Blades look to add goal scorers in the off-season
The Saskatoon Blades are seeing double in Thursday’s Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.
They’ve got two first-round picks, No. 5 and No. 10 overall.
“Which is something we’re pretty excited about,” says Blades general manager Colin Priestner.
Priestner and the Blades never expected last year’s Alex Forsberg trade to the Victoria Royals to turn into a top 10 pick.
“The fact that they (Royals) had some injuries and struggled a little bit down the stretch really helped us to get that pick,” said Priestner.
“Having two top 10 picks is huge, whether we take a forward and a D, or two D or two forwards.”
NEED SCORING DEPTH
Going forward, the Blades will need to address their scoring depth.
They’ll need to fill the void after losing Jesse Shynkaruk to graduation along with fellow overager Markson Bechtold.
With only three potential spots available for 20-year-olds next season, the Blades won’t have room for all of their returnees. Cam Hebig, Braylon Shmyr, Mason McCarty, Evan Fiala, Logan Flodell and Brock Hamm are among the potential overagers to choose from.
Hebig, Shmyr and McCarty have been responsible for a good chunk of the team’s scoring over the past two seasons. At least one of them will be gone.
“We’re going to lose some scoring because Shynkaruk’s gone and also a good quality 19-year-old who played this year most likely with only having three 20-year-olds (next season),” said Priestner.
“Adding a forward is something we’re going to look to do. I’m quite comfortable in the back end. We’re getting almost everybody back and I’m really pleased with a lot of the progress our 1999s made in the back end.”
Priestner says there’s a natural progression for players as they get older.
Every player almost falls in the same metric,” said Priestner. “There’s a big bump in output from 17 to 18. It’s part of the league. Tyler Steenburgen had two goals as a 17-year-old up until Christmas and he had 51 this season.
“I’m not saying we have anyone who is projected to get 50 goals next year, but it just shows you what the difference between a 17-year-old and 18-year-old can make. I’m really confident that our offensiveminded players from that 1999 group are going to make a step up offensively. We’re going to have our 20-year-olds score a lot of goals.”
Priestner adds that he’s not going to put any limits on what Kirby Dach and Chase Wouters are going to do.
LOADING UP FOR 2018-19
On paper, the Blades are poised to make a serious run in the 201819 season.
“That’s the year we’re going to have a lot of 1999s who will be 19-year-olds and quality players,” said Priestner. “Kirby will be 17 by then, Chase will be 18 and (Michael) Farren will be 18. That’s a year I think we can do a lot of damage, but seeing what our group did this year, how depleted they were (by injuries) and how young they were, we still beat virtually every top team in the league at some point this season.
“I’ve got to re-evaluate what those goals are for next year. I really believe it’s not about how many star players you have — they help, for sure, in our league — but there’s something to be said about pushing depth and defensive play. We cut a goal a game from last year, which is an amazing accomplishment on our staff and players. Those things are all factors on how we perceive our team to be next year.”