Photo Credit – Dave Brunner Photography
With training camps underway, it would be the perfect opportunity to take a look at what could be the roster for the upcoming season for a few teams throughout the league. Today our focus shifts to the Red Deer Rebels.
The Rebels took the heavily favored Lethbridge Hurricanes to seven games in the Central Division semi-final last season. While some of their most talented players have moved on to the professional ranks or have graduated from the Canadian Hockey League due to age, the expectation is that this year’s team will be better than last year’s squad. Let’s take a look at the potential depth chart.
Forwards (16):
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing |
| Grayson Pawlenchuk (97)* | Lane Zablocki (98) | Brandon Hagel (98) |
| Austin Pratt (99) | Mason McCarty (97)* | Kristian Reichel (98)#^ |
| Dawson Martin (98) | Chris Douglas (00) | Reese Johnson (98) |
| Akash Bains (99) | Chase Lowry (00) | Jordan Roy (98) |
| Brandon Cutler (00) | Austin Schellenberg (00) | River Fahey (01)# |
| Ethan Rowland (02)# | Justin Svenson (01)# | Jordan Borysiuk (02)# |
The Rebels brought in a former player of theirs in Mason McCarty. He brings a veteran presence to a team that was lacking much of one after the departure of Adam Musil, Michael Spacek and Evan Polei. While he remains unsigned, Kristian Reichel is likely to be part of the opening day roster, which is why, in this instance he is in the depth chart. The top-six for the Rebels looks very strong, while the rest of the roster has played mainly bottom-six or 13th forward minutes. This would be an area that may see some movement should Brent Sutter want to make a deep playoff run this season.
Notable yet-to-be-signed forwards:
Jayden McCarthy (01) – 6th round bantam pick 2016
Alex Morozoff (01) – 7th round bantam pick 2016
Kyler Kovich (02) – 4th round bantam pick 2017
Defense (9):
| Left Defense | Right Defense |
| Alexander Alexeyev (99)^ | Brandon Schuldhaus (98) |
| Carson Sass (99) | Ethan Sakowich (99) |
| Dawson Barteaux (00) | Jared Freadrich (98) |
| Jacob Herauf (00) | Nicholas Draffin (01)# |
| Ryan Gottfried (01)# |
What you see here is a very young group but a group that gained a ton of experience last season after the trades of Josh Mahura and Austin Strand. Alexander Alexeyev also went down with an injury and this led to a trial-by-fire for the remainder of the group. That gained experience bodes well heading into this season. Red Deer should be able to ice one of the deepest blue line corps in the Eastern Conference. The two 2001’s listed here will push to make the seventh defender position and gain invaluable experience for this year and beyond.
Notable yet-to-be-signed defensemen:
Jace Foskey (00) – 7th round bantam pick 2015, verbal commitment to Harvard University
Evan Michaels (01) – 8th round bantam pick 2016
Jace Isley (02) – 5th round bantam pick 2017
Goalies (4):
| Goalies |
| Riley Lamb (98) |
| Lasse Pedersen (97)* |
| Byron Fancy (01) |
| Ethan Anders (00)# |
Here is where things get interesting. Brent Sutter doesn’t often keep 20-year-old goaltenders, especially not as backup goalies. Byron Fancy and Ethan Anders should be making a push in camp to be the back up to Riley Lamb. This would give Brent Sutter the ability to bring in another player, be it a forward or defenseman. Stranger things have happened in Red Deer though so, this is a situation to keep your eye on as the season nears.
Notes:
* = overage
^ = import
# = yet to play a WHL regular season game
