Injuries take the shine off marquee prospect
Vancouver’s Benson understands what Nolan Patrick is going through
Too bad Nolan Patrick isn’t making the trek west. A faceto-face with Tyler Benson might have been beneficial.
The Brandon Wheat Kings announced earlier this week that Patrick, their star centre and a potential No. 1 pick for the 2017 NHL draft, wouldn’t be on the five-game jaunt through British Columbia due to an upper-body injury.
Patrick, 18, has suited up just six times this season for Brandon, the last time on Oct. 11. That story is all too familiar to Benson, 18, a top forward for the Vancouver Giants who missed 42 games due to injuries in his draft campaign last season.
“It’s tough just being away from the game,” Benson said when asked about the Patrick situation. “I know how much he loves hockey. Being away from his teammates is difficult.
“I don’t think he should be worrying about the draft. People know what kind of player he can be. He’s played two years in this league already and he’s dominated. I think he should worry about making sure he’s 100 per cent when he comes back.”
An Edmontonian, Benson was selected by his hometown team, the Oilers, with the 32nd pick of the NHL draft last June. How much his time on the shelf affected his draft stock is open to debate. Prospects website Future Considerations had him at No. 7 in its preliminary rankings, while other pundits had him lower.
Benson had an operation in September 2015 to remove a cyst near his tailbone. He missed the first 10 games of the campaign, and he believes overcompensating for that injury led to an inflamed pubic bone, which forced the Giants to shut him down again in December. He tried to reboot his season in February, but after two games Benson and the team decided to call it quits for 2015-16.
“I think we rushed back from the first injury, which caused the second injury,” Benson said. “You just want to make sure you are 100 per cent when you’re ready to go so you can start playing and nothing else can occur.
“I’d tell him to just be patient. It’s easier said than done, though — A lot easier.”
Brandon general manager Grant Armstrong won’t go into detail about what’s ailing Patrick. He did have off-season sports hernia surgery.
In 2014-15, Patrick — a 6-foot-3, 198-pound native of Winnipeg — became the first 16-year-old to score 30 goals in a WHL regular season since Brett Connolly in 2008-09, and only the second since Patrick Marleau put up 32 in 1995-96.
Last season, he had 102 points, including 41 goals, to become the first 17-year-old Wheat King to reach triple-digit points since Ray Allison and Brian Propp managed the feat in 1976-77. He has four goals and five assists in his limited duty this season.
He was one of the 32 players named to Canada’s world junior selection camp earlier this week, although Hockey Canada head scout Ryan Jankowski told reporters Patrick’s status remains unclear. The camp runs from Dec. 10 to 14 in Boisbriand, Que.
Patrick told nhl.com on Nov. 16 that he was skating on his own but would be out of action for another two or three weeks.
Brandon made Patrick the fourth pick in the 2013 WHL bantam draft. Vancouver used the top pick on Benson. They had considered Patrick, according to various sources.
Most of the 2013 bantam draft class was eligible for last summer’s NHL draft, but Patrick’s late birthday put him in this coming June’s grouping.
Notes: Vancouver and Victoria will welcome the world’s top under-20 hockey players in 2019 when the cities co-host the world junior hockey championship.
Hockey Canada and the Canadian Hockey League announced the tournament’s return to British Columbia on Thursday during a press conference at Rogers Arena.
“What it does is it puts everybody united and supporting something,” said Ron Toigo, majority owner of the WHL’s Vancouver Giants and co-chair of the 2019 host committee. “You put on an international event of this magnitude, everybody’s wearing Canadian jerseys, everybody’s proud about being a Canadian — it’s a real good event for the community and the economy.”
The tournament in Vancouver and Victoria will mark the 13th time Canada has hosted the event.