the year started he had just one NHL draft pick on the roster, Montreal Canadiens fifth rounder Jarett Tyszka. Eventually Strand would sign his deal with the Kings but that would be it. Then at the midseason trade deadline Seattle dealt away 19 year old defenseman Aaron Hyman and not long after that 18 year old d-man Reece Harsch went down with injury and missed 19 games. All of a sudden Seattle was dressing three rookie defenseman every night. Did they take some lumps? Sure they did but O'Dette and his staff kept them glued together well enough to get that postseason spot.
The goaltending situation has been well documented too. Look, when you come into your first year as head coach thinking the one position you don't have to worry about is goaltending and it ends up being the position you worry about the most, it would be easy to panic. Instead O'Dette handed the job to whoever was healthy that night and put faith not just in them, but the team around them until he could settle on a number one guy. The coach believed in his players and that gave them the ability to believe in themselves. To paraphrase the late, great Yogi Berra, hockey is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical. A good coach recognizes that.
At the end of the day there is no way you can look back on this past season and say this team underachieved. If anything most pundits and fans would say the team surpassed what they thought they would have accomplished. It was a transition year that, frankly, I think went better then expected. You knew they would be integrating in a lot of young rookies but to do it and still finish above .500 and in the postseason is a win-win.
If you're still not sold on Matt O'Dette and the job he did, here's something to chew on. In their first round playoff series against Everett, the 8th seeded T-birds lost to the first seeded Silvertips in five games. That's expected to happen. Eight seeds just don't upset one seeds. In that series, the T-birds, with their one NHL free agent and one NHL drafted player (who missed the last two games of the series by the way) scored ten goals and allowed 22.
Now, I'm not saying that is anything to write home about. But by comparison, in the second round it was the Portland Winterhawks turn to face that same Everett team. This was a Portland team that many experts believed would compete for a title this season. That Portland team finished with the second best record in the Western Conference and fourth best regular season record in the entire WHL. It was the very same Portland team with seven NHL draft picks on the roster, including four first rounders, along with a free agent goalie who also had signed an NHL deal. Like Seattle, Portland lost their second round series to the Silvertips in five games. How many goals did they score? Nine, one LESS then Seattle How many did they give up? 21 just ONE fewer then the T-birds.
My point here is to draw attention to just how well Matt O'Dette did his first season behind the bench, when he could take a lesser roster then one loaded with NHL prospects, such as the one down in Portland, and essentially produce the same results.
It's just one season and there are no guarantees the second will be better then the first. But I'm looking forward to watching O'Dette and his staff grow together with this young team.
He was pretty good at it too. Mat Barzal was going to be an NHL player but Konowalchuk showed him that talent alone was not enough. In conversations with media at various times during his rookie season with the New York Islanders this past year Barzal often cited the influence of Konowalchuk on his total game.
Barzal was the no brainer in the group though, almost pegged as a surefire NHLer before Kono even arrived in Seattle. Konowalchuk's biggest fingerprint might be on guys like Scott Eansor and Alexander True, a couple of undrafted players who signed AHL deals. Like Barzal he showed them as well that it takes more then talent to make it at hockey's highest level. He instilled a work ethic in them that says you can't cut corners.
In his last four years behind the Seattle bench, Konowalchuk had a secret weapon to help him in developing those players. that secret weapon was Matt O'Dette. O'Dette too had his influence on those players. As the primary assistant coach, he was in charge of the defensemen. Two of them, Shea Theodore and Ethan Bear, earned WHL Defenseman of the Year honors under his tutelage. Both were drafted into the NHL and both are now NHLers. Then there is Austin Strand, recently signed by the NHL's L.A. Kings, and Turner Ottenbreit who has hooked on with the AHL's San Antonio Rampage (Colorado Avalanche affiliate) for the end of their season. O'Dette has had a significant impact on the development of their game as well and it continued after Konowalchuk left.
O'Dette also was responsible for the penalty kill under Kono and Seattle's PK has been fairly consistently a top ten penalty kill team in the WHL over that span, often in the top five. So, O'Dette had cache before he took over for Konowalchuk behind the bench this season. So how did he do bringing all that out in the open his first year at the helm?
Let's start with this, in the end coaches are always going to be judged by wins and losses. In his first season O'Dette took a team devoid of the star players it had the previous four campaigns and led them to a 34-28-8-2 record and into the first round of the playoffs. It's one season but he had them playing winning hockey. You can check that box in his favor.
He accomplished that record with a staff lacking in coaching experience. The only guy standing behind the T-birds bench with any previous coaching on his resume when this season began was O'Dette. His two assistants were coaching neophytes. The previous season both Kyle Hagel and Castan Sommer were still pro hockey players. So O'Dette wasn't just coaching the players, he was also coaching up the coaches. He had a hand in picking his assistants then integrating them into his systems.
Personally, I think it went seamlessly. First, it appears he picked the right guys. Both Hagel and Sommer are enthusiastic, fresh voices who can smartly articulate the message to the players. In retrospect I think it was a good idea to get two guys just entering the coaching profession to work with a roster featuring a lot of young players pushing their way onto the Thunderbirds roster for the first time. Guys like Sam Huo, Holden Katzalay, Payton Mount and Graeme Bryks are the recipients of that new positive energy Hagel and Sommer are bringing. Would it have worked with a more veteran roster featuring NHL drafted players like Barzal, Bear, Kolesar and Gropp? I'm not so sure.
As we know, O'Dette's first year as head coach featured a roster with no Barzal, no Bear, no Kolesar, no Gropp, no Eansor and no True. He had some solid returning vets in Ottenbreit, Strand, Donovan Neuls, and Nolan Volcan but when the year started he had just one NHL draft pick on the roster, Montreal Canadiens fifth rounder Jarett Tyszka. Eventually Strand would sign his deal with the Kings but that would be it. Then at the midseason trade deadline Seattle dealt away 19 year old defenseman Aaron Hyman and not long after that 18 year old d-man Reece Harsch went down with injury and missed 19 games. All of a sudden Seattle was dressing three rookie defenseman every night. Did they take some lumps? Sure they did but O'Dette and his staff kept them glued together well enough to get that postseason spot.
The goaltending situation has been well documented too. Look, when you come into your first year as head coach thinking the one position you don't have to worry about is goaltending and it ends up being the position you worry about the most, it would be easy to panic. Instead O'Dette handed the job to whoever was healthy that night and put faith not just in them, but the team around them until he could settle on a number one guy. The coach believed in his players and that gave them the ability to believe in themselves. To paraphrase the late, great Yogi Berra, hockey is ninety percent mental and the other half is physical. A good coach recognizes that.
At the end of the day there is no way you can look back on this past season and say this team underachieved. If anything most pundits and fans would say the team surpassed what they thought they would have accomplished. It was a transition year that, frankly, I think went better then expected. You knew they would be integrating in a lot of young rookies but to do it and still finish above .500 and in the postseason is a win-win.
If you're still not sold on Matt O'Dette and the job he did, here's something to chew on. In their first round playoff series against Everett, the 8th seeded T-birds lost to the first seeded Silvertips in five games. That's expected to happen. Eight seeds just don't upset one seeds. In that series, the T-birds, with their one NHL free agent and one NHL drafted player (who missed the last two games of the series by the way) scored ten goals and allowed 22.
Now, I'm not saying that is anything to write home about. But by comparison, in the second round it was the Portland Winterhawks turn to face that same Everett team. This was a Portland team that many experts believed would compete for a title this season. That Portland team finished with the second best record in the Western Conference and fourth best regular season record in the entire WHL. It was the very same Portland team with seven NHL draft picks on the roster, including four first rounders, along with a free agent goalie who also had signed an NHL deal. Like Seattle, Portland lost their second round series to the Silvertips in five games. How many goals did they score? Nine, one LESS then Seattle How many did they give up? 21 just ONE fewer then the T-birds.
My point here is to draw attention to just how well Matt O'Dette did his first season behind the bench, when he could take a lesser roster then one loaded with NHL prospects, such as the one down in Portland, and essentially produce the same results.
It's just one season and there are no guarantees the second will be better then the first. But I'm looking forward to watching O'Dette and his staff grow together with this young team.
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