Wheat Kings expect growth on blue-line

The Brandon Wheat Kings may have lost their two best defencemen from last season’s club, but hopes are high for a unit that made a massive step forward last year.

Brandon will be without captain Quinn Mantei and graduating overager Luke Shipley, but last year’s rookie class of Gio Pantelas, Nigel Boehm, and Dylan Ronald will be joined by 19-year-old Merrek Arpin, Czech defender Adam Hlinsky, and overage pickup Grayson Burzynski of Winnipeg, who was acquired on draft day.

Pantelas, Boehm, Donald, and the since-released Slovakian defender Adam Belusko all debuted as rookies for the team a year ago, with 17-year-old Cam Allard also skating in 13 regular season games and three playoff contests in the Western Hockey League.

“When you’re playing with four rookie defenceman, there’s nights where it’s, ‘Oh boy, how is this going to go?’” Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said. “I think they really proved they belonged and could help night in, night out. We had some injuries, and that thrust them up the lineup a little bit, and I thought they handled it really well. I think the one thing is that consistency we’re looking for.

“We saw stretches where they were really, really good last year, and hopefully having a year under their belt and getting rid of that rookie tag allows them to be that player every night. I think they could be real effective.”

Last year’s group was the most fundamental rebuilding of Brandon’s blue line since the 2018-19 season, when they brought Vinny Iorio, Jonny Lambos, Chad Nychuk, and Neithan Salame on board as rookies.

Training camp begins this evening at Assiniboine Credit Union Place.

The loss of Mantei will sting. Since an effective season as a rookie at 16, he was the team’s best all-around blue-liner for the past three seasons and served as captain last year.

Mantei was eligible for an overage season but instead opted to head to Providence College, where he was later followed by forward Roger McQueen. In fairness to Brandon, Mantei let them know as quickly as possible about his self-described agonizing decision to allow them to make a move for Burzynski.

“For me, Quinn was going to be a top-five defenceman in the league this year,” Murray said. “That’s a fair statement. With that, he logs a lot of ice time, there’s a lot of leadership, and he plays in every situation. Those are big holes to fill, and when we got the news he wasn’t coming back, we made the move to bring in Burzynski, who is a different kind of player but adds a lot of veteran presence and can help on the power play.”

The six-foot-four, 211-pound Burzynski, a left-handed shot, brings plenty of offence, with 11 goals and 36 assists last season with the Swift Current Broncos. Hlinsky, who arrived in Brandon on Saturday, played in Sweden’s U20 league last season with HV71, contributing five goals, eight assists, 28 penalty minutes, and a plus-minus of +17 in 43 games.

He also skated in four international games with the Czech U19 team, adding an assist and drawing 25 penalty minutes.

At the U18 world championship in 2023-24, the left-shooting Hlinsky served as captain of the Czech squad: He also played with the national team at the U16 and U17 levels.

Brandon also picked 17-year-old Finnish defenceman Samu Alalauri in the import draft with the knowledge that he could start the season at home. There is a possibility he could join the club later this season, but it’s more likely to be a year from now.

Alalauri, who shoots right, is a six-foot-one, 199-pound blue-liner who spent most of last season with the under-20 Lahti Pelicans, where he had two goals, three assists, two penalty minutes, and a plus-minus of +9 in 26 regular season games.

The right-shooting defenceman played with Finland’s U17 and U18 national teams on the international stage and at the world championships, getting in another combined 37 games, with two goals and five assists.

One player who is coming is defenceman Max Lavoie of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Winkler Flyers, a player listed by the Wheat Kings who offers size and a physical edge as he looks to make his WHL debut at 19.

Among the youngsters, Easten Turko of McCreary and Ethan Young of Regina will have their first crack at the roster at age 16, and the Wheat Kings will get an up-close look at their most recent first-rounder, Cruz Jim of Grande Prairie, Alta., who they took 12th overall. Jim has drawn comparisons to former Wheat Kings star Kale Clague.

The key for the Wheat Kings blue line could be the continued development of Pantelas, who Brandon took 19th overall in 2023. The big defender made Team Canada and won bronze at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this summer after showing incredible promise in his rookie WHL campaign at age 16.

“The way Gio finished last year, he took a lot of strides and made the Hlinka team this year, which could be a huge confidence booster for him,” Murray said. There are some question marks — for instance Arpin suited up for just five games in Brandon after being acquired in the Charlie Elick trade last January — but Murray hopes last season’s experience will pay off for the entire group.

“You have the Dylan Ronalds of the world who have a year under their belt and at times looked really good and at times lacked consistency, so you hope a year under his belt solves that problem,” Murray said. “Arpin is a guy who the verdict is still out on. He’s a guy coming to prove that he’s the big physical defenceman we coveted and what we brought him in for, so hopefully he’s healthy and can help us.

“Then you have the young kid in Boehm, who made strides last year and is another guy who could really make some improvements and help us, and Allard as well, and then you have a couple of young kids in Turko and Young who are knocking on the door as well.

“And with Lavoie as well, I think it will be a competitive camp on the back end.”

Jack Swaenpoel also potentially remains in the team’s plans, but the big defenceman from Souris who was drafted in 2023 had shoulder surgery in the summer and won’t be at camp.

Allard, who was taken 23 picks later, will be on the ice, and Murray thinks the Yorkton product will be ready to make an impact this season.

“He’s a player who got his feet wet and played some playoff hockey for us,” Murray said. “I think the one thing we really like about Cam is his ability to move the puck. You talk about our forwards being strong, we need to have defencemen who can get them the puck, and one of Cam’s assets is breaking pucks out and making quick passes, and he does that really well. I hope he had a big summer. That was the message leaving in the spring.

“We really like the poise Cam has in his game. At times there could be a little more urgency with defending, but he’s pretty smooth. After being around us, he’s not a veteran player, but he should know what to expect coming into the Western Hockey League.”

Regardless of which players ultimately patrol the blue line for Brandon this season, it promises to be an interesting journey to the final roster. Murray can’t wait.

“I think the bar has been raised and the expectations are going to be higher,” Murray said. “Going into last year we had four rookie defencemen and they’re not anymore. The expectation is going to be that they can play against any forward group in the league. I really think it’s going to be a healthy competition.

“We had some guys knocking on the door who want to be everyday players, some veterans who are pushing for ice time, and some guys who still have to prove themselves a little bit.

“I think it will be fun to sit back and watch at training camp and in practice and the pre-season to see where guys are at.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com