Caswell setting up the Broncos lethal power play
No player has more points in a Swift Current Broncos uniform this season than sophomore forward Clarke Caswell.
Caswell led the Broncos with six assists and eight points in a fourgame sweep of the Lethbridge Hurricanes to open the Western Hockey League playoffs. He had led the Broncos with 51 assists and 77 points in 68 regular season games.
“Yeah I’m happy with the result. I’ve played with some great linemates over the course of the year that helped those stats obviously. I think my confidence from last year to this year grew a little more. I think that’s been a huge factor,” said the Brandon, MB product.
“One of our most consistent players all season,” said Broncos Interim Head Coach Taras Mcewen. “There’s honestly not a game that has gone by this entire season, I know he had a goal drought there for awhile, but he’s racking up the assists. He impacts the game every time he plays and I think that’s his greatest strength. He’s very good defensively, a very good 200foot player. Any line that we’ve put him on he’s really helped push that line. He’s built some good chemistry with Geeks [Conor Geekie]. Geeks is someone that’s very competitive and a special
player as well, so I think they’ve just worked really well together for opening up space together and finding some chemistry.”
Caswell also took over the quarterbacking duties on the Broncos power play unit that finished 12th in the WHL in the regular season at 21.1 percent.
The Broncos finished the opening round series with an astonishing 57.1 percent success rate with eight goals on 12 man-advantages.
“We just got lots of shots towards the net. We weren’t scared to put pucks towards that area. A lot of pucks seemed to sneak by him, so we were
happy with the result there,” explained Caswell.
Caswell said he was enjoying his new role on the top power play unit that often features veteran forwards Geekie, Mathew Ward, Connor Hvidston, and Josh Filmon.
“It’s good. It’s fun to control the plays. I’m mainly just a passer up
there, getting a lot of pucks down to the lower flanks and they make a lot of the plays. I think our puck movement has really been helping us so far, so it’s been fun.”
“It says a lot about his playmaking ability and the confidence that we have in him and his teammates have in him to put him in that position,” added Mcewen. “One of his greatest strengths is opening up space for everybody else. He has a very good ability to be deceptive, especially up top, and the ability to find seams and lanes and move pucks at the right time.”
Caswell said this is the first time he’s been in charge of a power play from the top.
“No I haven’t, but just kind of watching [Owen] Pickering and those guys before, just making easy plays is kind of what I learned from them and it’s been working so far.”
Caswell was the sixth overall pick in the 2021 WHL Draft. He registered nine goals and 20 assists in 63 games during his rookie season in 2022-23.
“He’s phenomenal,” said teammate Grayson Burzynski. “He’s been a massive part of our team this year, especially as of late. I think that line might be the best line in the league for sure with Clarke, Mistel, and Geekie. He’s been phenomenal.”
Caswell was ranked 68th amongst North American Skaters on the NHL Central Scouting Mid-term Rankings.
“Yeah I think it’s just not really thinking about it too much. Obviously you see a little bit of stuff here and there but you just try and play your own game and not getting caught in the ups and downs of that stuff,” said Caswell when asked about the pressure of his first draft eligible season.
“He’s been such a good player. I’ve played against him for my whole life as well. He was always age advanced so he was playing against us when he was young. He always led the league in points by double digits… I’m not surprised by how well he’s been doing this year. I’m really excited for him,” Burzynski added.
“Clarke is very professional. For a young player that’s the most impressive thing for me is how much he looks after himself, the preparation he puts in on practice days and going into games is at a very high level for a young player. Very impressed with working with him this season,” said Mcewen. “The work that he has put in and the skill that he has really has taken it to another level here.”