Giants GM thrilled to see Ostapchuk get NHL dues
`No maintenance' former captain deserves Sens call-up, Parneta says
Vancouver Giants general manager Barclay Parneta says he texted former team captain Zack Ostapchuk congratulations about his NHL debut Tuesday with the Ottawa Senators and Ostapchuk replied to him within 10 seconds.
Parneta even went back and double-checked the time frame when asked to do so. It wasn't a lengthy correspondence. It was in the midst of one of the busiest days of Ostapchuk's life and Parneta maintains he would have understood if it had fallen by the wayside. Parneta says, too, that answering back was much on brand for Ostapchuk, a player he once tagged as “not even low maintenance … he's no maintenance.”
Ostapchuk saw 12 minutes, 44 seconds of ice time in that 2-1 overtime win for the Sens over the Pittsburgh Penguins. The sixfoot-three, 205-pound forward was even trusted with playing time in the extra session and delivered, cutting off a pass going to Sidney Crosby that led to Ottawa storming back down the ice and scoring the winner.
“The word `genuine' probably describes him the best,” Parneta continued of Ostapchuk, 20, who played three-plus seasons in Giants colours. “He's a genuine person who plays the game the right way and conducts himself the right way to be a pro. He was never somebody who worried about who he was playing with or how much he was playing. He just played. I never had to worry about whether he was doing the things he needed to do over the summer to get ready for the season.
“He never worried about curve patterns or other things with his stick. He just took the stick he was given and went out and played. I've had some very good players over the years who are more worried about what curve number they have or what new equipment is coming rather than actually playing the game.”
The Sens took Ostapchuk in the second round, No. 39 overall in the 2021 NHL draft, which followed his second season in Vancouver. Ostapchuk was pegged as a thirdor fourth-rounder by various pundits leading up to the draft, but Parneta had said beforehand that he was getting enough phone calls from NHL types that he was going to go earlier. Parneta even said that another WHL GM had told him “they've never been called so much about another team's guy.”
Ostapchuk had been playing with Ottawa's Belleville Senators affiliate, and had amassed 13 goals and 22 points in 56 games there to date. He showed in his time with the Giants the skills to play on both the power play and penalty kill, to be on the ice in the final minute both when you were down a goal and up a goal.
“He's going to have a long career because of versatility and his ability to play up and down a lineup,” Parneta concluded. “There's that and there's the kind of person he is. He's never points driven. He's results driven. He's a team-first type of guy. He's a captain type.”
The St. Albert, Alta., product was a first-round pick, No. 12 overall by the Giants in the 2018 WHL draft and made his Vancouver debut as an underage call-up that December.
Ostapchuk played his best hockey as a Giant in the later stages of the 2021-22 season. The team was struggling at the January trade deadline and traded away veterans including team captain Justin Sourdif, a forward. Ostapchuk took over the “C” and the team caught fire in the playoffs. The No. 8-seeded Giants surprised the No. 1 Everett Silvertips in the first round, and then went to six games before losing to the No. 2 Kamloops Blazers in the second round. Ostapchuk had seven goals and 23 points in a mere 12 playoff games.
Vancouver was middling again at last year's January trade deadline and this time Parneta moved out Ostapchuk, dealing him to the Winnipeg Ice. The return was massive, with Vancouver receiving two players, the rights to two prospects and four WHL draft selections, including three first-rounders.
Ostapchuk “left a legacy with his leadership,” according to Parneta.
Vancouver defenceman Mazden Leslie echoed those thoughts.
“He's one of the most deserving guys I know,” Leslie said of Ostapchuk getting his chance in the NHL. “I was happy for him.
“He was good to all the young guys when he was here. He was good to all of us. He's even helping the team today. His fingerprints are still on this team.”