With their training camp opening Thursday, it’s a good time to look at a possible depth chart for the Moose Jaw Warriors heading into the 2017-18 Western Hockey League season.
The Warriors have 18 returning players and four more with at least a game of WHL experience. They look to ice a veteran-laden club and make a push for the franchise’s first league title.
Forwards (19):
| Left wing | Center | Right wing |
| Brayden Burke (97)* | Brett Howden (98) | Jayden Halbgewachs (97)* |
| Luka Burzan (00) | Noah Gregor (98) | Tanner Jeannot (97)* |
| Branden Klatt (98) | Justin Almeida (99) | Tristin Langan (98) |
| Chantz Petruic (99) | Brecon Wood (00) | Jaxan Kaluski (99) |
| Kale Clouston (00)# | Jaeger White (98) | Spencer Bast (97)* |
| Tate Popple (00) | Brayden Tracey (01)# | Tyler Smithies (00) |
| Jakin Smallwood (01)# |
After an impressive summer on the international stage, Luka Burzan seems poised to break into the top-six forward grouping. The line combinations are up for debate, but those six should log a lot of ice time.
Jaeger White, who posted some eye-popping goal tallies during his pee-wee and bantam career, played only two games last season with Brooks in junior A, but will take one more shot at resurrecting his career in training camp.
The overage situation seems pretty cut-and-dried with Zach Sawchenko’s decision to tend goal at the University of Alberta this season.
Spencer Bast is likely the odd-man out, though the coaches love his work ethic and style of play.
Jaxan Kaluski is back to full health after missing most of last season with a broken ankle that required surgery. Smithies and Popple got a taste of the league last season and are part of a group of young players vying for the final few roster spots.
Defense (9):
| Left defense | Right defense |
| Dmitri Zaitsev (98)^ | Jett Woo (00) |
| Oleg Sosunov (98)^# | Josh Brook (99) |
| Colin Paradis (98) | Matthew Benson (00) |
| Chase Hartje (99)# | Austin Herron (01)# |
| Matt Sanders (01)# |
The big new face on the back end — literally — is Tampa Bay Lightning 2016 draft pick Oleg Sosunov. The six-foot-eight Russian should immediately slot into the top-four. Sosunov will miss the start of training camp. He is in Tampa waiting for a visa issue to be sorted out.
Matthew Benson played four regular season games and a pair of playoff games last season. Chase Hartje from Bemidji, Minn. will also be battling for minutes on the blue line. The Warriors will have to decide if they want to keep one of the 16-year-olds Herron or Sanders to give them eight defencemen or if their development would be better served spending a another season in midget.
After playing 34 games last season, Brandon Armstrong (99) is not on the Warriors camp roster this season.
Goaltenders (2):
| Goaltenders |
| Brody Willms (98) |
| Adam Evanoff (00)# |
Brody Willms has played 64 career games in the WHL as he enters his fourth season, but this will be his first chance to be the outright No. 1 following Zach Sawchenko’s decision to play university hockey.
Another Okanagan Hockey Academy product, Adam Evanoff, is poised to step in and back-up Willms. Unsigned 16 year old Ethan Fitzgerald attended Hockey Canada’s under-17 development camp.
*=overage player
^=import player
#has yet to play a WHL game
Notable forwards that have yet to sign:
– Louis Jamernik (00) – third-round pick in 2015
– Erik Middendorf (00) – fourth-round pick in 2015 (committed to the University of Denver for 2018)
Notable defencemen that have yet to sign:
– Austin Chorney (00) – second-round pick in 2015
– Dean Stewart (98) – rights acquired in a trade with Saskatoon for Dustin Perillat (played with University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2016-17).
