With the Calgary Hitmen’s top defensive unit leaving for the World Junior tournament over the holiday season, the door opened for the club’s most recent first-round pick made his debut.
Blue liner Luke Prokop was selected seventh overall by the Hitmen during the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft and made his debut with the Hitmen Dec. 12 against the Edmonton Oil Kings. He has played three games with the Hitmen and is expected to be with the team for the first home-and-home series with the Kootenay Ice following the holiday break. Depending on a league ruling, Prokop could be available to the Hitmen for an extended period of time given that Andrew Viggars is still out a significant amount of time and Jameson Murray was day-to-day leading up to the break.
Prokop was the first pick from the 2017 Draft to make his debut this season, so with most teams breaking for the holidays and it being relatively close enough to most team’s midpoints of their respective season, it felt like a great opportunity to check in on the rest of the draft class to see how their progress is coming along.
Earlier in the season, Hitmen General Manager Jeff Chynoweth said that there was no plans set in place to call up any prospects for the purpose of providing them experience, but of course, was open to the idea of calling someone up if needed, such as Prokop.
Chosen in the second round (29th overall) behind Prokop was Ryder Korczak, a centre from Yorkton, Sask. Hitmen fans got their first glimpse at the 15-year-old when he captained Team Saskatchewan for the newly named WHL Cup — formerly known as the Western Canada U16 Challenge Cup — in late October at WinSport Arena.
The tourney didn’t end well for Team Saskatchewan, as they went winless and Korczak was held off the score sheet, finishing with a minus-8 rating.
His season with the Yorkton Maulers of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League is going much smoother than the WHL Cup did. Through 29 games, the Maulers sit sixth out of 12 teams with a 14-13-1 record. Korczak is fifth-highest scoring rookie in the league and is second on his team with 11 goals and 25 points.
Korczak and Prokop lasted the longest of any 15-year-olds in Hitmen camp, reaching the five-game pre-season schedule.
Luc Benedictson was a late pick — eighth round, 161st overall — by the Hitmen and a late add to Team Manitoba at the WHL Cup.
Manitoba finished slightly better than Saskatchewan, knocking them off 4-2 in the bronze medal game. Benedictson was also a key player in the 3-2 shocking victory over the eventual champions Team B.C. in the openers, as he finished with one goal and one assist.
This year, in 24 games for the Winnipeg Wild of the Manitoba AAA Midget Hockey League, the 6-foot-1 forward five goals and 11 assists. The Wild are stationed in second with a 23-3-0-1 record. Benedictson was reassigned following the annual Hitmen Black versus White intrasquad game Aug. 28 at the Kyle Stuart Memorial Arena at Edge School.
Unfortunately, the Maulers will not be one of the four Saskatchewan-based teams competing at the 40th Mac’s Midget AAA World Invitational Hockey Tournament beginning Boxing Day. There is also no Manitoba-based teams in the tourney.
Only one draft pick from the 2017 WHL Draft will be at the Mac’s, as Cam Newson will compete in Pool 5 with the Valley West Hawks.
The left-handed blue liner in pointless in nine games for the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League leading Hawks, who have ripped through the league at a 20-3-1 clip. He’s part of the defensive unit that has allowed the fewest goals against, at 62.
The Hitmen picked Newson in the ninth round, 183rd overall during the recent draft. He was reassigned from the Hitmen following the annual Young Guns Game Aug. 27 at the Don Hartman NE Sportsplex.
A much higher pick in the draft was Sheldon Kwiatkowski, who was the result of the Hitmen trading back in the third round with the Regina Pats. The Hitmen landed the Grande Prairie product 66th overall.
Kwiatkowski has spent the majority of this season with the Grande Peace Storm Minor Midget squad of the Alberta Minor Midget Hockey League. The Storm currently sit 10th in the North Division at 5-10-7. Kwiatkowski is having a fine season at that level, producing at more than a point-per-game pace, with 11 goals and 20 points in 16 games. He has also spent a pair of game with the Grande Prairie Storm of the Alberta Midget Hockey League and shared the ice with Devan Klassen, who was a listed player by the Hitmen and made his debut alongside Prokop one week ago. Like most players from this draft class, Kwiatkowski was reassigned following the intrasquad game.
Kwiatkowski has ties to the WHL, as his brother, Brenden, has suited up in 22 games for the Moose Jaw Warriors.
The Hitmen didn’t select anyone in the fourth round, as their pick went to the Lethbridge Hurricanes as the result of the Brady Regan trade. In the fifth round, they drafted their first goalie in Braydan Peters.
After having one of the better seasons at the bantam level last season, Peters has started his AMMHL career off with a pleasant .921 save percentage and 2.09 goals against average. His one shutout fits nicely with the 9-1-1 record, putting him into a tie for second in wins. Peters was one of the five goalies still in camp battling for the backup position, but was reassigned following the Black and White game.
Selected 112th overall in the sixth round via a transaction with the Red Deer Rebels, which could be traced back to the Vancouver Giants in the Taden Rattie deal in 2016. The pick made it to the Hitmen via the Rebels in the Dawson Martin deal and nabbed left-handed blue liner Evan Toth.
This season, the 6-foot-1 Toth is the main stay on the undefeated 20-0-0 Winnipeg Monarchs of the Winnipeg City Midget League that allows a league-best 1.90 goals against per game. Toth chips in offensively, too, with four goals and 21 points in 19 games. He has also spent some time with the defencemen factory Winnipeg Wild program, sharing a locker room with Benedictson. Two seasons ago, the Wild produced current Hitmen defenceman Drea Esposito and NHL Draft prospect Jett Woo of the Warriors. Toth was reassigned following the intrasquad game.
The final position player reassigned from the team following the intrasquad game was Riley Fiddler-Schultz, who was a seventh-round pick from the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers of the AMBHL, where he had 40 points in 36 games.
This season, Fiddler-Schultz is seventh on the high-flying, undefeated Northern Alberta X-treme 15s (22-0-0) with 14 goals and 28 points in 22 games.
The final goaltender reassigned by the Hitmen Aug. 28 was Trey Hirschfield, who was the second netminder taken in 2017 at 205th overall in the 10th round. The only American selected by the club plays for the Valor Christian High School Eagles in Highlands Ranch, Colo. Hirschfield stands 6-foot-3 and has led his team to a 5-0 record in the Colorado High School Activities Association and a 5-1 record outside of conference play. This season, he is 2-1 with 1.67 goals against average and .921 save percentage in the CHSAA.
Lastly, for the final pick by the Hitmen in the draft, they went with a local defenceman Hale Schoneck after he captured the bronze during the 2017 Alberta Cup. He chipped in with one assist in five games.
This season, the 5-foot-8, 143-pound Schoneck has a pair of goals and 14 points in 19 games for the seventh place CBHA Blackhawks (9-8-2) of the AMMHL. He was reassigned following the Young Guns Game.
It’s highly unlikely that many of these players crack the Hitmen roster this season, but it’s always important to follow how the next players up are developing, as their time in the WHL will be here before they know it.
