Photo courtesy Brian Liesse
-With the summer winding down in favor of hockey season, now is a good time to take a look at what the depth charts could look like for WHL teams.
Change was the name of the game in the off-season for the Kootenay ICE. New ownership, new general manager, new head coach and more changes from the top right on through to the bottom. The team has made four trades since May 24th, which is more then any other team. The moves will help Kootenay in the short term for sure. Time will tell if they have done enough to improve on their 40 points from last season.
Forwards (15):
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
| Brett Davis (99) | Colton Kroeker (97)* | Jake Elmer (98) |
| Barrett Sheen (98) | Vince Loschiavo (98) | Max Patterson (99) |
| Kaeden Taphorn (00) | Noah Philp (98) | Keenan Taphorn (00) |
| Cameron Hausinger (99) | Michael King (00) | Gilian Kohler (00)# |
| Peyton Krebs (01) | Eli Leiffers (00) | |
| Blake Allan (01) | Connor McClennon (02)# |
Looking at the roster I believe the ICE would look to find some ways to upgrade some on their groups of ’98 and ’99 born players. The ’00 and ’01 age groups are really solid with the Taphorn twins and Peyton Krebs ready to carry the team into the future. Colton Kroeker and Brett Davis really improved in the last half of the season with the ICE after they came over from the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Notable yet-to-be-signed forwards:
-Benjamin Sanderson (00) – 2015 6th round bantam pick
-James Form (02) – 2017 3rd round bantam pick
Defensemen (9):
| Left Defense | Right Defense |
| Jordan Henderson (97)* | Cale Fleury (98) |
| Dallas Hines (98) | Martin Bodak (98) |
| Ryan Pouliot (98) | Sam Huston (99) |
| Tyler Strath (00) | Loeden Schaufler (00) |
| Bobby Russell (00) | Nolan Orzeck (01) |
| Anson McMaster (02)# |
Notable yet-to-be-signed defensemen:-The top four defensemen in this group are a very solid beginning to a team that is looking to make improvements after a couple of poor seasons. The two 2000 born players that were with the ICE were used sparingly last year but did gain some valuable experience. The bottom three spots will be fun to watch battle it out in training camp to see who will stick with this team. Veteran defenseman Troy Murray left the team to pursue an educational scholarship with the University of Regina. The ICE recently added Tyler Strath from the Lethbridge Hurricanes in exchange for the playing rights to Austin Wong.
-Griffin Mendel (99) – 2014 1st round bantam pick (Committed to University of Denver)
-Jake Sanderson (02) – 2017 4th round bantam pick
Goalies (2):
| Goalies |
| Mario Petit (97)* |
| Jacob Walter (99) |
There are only 67 WHL games played total between Petit and Walter. Jesse Makaj has been signed by the club. Kootenay will have to hang its hopes on Petit being an upgrade on traded goaltender Declan Hobbs.
Notable yet-to-be-signed goalies:
-Carter Woodside (01) – 2016 6th round bantam pick
-Will Gurski (02) – 2017 4th round bantam pick
