Deep forward group set to replace losses
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The Brandon Wheat Kings may have lost a ton of scoring from last year’s team, but their head coach and general manager is confident they have the right pieces in place to fill the net this season.
Overagers Nolan Flamand, Marcus Nguyen, and Luke Shipley, college commitment Matteo Michels, draft-day trade Dominik Petr and college commitment Quinn Mantei won’t be back, as they graduate six of their seven top scorers, but Marty Murray still sees lots to like.
“I think we have a real deep forward group,” Murray said. “We have four really good lines. Roger is obviously a big hole to fill, and so is Matteo, but the reality is, we played over 50 games last year without Roger and were really competitive. Hopefully some of those opportunities that other guys had in his absence will pay dividends going forward this year.”
Brandon Wheat Kings forward Caleb Hadland looks to move around Brayden Klimpke of the Blades in February. Hadland exploded for 25 goals last season. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun)
McQueen was injured for much of the season with a pars fracture in his back and only played 17 regular season games.
“I think one of the challenges in losing Matteo and Roger is the centre-ice position,” Murray said. “You plan, and all signs were to them coming back, and that doesn’t work out, but there are some guys around I could see, like Klipper (Carter Klippenstein) playing centre.
“That’s his natural position where he wants to play, so he’ll probably slide to the middle, and with the Egan kid (Jimmy), (Jaxon) Jacobson, (Prabh) Bhathal, and (Ben) Binder-Nord, it’s certainly a different look than we forecast last but it is what it is, and I think we’re solid there.
“It’s just some tweaking we didn’t realize we had to make until six weeks ago.”
Big things are expected from overager Luke Mistelbacher of Steinbach, who was acquired from the Swift Current Broncos on draft day after finishing eighth in league scoring last season with 42 goals, 51 assists, and 93 points. After Berkley Catton of the Spokane Chiefs, he is the top returning scorer in the Western Hockey League.
The nine Wheat Kings returnees up front are Jacobson, Caleb Hadland, Jordan Gavin, Joby Baumuller, Klippenstein, Binder Nord, Easton Odut, Nick Johnson, and Brady Turko.
The Wheat Kings lost 17-year-old forward Isaac Davies to the Penticton Vees in the expansion draft, but he would have been filling a depth role.
From the outside looking in, the top rookie candidates to make the team include signed 2024 draftees Chase Surkan and Bhathal, 2024 pick Carson Park, the 2023 American pick Egan, 2023 draft pick Ryan Boyce, and American brothers Axel and Gunnar Gleasman.
“I really don’t know if we have a fourth line,” Murray said. “Anybody can contribute on a given night, and that’s a good thing.”
It could be a highly entertaining camp, which begins this evening with a pair of practices at Assiniboine Credit Union Place.
The key will be finding a way to make the pieces fit together.
Gavin, who was acquired from the Tri-City Americans in the Charlie Elick trade last January, is the top returning scorer with 57 points in 68 games last year, followed by Jacobson, who posted 44 points as a rookie who was 15 until Dec. 11. That’s the most points for a Wheat King in his 16-year-old season since Nolan Patrick put up 56 in the 2014-15 season.
The gritty 19-year-old duo of Hadland, who exploded for 25 goals last season, and the Minnesota Wild prospect Klippenstein are both candidates for jumps in production. Johnson, with 16, and Baumuller, with 18, both set personal season highs for goals, and the Anaheim Ducks prospect Turko should see a major offensive jump after posting 26 points as a 17-year-old rookie.
The key will be getting up and down the ice in a hurry, with the defenceman getting the puck to the forwards as quickly as possible.
“Speed kills, along with the grit and competitive balance,” Murray said. “I really think if you can skate, it gives you a real big advantage. We want to be a quick team across the board. Our D complement our forwards, where we just need to get the puck up to the forwards and work as a unit, get up on the play, and create some offence.
“It’s a five-man group, but there’s no question our forwards are pretty deep and pretty strong.”
» pbergson@brandonsun.com