Pats hoping for an assist in recruiting prospects
Team has WHL rights to a number of top players who may choose another route
The Regina Pats are dealing with a lot of ‘what ifs’ heading into the 2020-21 season.
Not only is it unclear when WHL action might resume due to COVID -19, there’s also a curiosity factor as the Pats embark upon the later stages of a major rebuild.
How much can they be expected to improve next season?
It might be a pipe dream, but the answer would become a lot more intriguing if the Pats’ ongoing efforts to recruit 18-year-old forwards Ty Smilanic and Danil Gushchin were to suddenly bear fruit.
“That would change it big time,” Pats general manager John Paddock said. “At some point in the middle of the winter last year I had an NHL scout tell me: ‘If you had those two guys this year, you’d be pushing for a playoff spot.’
“If you add players like that, it would drastically change everything.”
The Pats continue to hold out some level of hope for Gushchin, who elected to remain with the USHL’S Muskegon Lumberjacks after he was selected seventh overall in the 2019 CHL import draft.
Regina appears to be on even thinner ice with Smilanic, a Denver native who has committed to Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Conn. He spent the past two years with the U.S. development program and is a possible first-round pick in the 2020 NHL draft.
Gushchin is considered a potential second- or third-round prospect.
There’s a chance both players could be nudged in the Pats’ direction by the NHL teams that draft them, but Paddock isn’t holding his breath.
“I talked to (Smilanic’s) representatives the other day,” Paddock said. “At this point he’s focused on the college (route). We like to say the NHL teams can change that and they can. But NHL teams, probably for varying reasons, stay in the ( background) as far as directing players. Can you get help from them? Yes. Do you? Not always. Can you count on it? No, not at all. I think there are circumstances that could lead to (Smilanic) coming in our direction. But that’s certainly not inevitable.”
The Pats might also need some help to recruit forward Ean Somoza, 17, whose WHL rights were acquired last season from the Everett Silvertips.
“I’m not optimistic about that one,” Paddock said.
“Things change but I think his intent is to pursue the other route. That’s what we thought after going to see him and talking to him and his agent. He has an older brother playing college. That’s the route at this point.
“That’s where it’s at.”
However, Paddock isn’t closing the door completely. He believes the Pats’ recruiting efforts in general could be aided by the arrival of phenom Connor Bedard.
“(Somoza) is the kind of player with lots of ability that you never know what can happen down the road when you have a player like Bedard on your team,” Paddock said. “That can change some things. It’s a little bit more of a carrot.”
Meanwhile, the Pats have had positive dialogue with two of their top unsigned picks from the 2019 bantam draft: Sam Huck (second round) and Braxton Whitehead (third round).
Huck, a Calgary product, is small but highly skilled.
“We think a lot of the player,” Paddock said. “For us, he doesn’t have to grow (a lot). He doesn’t have to be six-foot-two to play. If he’s five-nine, he’s going to be a really good player. We definitely have expectations of him. High expectations.”
The same goes for Whitehead, who’s from Alaska. Paddock is “optimistic” the Pats will sign him but — like Huck — he’s likely still a year away.
“I fully expect them to both be signed and to be regular players on the team when they’re 17,” he said. “I hope the family is comfortable with where Sammy has grown sizewise and he’s signed and he plays games for us (this season). That would be great.
“The best problem would be for Whitehead and Huck to push people so they had to be on the team. That’s probably stretching it but we think lots of those two players.”
NHL teams ... stay in the (background) as far as directing players. Can you get help from them? Yes. Do you? Not always. Can you count on it? No, not at all.