Brian Liesse

Medicine Hat Tigers notebook: looking at the potential depth chart

With the summer winding down and training camps opening in the next week or so it is a good time to get an idea of where some of the teams in the league stand. The defending Central division champions will look to defend that title despite losing both import players and having not yet signed either of their 2017 import picks. A loss of leadership will be felt in the dressing room too as captain Clayton Kirichenko and assistants Chad Butcher and Steven Owre aged out of the Western Hockey League.

Medicine Hat has seen a larger than usual amount of turnover this season, as they had a lot of players that were in their 19-year-old season. We will still see some more movement among the now 20-year-old players even though the team has already traded Jordan Henderson (to Kootenay), Nick Schneider (to Calgary) and Matthew Bradley (to Regina). There are currently five remaining overage players. There’s two each at forward and defense and goaltender Michael Bullion.

Forwards (17):

Left Wing Centre Right Wing
Mason Shaw (98) James Hamblin (99) Zach Fischer (97)*
Mark Rassel (97)* Ryan Chyzowski (00) Max Gerlach (98)
Ryan Jevne (99) Gary Haden (99) Tyler Preziuso (99)
Dawson Heathcote (00)# Baxter Anderson (00) Josh Williams (01)
Jalen Prince (01)# Josh McNeil (00)# Corson Hopwo (01)#
Jaxon Steele (00)# Henrik Rybinski (01)#

– It is possible that this is the thinnest group of ’98 forwards in the East if not the entire WHL. While the players they do have are very good there are very few of them in that age grouping. Beyond the third line shown here, there are only four games of WHL experience. 117 goals have left the forward corps of this team with the departure of the above players and John Dahlstrom. The Tigers will also see a handful of players in NHL camps to start the season. The bottom six will need to find ways to contribute and take pressure off of the top-six group.

Defensemen (12):

Left Defense Right Defense
Brad Forrest (97)* Dylan MacPherson (98)
David Quenneville (98) Ty Schultz (97)*
Dalton Gally (98) Cameron MacPhee (99)
Layne Matechuk (00)# Cole Clayton (00)#
Trevor Longo (00)# Joel Craven (00)#
Ryden Fedyck (01)# Daniel Baker (01)#

– On the flip side, the group of ’98 born players is well represented here and the entire corps as a whole is veteran laden. 2015 draft picks Layne Matechuk (2nd round) and Cole Clayton (3rd round) will look to earn ice time behind the top 6 and gain valuable experience. If the Tigers are to make a move early in the season, look for them to move one of their defensemen to bring in some veterans up front. Though he is not listed here, there is an outside chance that Krisitians Rubins will be on the team as he is expected at Tigers training camp this week. The team has not made a decision about his future as he is also a two-spotter.

Goalies (4):

Goalies
Michael Bullion (97)*
Jordan Hollett (99)
Duncan McGovern (00)
Rylan Rommelaere (99)#

-After making a move to bring in 99-born Jordan Hollett from the Regina Pats, the Tigers will have a competition in the crease for the starting goalie position. If I was a betting man, I’d put money on Hollett and McGovern being the tandem through the season, leaving Bullion expendable. Bullion will have some trade value for the team as he went 16-5-0-0 as the starter in Medicine Hat and 7-4 in the playoffs. McGovern has surpassed Rommelaere on the Tigers depth chart and the latter in fact did not play in any league last year.

Yet to sign notable forwards:

Mick Kohler (98) – 1st round Import Draft pick from Germany

Michael Johnson (00) – 5th round bantam pick in 2015

Logan Ganie (99) – 9th round bantam pick in 2016

Scout Truman (02) – 2nd round bantam pick in 2017

Yet to sign notable defensemen:

Linus Nassen (98) – 2nd round Import Draft pick from Sweeden

Brennan Davis (00) – 9th round bantam pick in 2015

Mattie Boonstra (01) – 4th round bantam pick in 2016

Ryan Watson (02) – 3rd round bantam pick in 2017

Yet to sign notable goalies:

Kaleb McEachern (01) – 5th round bantam pick in 2016

Garin Bjorklund (02) – 1st round bantam pick in 2017

*=overage

#=has yet to play a regular season WHL game