What could go wrong for Warriors?

The Moose Jaw Warriors head into the last half of the season having smashed all expectations and lead the toughest division in hockey with a mix of scoring, defence and on and off-ice leadership.

So what could possibly go wrong?

Quite a few things, actually but much of which can be addressed in advance of the Western Hockey League’s Jan.10, 2018 trade deadline. Taking a look at what they have (a lot) and what they need (probably not a lot) going into the last half of the season, the Warriors already have many of the things successful teams need. Trades for Ryan Peckford and Vince Loschiavo have provided solid depth at forward without costing too much apart from Noah Gregor. The Warriors now have three solid lines that each have scoring experience and with the addition of Barrett Sheen, they have a ton of grit to go along with it at the forward position. There will be no easy shifts against the Warriors this year.

On defence, though, the team has struggled through injuries to some of their key pieces but have stayed relatively good with the bumps and bruises. They’ve needed call-ups, particularly future WHL star Daemon Hunt, a bit too much in the early going but the Warriors have most of what they need to be a first place team.

The goaltending has been excellent as well. Brody Willms has stood tall in the net and provided natural good reflexes and a good glove hand to be exactly what the team needs.

But just as the team is in a very good position right now and things are clicking along for the most part, there are some things Moose Jaw needs if they want to maintain their position with their key division rivals, Swift Current and Brandon, and the Memorial Cup host Regina. Entering the Christmas break, the Warriors were sixth in the league on the power play and sixth in penalty kill. These are the kind of numbers that can be exploited by the best of the best teams. Whether that means taking liberties against the star players when it comes to hitting or hauling them down when the heat gets too much, it’s potentially a big factor against a team that’s better on specialty teams.

What could help this is the acquisition of a star power play blueliner who can dish the puck around with the man advantage. Brayden Burke does this well as a forward – and it’s part of the reason he’s on pace to beat the team’s single-season assist record – but this may be more tailored for a natual defenceman. One should be acquired, probably a 19-year-old. I wouldn’t touch a single one of the 20-year-olds in Burke, Jayden Halbgewachs and Tanner Jeannot. I also wouldn’t touch any of Jett Woo, Josh Brook or Oleg Sosunov to get this defenceman.

The other issue the team has where a veteran could fill a position is in net. It’s not that Adam Evanoff hasn’t played well or that Willms needs to be pushed. The Warriors are one ill-fated crash of their net away from having a 17-year-old player with eight games of WHL experience as the last line of defence. Evanoff’s numbers in his eight games have been very good but the team should probably add a third with more experience – even if only to keep him in Junior A until they need him. The price tag doesn’t need to be very high for this but the goalie they pick up will need to be understanding of the situation.

The fact is though that a lot of pieces are going to be picked up by other teams in the division with the same goal as the Warriors. This team has never been this good at this point in the season before and it would be a shame to not at least try to get the last few missing pieces.