WHL NOTEBOOK: Dube’s transition takes him across league

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This article was published 29/11/2022 (1249 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brayden Dube has had quite an introduction to the Western Hockey League.

The five-foot-10, 174-pound forward from Roblin started the season with the Seattle Thunderbirds but was recently traded to the Prince Albert Raiders, all of which came in the first three months of his WHL career.

“It’s been challenging but the billets have really welcomed me here in Prince Albert, same as in Seattle, so I felt like I was at home,” Dube said. “It was pretty easy to transition house-wise. Hockey is the same, it’s just practice and games.”

Dube, who shoots right, was selected 29th overall in the second round of the 2020 draft by Seattle after a high-scoring season with the Parkland Rangers in the Winnipeg Hockey League’s under-15 AAA division.

He led the league with 74 goals and 56 assists in just 36 games.

Dube posted six points in seven games for the U18 Rangers in the 2020-21 season before the COVID-19 shutdown. At the start of the 2021-22 season, he was reassigned by Seattle and decided to make the jump to the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Dauphin Kings in his 16-year-old season.

He was the youngest player on a team that went on to win an MJHL title and participate in the Centennial Cup. But that certainly doesn’t mean he wasn’t a factor.

Dube put up 46 points in 49 regular season games, nine points in 16 playoff games and then scored four goals in five games at the Centennial Cup.

He said it proved to be a good idea to make the jump.

“Just to get a feel for older guys and bigger guys, and obviously more skilled and speed is what the MJ has,” Dube said. “I think that helped me a lot.”

“The WHL is better defensively, better structure and more skilled guys,” Dube added. “The MJ still has big guys because they’re allowed more twenties (20-year-old players). It was still pretty challenging.”

He actually ended up in a similar situation in Seattle, on an older team that was built to win now, and was continuing to add major pieces.

He had two goals and two assists in 14 games with the Thunderbirds.

“I was playing good but the team was just so stacked,” Dube said. “I didn’t get much playing time or opportunity.”

On Nov. 16, Dube got some shocking news when he was included in a blockbuster deal that saw 19-year-old Prince Albert defenceman Nolan Allan and the rights to 17-year-old forward Reese Shaw head to Seattle for Dube, 18-year-old forward Gabe Ludwig, 18-year-old defenceman Easton Kovacs, and six draft picks including first-rounders in 2023 and 2024.

“I was at the rink going to practice one day and the general manager (Bil La Forge) took me in (to his office) and we talked,” Dube said. “I phoned my agent after and told him.”

The only guy he knew even slightly in Prince Albert was Rapid City product Sloan Stanick, because his twin brother Slade was also with the Kings last season prior to a trade to the Portage Terriers.

In Prince Albert, the 17-year-old Dube has an assist in four games as he gets settled in again.

“It’s a smaller city and I feel like everyone here are fans of Prince Albert,” Dube said. “In Seattle, there are so many teams, an NHL team, a baseball team … not many people really knew who you were. Here it seems like everyone knows who you are.”

It also makes the team more connected.

“We’re way closer together,” Dube said. “In Seattle, we were all spread apart and couldn’t do much. Here, we’re doing lots of activities and I’ve only been here for a week.”

The Grade 12 student attends Carleton Comprehensive Public High School, which is rather conveniently across a parking lot from the Art Hauser Centre. Even so, his classes are online but he can get help from teachers as needed.

He attends school in the morning and the team practises at 1 p.m. After he gets a workout in too, he’s usually done by 3 or 4.

One thing hasn’t changed for Dube, and that’s the expectations for his game every night. While Dube became accustomed to being a top-line player with lots of time on special teams earlier in his career, head coach Jeff Truitt’s goals for the teenager are different, just like they were in Seattle.

“It’s just to bring energy to the team and just pot a couple of goals every so often,” Dube said. “It’s just bringing energy and playing hard and playing in their end is what the coach wants from us right now.”

Even with a different role in major junior — Dube said it took close to 10 games to feel completely comfortable on the ice — his expectations remain high for his rookie season.

“I just want to be an impact player on the team and hopefully that leads to team success,” Dube said.

Since Dube celebrates his birthday on Sept. 22, he doesn’t meet the National Hockey League’s draft deadline of Sept. 15, and won’t be eligible until 2024. He said that takes some of the pressure off this season.

“This year is just to get a feel for the league and a development year because my draft year isn’t until next year,” Dube said. “Next year is my make-or-break year.”

If there’s one terrific advantage to being in Prince Albert for the teenager, it has to be geographic. A trip from Roblin to Seattle is 1,941 kilometres. Meanwhile, Prince Albert is a comparatively short 455-km trek from home.

“It’s really nice,” Dube said. “A bunch of my family members have been coming to my games here so it’s been really nice to see them.”

That’s likely to be a recurring theme. He plays his first WHL game in Manitoba on Friday when the Raiders visit the Brandon Wheat Kings at Westoba Place.

Dube played in the big rink before when he was younger — “Maybe a couple of times but not many times that I can remember” — and is expecting plenty of familiar faces in the crowd. At just 236 km it will easily be the shortest trip of the season for friends and family.

“I’m pretty excited,” Dube said. “There are lots of people coming to watch me in Brandon so I’m excited to play there and see everyone after the game. It should be good.”

THIS AND THAT

• QUIZ — Without looking it up, how many Wheat Kings players have been able to earn 200 or more assists during their WHL careers? For extra points, which active player has the most assists? The answer is below.

• WEEKLY AWARDS — Regina Pats forward Tanner Howe was named top player on his 17th birthday on Monday after the Prince Albert, Sask., product contributed five goals and two assists in two games last week against the B.C. Division. Howe, who has a late birthday and won’t be eligible for the NHL draft until 2024, is ninth in league scoring. Meanwhile, Kamloops Blazers netminder Dylan Ernst of Weyburn, Sask., was named goaltender of the week after he stopped 60 of the 62 shots in a pair of road victories.

• SIN BIN — No suspensions have been announced from weekend action.

• TRADES — The Edmonton Oil Kings dealt 20-year-old forward Jaxsen Wiebe and a conditional eighth-round pick in the 2026 draft to the Prince George Cougars on Monday for 2o-year-old forward Noah Boyko, a third-round pick in 2023 and a conditional eighth-round pick in 2026. Earlier in the day, the Oil Kings acquired 18-year-old forward Rilen Kovacevic from the Kelowna Rockets in exchange for 20-year-old forward Carson Golder and a third-round pick in 2023.

• ALUMNI GLANCE — Goaltender Jordan Papirny, who played with the Wheat Kings from 2013 to the 2017 trade deadline, is in his first full pro season. In four games with the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates, he has a goals-against average of 3.60 and a .903 save percentage. He is one of three former Brandon goalies in the Vegas Golden Knights organization, joining Logan Thompson and Jiri Patera. Two other Wheat Kings also play on the Ghost Pirates, Lynden McCallum and Marcus Kallionkieli.

• ANSWER — Here are Brandon’s players with 200 assists and they are franchise greats. 1. Brian Propp (292 assists in 213 games played, 1976-79). 2. Ray Allison (288a, 242gp, 1974-79). 3. Marty Murray (260a, 264gp, 1991-95). 4. Dale McMullin (250a, 309gp, 1970-76). 5. Kelly Glowa (242a, 219gp, 1980-84). 6. Brad McCrimmon (218a, 203gp, 1976-79). 7. Ron Chipperfield (209a, 252gp, 1970-74). 8. Bill Derlago (203a, 209gp, 1974-78). 9. Byron Lomow (203a, 236gp, 1982-86). 10. Cam Plante (200a, 234gp, 1980-84.)

In a very different era of hockey, Brandon’s current active career leader is Nolan Ritchie with 79.