Keep an eye on these players this season
Breaking down scoring title favourites and top prospects ahead of opening night
There’s a good buzz around the Vancouver Giants.
They took a step forward last year, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in four springs. They have the makings of a high-tempo, entertaining squad.
With the struggles of the other marquee teams in the market, can the Giants take advantage and start filling up the Langley Events Centre on a regular basis?
We’ll see. The Giants host the Everett Silvertips on Friday at the LEC as part of the WHL’s 2018-19 opening night. In honour of the speedy team they aim to be, we provide top-five lists to help get you ready for the season.
FIVE GUYS WHO COULD WIN THE SCORING TITLE
1.
Cody Glass, C, Portland Winterhawks
The Vegas Golden Knights’ 2017 first rounder played on a line with Max Pacioretty in the Golden Knights’ pre-season opener on Sunday, but it’s easy to suggest Vegas has the firepower to let a 19-year-old Glass simmer another year in junior, especially with former NHL coaches Mike Johnston and Don Hay running the Portland bench.
Glass, a Winnipeg native, finished seventh in league scoring last year with 102 points, following up his 94-point draft season. The six-foot-two, 185-pound Glass is a good bet to miss a handful of games playing for Team Canada at the world juniors over the holiday break.
2.
Justin Almeida, C, Moose Jaw Warriors
The 19-year-old Kitimat native and North Shore Winter Club product went from 28 points in a 2016-17 season split between the Warriors and the Prince George Cougars to 98 points last season with Moose Jaw, highlighted by 43 goals.
People are going to question him going forward because of size (five foot 11, 160 pounds), but he’s dealt with that coming through the ranks. A fifth-round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins this past June, he was invited to Team Canada’s summer camp but had to take a pass due to illness.
3.
Jordy Bellerive, C, Lethbridge Hurricanes
Bellerive and Almeida are buddies. They played at NSWC together. They are both Penguins products, with Bellerive, 19, signing on as a free agent. Bellerive, too, is a Team Canada candidate.
The North Vancouver native suffered severe burns to his hands and torso in June when a backyard bonfire went awry, but he was back on the ice in late July. The fivefoot-11, 194 pounder had 92 points, including 46 goals, last season with Lethbridge.
4.
Jaret Anderson-Dolan, C, Spokane Chiefs
The 2017 Los Angeles Kings second rounder put up 40 goals and 91 points last season, following up on his 39 goals and 76 points from 2016-17.
Add the 14 goals from his 16-yearold year and the Calgary native is at 93 as a Chief. The franchise record is 147, set by Mitch Holmberg (2009-14), so you could argue it’s in reach for the five-foot-11, 195-pound Anderson-Dolan, 19.
5.
Stelio Mattheos, C, Brandon Wheat Kings
The six-foot-one, 200-pounder was the first overall pick in the 2014 WHL bantam draft and has lived up to that billing, including producing 43 goals and 90 points last season.
The 19-year-old from Winnipeg was a 2017 Carolina Hurricanes third-round choice in the NHL draft.
FIVE GUYS EXPECTED TO BE FIRST-ROUND PICKS
1.
The six-foot-one, 192-pounder from Cranbrook came with a reputation for offence, but he was so good in so many facets a season ago that he just may have led the Giants in ice time per game, which is unheard of for a 16-year-old rookie.
Byram recorded six goals and 27 points in 60 regular-season games. TSN’s Craig Button had Byram at No. 6 on the list he put out on Sept.
10.
The website futureconsiderations.ca had him as the No. 4 pick for the draft in its year-opening rankings, while hockeyprospect. com slotted him at No. 5 to begin.
The Giants have had four players drafted in the first round since joining the WHL for the 2001-02 season, and Evander Kane holds the club mark for earliest selection thanks to the Atlanta Thrashers using the fourth-overall choice on him in 2009.
2.
Cozens counted 22 goals and 53 points in 57 regular-season games last year and the 17-year-old Whitehorse native was named the WHL rookie of the year, beating out fellow finalist Byram.
Button slotted the six-footthree, 185-pound Cozens at No. 2, behind only American centre Jack Hughes. He was No. 13 at hockeyprospect.com and No. 8 with futureconsiderations.ca.
3.
Peyton Krebs, C, Kootenay Ice Button had Krebs, 17, as his No. 8 prospect while hockeyprospect. com put him at No. 8 and futureconsiderations.ca went for No. 10.
The five-foot-11, 181-pounder from Okotoks, Alta., tallied 17 times on his way to 54 points in 67 games last season with the Cranbrook-based Ice.
4.
Kirby Dach, C, Saskatoon Blades
How good was the 2016 WHL bantam draft? Krebs went first overall, followed by Dach and then Byram. Cozens, for those keeping track, was the 20th selection. Button had Dach going No. 9, while hockeyprospect.com figured on No. 12 and futureconsiderations. ca pegged him at No. 7.
Dach, a 17-year-old St. Albert, Alta. native who comes in at six foot three and 195 pounds, counted seven goals and 46 points in 52 games last season with the Blades. 5.
Nolan Foote, LW, Kelowna Rockets
The son of longtime NHLer Adam Foote and younger brother of Tampa Bay Lightning defence prospect Cal Foote is a late birthday 2000-born player, so he’s one of the older guys in this draft class.
Foote, who turns 18 in November, saw his goal production slip from 19 in his rookie season to 13 last year. With his pedigree and the Rockets’ history of churning out players, the six-foot-three, 177-pounder from Engelwood, Colo., will be watched closely. Button had him at No. 29, while futureconsiderations.ca slotted him at No. 12. He did not make the top 31 for hockeyprospect.com.
FIVE KEY NUMBERS FOR THE VANCOUVER GIANTS
88
The goal total missing from the Vancouver lineup with the graduation of Ty Ronning (61 goals) and Tyler Benson (27) spending
his 20-year-old season in the Edmonton Oilers’ farm system rather than being one of the three overagers with Vancouver. The Giants are banking on a more spread out offence. Vancouver scored 233 goals last season, meaning Ronning and Benson accounted for 38 per cent of their total. 21.9%
Their power-play success rate last season (55-for-251), which was 13th best in the 22team WHL. The man-advantage unit was streaky much of the year, though. It felt like Vancouver was either on a 10-for-20 roll or in a 2-for-25 rut. The Giants have a smaller, skilled team this year and will need their power play to be imposing regularly to keep opposing teams from trying to muscle up on them. For reference, the Swift Current Broncos had the league’s best unit in the regular season a year ago, coming in at 29.4 per cent. 9
Come the spring, that’s how many years it will have been since the Giants’ last playoff series win. They went to the Western Conference final in 2009-10. Their victories against Victoria last year marked their first post-season game wins since 2011-12.
8
That’s how many 19-year-old players the Giants have on their roster. They finished last season with just four. This tends to be a 19- and 20-year-old league. The Royals, for instance, had 10 players in their 19-year-old season on their playoff roster last spring.
5
That’s how many picks Vancouver had in the first two rounds (44 selections in total) in the 2014 bantam draft. That’s the selection process that involved this season’s 19-year-old class. Brendan Semchuk, who was one of those Vancouver picks four years ago, was traded last year to the Edmonton Oil Kings as part of the deal that brought current over-age forward Davis Koch to Vancouver.