The Memorial Cup is coming back to Kelowna, which means two berths for the Western Hockey League and that much more at stake this season.
The Battle of Alberta should be alive and well. So, too, should the new Battle of Manitoba, with the WHL finally returning to Winnipeg after 35 years.
Last season’s finalists are going to be good again — the final four should all contend.
The B.C. Division is going to be better. The U.S. Division isn’t getting much worse.
Swift Current will be in tough, shifting to the Central, while Saskatoon could be tops in the East — especially if Kirby Dach is back with the Blades.
He is one of the league’s impact players looking to make the leap to the NHL, along with the likes of Bowen Byram, Ty Smith and Dylan Cozens. The fates of Vancouver, Spokane and Lethbridge will largely be affected by the decisions on those first-round picks, which may not be coming for another month or more.
With those stars potentially leaving, new ones will be arriving in the form of another exciting rookie class and several intriguing imports. That’s the nature of junior hockey, from one year to the next.
It is cyclical and that tends to be reflected in the standings, though not necessarily this season.
On paper, the teams that were strong last season remain in pretty good shape with a couple exceptions. But other teams are on the rise and there could be a few surprises too.
For more on the projected rosters, be sure to check out this team preview series published by Lucas Punkari of the Prince Albert Herald.
The DubNetwork gang has also been pumping out quality content all week long — including their team previews and players to watch — as primer for the regular season, which starts tonight.
Rather than rehash their efforts, I’ll skip straight to my predictions for the 2019-20 WHL season — from the division standings to the playoff picture — followed by analysis on each of the 22 teams and my power rankings as of today.
Western Conference
B.C. Division
1) Vancouver Giants
2) Kelowna Rockets
3) Kamloops Blazers
4) Prince George Cougars
5) Victoria Royals
U.S. Division
1) Spokane Chiefs
2) Portland Winterhawks
3) Everett Silvertips
4) Seattle Thunderbirds
5) Tri-City Americans
Eastern Conference
East Division
1) Saskatoon Blades
2) Brandon Wheat Kings
3) Prince Albert Raiders
4) Winnipeg Ice
5) Moose Jaw Warriors
6) Regina Pats
Central Division
1) Calgary Hitmen
2) Edmonton Oil Kings
3) Medicine Hat Tigers
4) Lethbridge Hurricanes
5) Red Deer Rebels
6) Swift Current Broncos
Playoff Picture
Western Conference
First Round
BC1) Vancouver Giants vs. WC2) Prince George Cougars
BC2) Kelowna Rockets vs. BC3) Kamloops Blazers
US1) Spokane Chiefs vs. WC1) Seattle Thunderbirds
US2) Portland Winterhawks vs. US3) Everett Silvertips
Second Round
BC1) Vancouver Giants vs. BC2) Kelowna Rockets
US1) Spokane Chiefs vs. US3) Everett Silvertips
Third Round
BC1) Vancouver Giants vs. US1) Spokane Chiefs
Western Conference Champion — Vancouver
Eastern Conference
First Round
E1) Saskatoon Blades vs. WC2) Lethbridge Hurricanes
E2) Brandon Wheat Kings vs. E3) Prince Albert Raiders
C1) Calgary Hitmen vs. WC1) Winnipeg Ice
C2) Edmonton Oil Kings vs. C3) Medicine Hat Tigers
Second Round
E1) Saskatoon Blades vs. E2) Brandon Wheat Kings
C1) Calgary Hitmen vs. C2) Edmonton Oil Kings
Third Round
E1) Saskatoon Blades vs. C2) Edmonton Oil Kings
Eastern Conference Champion — Saskatoon
Fourth Round
Ed Chynoweth Cup
BC1) Vancouver Giants vs. E1) Saskatoon Blades
WHL Champion — Vancouver, in seven games
Western Conference Breakdown
B.C. Division
1) Vancouver Giants
ANALYSIS: This championship prediction is contingent on Byram being returned to the Giants, but it doesn’t really matter when. Colorado is banged up on the blue line and Ian Cole could be out a couple months, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Byram stick with the Avs and perhaps stay beyond the nine-game audition. Possibly closer to the 40-game mark — closer to Christmas — before being loaned to Canada’s world-junior team, then back to Vancouver as a ringer for the second half. That development plan makes a lot of sense, but we’ll see whether Joe Sakic agrees.
Time will tell on Byram, but Vancouver is well equipped to remain atop the division without him. The Giants boast the league’s best goaltending tandem in David Tendeck and Trent Miner — both NHL draft picks — and their defence would still be solid, with a wealth of experience. The offence will be a work in progress, with Barclay Parneta likely adding another top-nine forward or two while continuing to recruit recent acquisition Brendan Budy. Mike Dyck is a coach on the rise — he was Canada’s bench boss for this summer’s Hlinka Gretzky Cup — but he’ll certainly miss Byram as their offensive catalyst from the back end. That is, until Byram returns in January to take the Giants on a championship run.
2) Kelowna Rockets
ANALYSIS: As Memorial Cup hosts, the Rockets are expected to load up between now and the Jan. 10 trade deadline. Bruce Hamilton will want to arm Adam Foote with the best possible roster to contend in the league playoffs and in that tournament come May. Therefore, Kelowna’s team could look quite different on paper from Game 1 to Game 41 — the latter being a home game against rival Kamloops on Jan. 11. Set the over-under at three upgrades, depending how the first half of the season plays out.
Kelowna has already made three significant upgrades — with the offseason acquisitions of top-six forward Dillon Hamaliuk and top-four defencemen Sean Comrie and Jake Lee — but it may take three more to put the Rockets over the top. In 2015, Hamilton managed to land Leon Draisaitl and Josh Morrissey in separate deals en route to a league title. The 2019-20 equivalents would be Peyton Krebs and Ty Smith, but there is no guarantee that either of them will be available, let alone both. So Nolan Foote, Kaedan Korczak and Roman Basran may have to do most the heavy lifting as the go-to guys this time around. But Kelowna will get better as the season progresses, coming on strong down the stretch and into the postseason.
3) Kamloops Blazers
ANALYSIS: The Blazers could be hot out of the gate after posting a perfect preseason with seven straight wins — led by rookie sensation Logan Stankoven, who led the league in goals (eight) and points (15) over six exhibition appearances. Kamloops will have a wicked 1-2 punch down the middle with Stankoven and Connor Zary. Stankoven is only 16 but is proving to be a special talent — with some touting him as a top-five prospect for the 2021 NHL draft — while Zary is entering his draft year as a projected first-round pick for 2020.
Kamloops is younger than Vancouver and Kelowna — and thus could be the team to beat next season — but the Blazers are going to be deep up front, with Shaun Clouston inheriting a roster reminiscent of his high-scoring Medicine Hat teams. The defence will be decent and the goaltending should be strong with Dylan Garand also embarking on his draft year after representing Canada at the Hlinka. A hot start would be beneficial — and it wouldn’t be shocking to see Kamloops ahead of Kelowna in the early stages — but I don’t foresee Matt Bardsley trying to match the Rockets’ moves. Still, the Blazers won’t be an easy out even if their roster stays status quo for the most part.
4) Prince George Cougars
ANALYSIS: The Cougars will be a distant fourth, squeaking into the playoffs as the second wild-card team. That is best-case scenario, based on stellar goaltending and the skaters buying into a defence-first system. Failing that, it’ll be another year on the outside looking in and likely another year in the B.C. basement.
The Cougars will have to scratch and claw for their offence, with goals hard to come by. Prince George will be preaching scoring by committee, but defence will be the real key and the goaltenders will need to steal some games to get where they want to go. It needs to be a total team effort for Mark Lamb and Jason Smith’s squad to achieve any sort of success. It may take a little overachieving too.
5) Victoria Royals
ANALYSIS: The Royals are retooling — not necessarily rebuilding — but they will need a lot of things to go right to stay in the playoff picture. Dan Price and Doug Bodger will have their work cut out for them with the amount of roster turnover, especially on defence. Cam Hope has been a busy man in the offseason, doing his best to keep the Royals relevant. The additions are relatively promising — Jacob Herauf, Will Warm and Nolan Jones on defence, Gary Haden up front, and Shane Farkas in goal — but it’s really going to depend how those pieces fit together in Victoria’s puzzle.
The forward group has nice upside — substantially nicer than the Cougars — but the Royals’ goaltending is going to miss Griffen Outhouse and their defence will be a wait-and-see experiment. If everything clicks and falls into place, Victoria will be in the wild-card mix. If a few things go awry, it could be a long season on the island and could cost Price his job at some point.
U.S. Division
1) Spokane Chiefs
ANALYSIS: The importance of Ty Smith returning cannot be overstated. He’s integral to Spokane winning the division and this team — as a whole, not just the defence — isn’t the same without him. But Smith will warrant a long look in New Jersey, which will likely extend into the regular season. Assuming he’s back after the nine-game trial period, Smith transforms Spokane into a legitimate contender. Without him, the Chiefs are good, but not great — and there is a huge hole on their defence. He is more important to Spokane than Byram is to Vancouver because the Chiefs don’t have the same supporting cast on the back end. The defence becomes something of a weakness without Smith, with Filip Kral thrust into a starring role.
Spokane’s strength will be their forward depth and the ability to attack in waves. The Chiefs should be one of the league’s higher-scoring teams and will be fun to watch, with Manny Viverios potentially encouraging a run-and-gun approach. Viverios can pick up where Dan Lambert left off in terms of coaching an offensive-minded system. So long as the goaltending is capable of stopping a counterattack — and that is to be determined, though new Czech import Lukas Parik comes highly regarded as a third-round pick in this year’s NHL draft.
2) Portland Winterhawks
ANALYSIS: Despite losing some serious firepower — with Cody Glass and Joachim Blichfeld graduating to the pro ranks — this roster is built to Mike Johnston’s strengths as another high-flying Winterhawks team. Speed and skill will once again be the calling cards and scoring won’t be a concern by any means. Portland is still going to light it up a lot of nights.
The goaltending is also strong, backstopped by Joel Hofer with a full season to settle into his surroundings. He’s the kind of netminder that can withstand the run-and-gun exchanges. And he’ll need to stand on his head some nights, with the returning defencemen being a bit adventuresome. Portland could use a real stud on the back end, with Johnston no doubt shopping around.
3) Everett Silvertips
ANALYSIS: Speaking of studs on the back end, Everett has more than one and as many as four. The Silvertips have one of the league’s better top-fours on defence — all two-way types, getting plenty of offence from their defence — and also one of the better goaltending tandems with Dustin Wolf and newcomer Keegan Karki. Those six players, in particular, will keep Everett in contention for a fourth straight division title with not much separating these top three teams.
For the Silvertips to finish first again, they are going to need some forwards to step up and score. New import Michal Gut could be one of those guys and returning import Martin Fasko-Rudas should have another level to his game. New captain Bryce Kindopp will surely do his part and fellow overager Max Patterson is seemingly capable of more. Reece Vitelli and Gage Goncalves could break out with bigger roles, but there are more questions than answers among that forward group. That could mean a lot of 2-1 games, but Dennis Williams is no slouch when it comes to coaching offence, so perhaps he deserves the benefit of the doubt.
4) Seattle Thunderbirds
ANALYSIS: Seattle is the real sleeper in this division — and this conference, for that matter. Not much is expected from the Thunderbirds despite their impressive preseason record (5-0-1-0) — mainly because they made a seller move by shipping two of their top players to Kelowna in Dillon Hamaliuk and Jake Lee, then suffered another blow when Jarret Tyszka decided to pursue his education a year ahead of schedule — but don’t count this team out.
Seattle still has an NHL-drafted goaltender in Roddy Ross and a forward group that could prove quite potent. The T-Birds can thank Lethbridge for that, receiving Keltie Jeri-Leon and Mike Horon in return for Liam Hughes, who retired shortly after that trade went through. Jeri-Leon and Horon have nice upside and although Seattle is on the young side, scoring should be the least of their worries. Defending might be more of an issue — due to the youth movement at that position too — but it helps having Ross as the last line of defence. Seattle seems like a safe bet to be the West’s first wild-card team.
5) Tri-City Americans
ANALYSIS: Tri-City also has good goaltending — a strength all across this division — and the Americans are going to need it. Bob Tory’s team appears to be on the down cycle despite still having some high-end forwards in Sasha Mutala, Krystof Hrabik and Kyle Olson. Outside of those three, there aren’t too many names of note on Tri-City’s roster. This isn’t a deep team up front or on the back end. The defence looks very vulnerable, which puts added pressure on the goaltenders, Beck Warm and Talyn Boyko.
Looking up and down this depth chart, it’s difficult to envision a playoff team. The Ams are looking more like a lottery team, barring Kelly Buchberger working some miracles. But Tri-City can trust in Tory to make the right moves to trend back up in the years to come, which could mean moving one or more of those top three forwards for futures.
Eastern Conference Breakdown
East Division
1) Saskatoon Blades
ANALYSIS: The Blades are finalists for me on the premise that Kirby Dach eventually returns to the Bridge City. Dach versus Byram in a best-of-seven championship series between the third and fourth overall picks in this year’s NHL draft would be epic. That would be a marquee matchup to showcase the league and it could definitely go the distance. Chicago wants to see what Dach can do at the NHL level, which could include regular-season games into October, but the odds are in favour of him starring for Saskatoon again — alongside his younger brother Colton Dach, the Blades’ first-round pick from 2018.
Saskatoon is returning a strong core — especially up front — and should be able to fill the net on a nightly basis. Mitch Love might be able to roll four scoring lines and capitalize on all kinds of mismatches. The goaltending is in good hands with Nolan Maier and the acquisition of Scott Walford should shore up the defence. That position was looking a little suspect, but selecting Libor Zabransky as a re-entry in the import draft was another wise move. All in all, the Blades are loaded for bear and looking like legit contenders this season for the first time in a long time.
2) Brandon Wheat Kings
ANALYSIS: The Wheat Kings underachieved last season — skidding down the stretch and missing the playoffs — but that won’t happen again with Dave Lowry taking over behind the bench. He’ll push this team forward — he’s the right coach at the right time in Brandon — and he’s got a good group to work with. The Wheat Kings should be capable of contending this season, boasting a deep forward group, a couple studs on defence and an import goaltender that should be among the league’s best as an overager.
There are no real weaknesses on paper, which bodes well for Lowry getting the most out of this roster. And he’s getting a helping hand from Kelly McCrimmon, with both of Brandon’s imports being Vegas draft picks. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of impact Finnish forward Marcus Kallionkieli can have in the Dub coming off an impressive campaign in the USHL. Him and Jiri Patera, the Czech netminder, could be key to Brandon’s success. Them and McCrimmon, from afar.
3) Prince Albert Raiders
ANALYSIS: The defending champion Raiders aren’t going to fall far — and may not fall at all. As is the case in the U.S. Division and even in B.C. to a lesser degree, these top three teams in the East are all banner worthy. Prince Albert’s strength is on defence, with three overagers, a projected first-round NHL draft pick in Kaiden Guhle, and a highly touted rookie in Nolan Allan, who the Raiders took third overall in the 2018 bantam draft. That could very well be the league’s best blue line.
There is uncertainty in goal — after graduating Ian Scott — so the Raiders will be relying heavily on their defence to keep the goals against down. Prince Albert also lost a lot of firepower up front, but the returning forwards are poised to take another step, so scoring shouldn’t be much of a problem. If the Raiders get adequate goaltending, a repeat isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
4) Winnipeg Ice
ANALYSIS: The Ice want to hit the ground running in Winnipeg and they seem to be pulling out all the stops to do so. Good on Matt Cockell for being so aggressive in the offseason to ensure the Ice are one of the league’s most improved teams. He had a couple misses — unable to sway Dylan Holloway and Carter Savoie from their NCAA commitments — but he had quite a few hits too. The biggest being the signing of Matthew Savoie and swinging a deal with the league to allow the underager to play 30-plus games. Savoie wasn’t granted exceptional player status by Hockey Canada — and thus should have been limited to five games, until his academy season was over — but Winnipeg still found a way to get the first overall pick from this year’s bantam draft into their lineup on a semi-regular basis. That should sell a lot of seats and Savoie should be worth the price of admission even as a 15-year-old. He’s projected as a top-three pick for the 2022 NHL draft.
The future is shaping up to be very bright for Winnipeg, but the present is looking pretty good too. Peyton Krebs will miss the start of the season recovering from an Achilles injury, so that hurts, but also gives Connor McClennon a chance to be the go-to guy to begin his NHL draft year. New import Michal Teply is a sniper and Isaac Johnson could be a force in returning to the WHL. Carson Lambos is another elite rookie and will be Winnipeg’s top defenceman before long. The depth isn’t great, but the top-end talent in Winnipeg is among the league’s best. The key will be to stay afloat until Krebs returns, then go on a second-half run to make the playoffs as a wild-card team. The Ice have resisted trading Krebs, but if they are sinking in the standings again, he’d be the biggest fish at the deadline and could fetch Winnipeg a ton in return to complement that future core. For now, playoffs is the obvious goal.
5) Moose Jaw Warriors
ANALYSIS: The Warriors are no longer contenders, but they could still be in playoff contention. There is a chance they could get back Justin Almeida once he’s healthy, but they should score plenty without him. As of now, Brayden Tracey is the lone returnee from the league’s highest-scoring line last season and he’ll be leading Moose Jaw’s offence. Look for youngsters Ryder Korczak and Eric Alaire to help pick up that slack, while the Taphorn twins could enjoy a breakout campaign.
Tim Hunter’s challenge, as coach, will be finding a way to limit the goals against. Moose Jaw’s defence isn’t very good — outside of Daemon Hunt — and the goaltending isn’t going to be a strength either. So it may take the right system and structure to prevent chances. Otherwise, the Warriors could be losing a lot of 6-4 games. It’ll be an uphill battle this season, and even if Almeida returns, he might be traded as a ringer to recoup some assets for the future since this doesn’t seem like Moose Jaw’s year.
6) Regina Pats
ANALYSIS: The Pats could be a bit better this season — capable of reaching the 20-win plateau — but they still don’t look like a playoff team. Regina’s older players, led by a trio of over-age forwards, should keep the Pats competitive and Max Paddock should give them a chance to win on most nights. But the roster, as a whole, still leaves a lot to be desired and there isn’t much to get excited about.
Daniil Gushchin would have generated some excitement, but he decided to stay in the USHL for his NHL draft year. Regina selected the Russian forward seventh overall in this year’s import draft, so failing to recruit him was a blow. But that was probably the right decision on Gushchin’s part since the supporting cast in Regina wouldn’t have done much for his draft stock. On paper, it looks like the Pats will be bringing up the rear in the East.
Central Division
1) Calgary Hitmen
ANALYSIS: The Hitmen are loaded this season, without any weaknesses to speak of — well, providing Carl Stankowski’s health holds up. But even then, Jack McNaughton is a very capable goaltender and started over Stankowski in last season’s playoffs. So, yeah, no weaknesses.
The strengths are the skaters, with Jett Woo bolstering an already impressive defence corps, while the forwards are deep and dangerous. The new imports should help up front, but Calgary’s older core will be the driving force. The Hitmen are looking nearly unstoppable, but they will have their hands full in the Battle of Alberta.
2) Edmonton Oil Kings
ANALYSIS: The Oil Kings are younger than Calgary — and age tends to make a difference in the Dub — but Edmonton is going to come on strong as the season progresses. The Oil Kings will be good from Day 1, but they will be that much better when the playoffs roll around.
It may take a little time for Edmonton’s offence to click — or to start firing on all cylinders — but the potential is there to light it up. Edmonton has a lot of undrafted forwards with something to prove — at least a couple of them were draft worthy — and also boasts two top prospects for upcoming drafts in Jake Neighbours and Dylan Guenther. It’s a potent group, poised to score a ton as they continue to develop this season. Edmonton’s defence will contribute to the offence and the Oil Kings are backstopped by a pair of experienced goaltenders. Add it all up and the makings are there for another legit contender.
3) Medicine Hat Tigers
ANALYSIS: The Tigers are going to be an interesting team this season, with Willie Desjardins back behind the bench. Medicine Hat has arguably the league’s best goaltender in Mads Sogaard and a deep forward group that should be able to outscore the opposition more often than not. That combination has Medicine Hat on the fringes of the contender conversation, but the Tigers’ defence is going to be a work in progress. That’s their weakness right now, but Sogaard is capable of covering it up and he should get sufficient run support on most nights.
Desjardins should get the most out of those forwards and if he can improve the defence over time, the Tigers could play spoiler in the playoffs. They are the biggest threat to that much-anticipated Battle of Alberta playing out in the second round.
4) Lethbridge Hurricanes
ANALYSIS: The Hurricanes are retooling — and, honestly, reeling a little — from going all-in on last season. The aforementioned Liam Hughes trade debacle hurt their depth going forward and it doesn’t sound like they will be getting back any of their three NHL-signed overagers in Jordy Bellerive, Jake Leschyshyn and Nick Henry. Had Lethbridge won the right to host the Memorial Cup this season, that trio could have been returned to junior to give the Hurricanes a two-year window as contenders.
Lethbridge still has two studs — assuming Dylan Cozens and Calen Addison are both back in the fold — and the supporting cast should be good enough to make the playoffs again. That is, unless Peter Anholt pushes the rebuild button by trading Cozens and Addison. Talk about a difficult decision there, especially if Memorial Cup host Kelowna comes calling for them as a package deal. The Hurricanes are more likely to stay the course and hope for the best, but they are looking too depleted to make much of a run this season.
5) Red Deer Rebels
ANALYSIS: The Rebels are going young — especially up front — so this can be labelled a rebuilding year in Red Deer. The defence is still in good shape and the goaltending should be solid, but it’s tough to tell where the offence will come from — outside of some offence from the defence.
Brent Sutter will be embracing this campaign as a developmental year, but his team shouldn’t get blown out too often based on the strength of their defence and goaltending. A lot of low-scoring losses is the likely result. However, if some of the new forwards — including a couple first-round picks from recent bantam drafts — can make an immediate impact, the Rebels could hang around the playoff race. Those wild-card spots will be up for grabs in this conference, but Red Deer won’t be favoured to claim one.
6) Swift Current Broncos
ANALYSIS: The Broncos are going to be much improved — they could double their win total from last season (11) — but it doesn’t help that Swift Current is moving into a more difficult division top to bottom. There won’t be any sub-20-win teams in the Central this season, so Swift Current’s gains may not be noticeable in the standings. That is the bad news, but the good news is the Broncos will be better and their roster is trending towards contending for a playoff berth next season.
The upside is there, the pieces are in place for Dean Brockman, but it’s probably going to be another trying season for Swift Current. In saying that, it should be reiterated that the East wild cards are far from spoken for and the Broncos have enough talent to overachieve. Problem is, it’s young talent and the older teams are more likely to prevail.
WHL Preseason Power Rankings
1) Vancouver Giants
2) Calgary Hitmen
3) Saskatoon Blades
4) Edmonton Oil Kings
5) Spokane Chiefs
6) Kamloops Blazers
7) Kelowna Rockets
8) Medicine Hat Tigers
9) Brandon Wheat Kings
10) Prince Albert Raiders
11) Portland Winterhawks
12) Everett Silvertips
13) Winnipeg Ice
14) Lethbridge Hurricanes
15) Seattle Thunderbirds
16) Prince George Cougars
17) Victoria Royals
18) Moose Jaw Warriors
19) Red Deer Rebels
20) Swift Current Broncos
21) Tri-City Americans
22) Regina Pats
