Last Season: 40-20-6-2-88 points. They finished with the third seed in the East Division and fell in four games to the Saskatoon Blades in the first round.
Once they got going, the 2018-19 Moose Jaw Warriors were able to throw out one of the most potent top-five groups in the WHL. Overage forward Tristin Langan put up 113 points and 19-year-old Justin Almeida had 111, finishing second and third in league scoring.
One of the biggest surprises in the league was 17-year-old Brayden Tracey. The rookie, who did not play his first eligible season in the WHL, only went out and played with Langan and Almeida, piling up 81 points and running away with the WHL rookie of the year award. He was rewarded with the Anaheim Ducks selecting him 29th overall in the NHL Entry Draft.
Rounding out the group was defensemen Josh Brook (75 points) and Jet Woo (66 points). Both were NHL-signed and provided the Warriors with one of the better blue line duos in the league.
After that quintet, the top Warriors scorer was Keenan Taphorn with 24 points. That lack of proven depth reared its ugly head in the playoffs, especially with Tracey injured for the start of the series. They jumped out to a 2-0 lead in Game 1 and then fell in OT. After a loss in Game 2, they got Tracey back but with the Blades concentrating on Almeida, Langan, and him, they did not have enough to take down the deep Blades.
Losses: Four of those five previously mentioned will likely not be back. Langan aged out of the league along with goalie Brodan Salmond and defenseman Dalton Hamaliuk.
Almeida and Brook are signed to NHL Entry-Level Contracts and will not be back.
2001-born import forward Yegor Buyalski did not come back, and with the Warriors’ top import pick — Swedish goalie Jasper Wallstedt — not coming over, they have an open import spot.
Speaking of the goalie position, Adam Evanoff split duties with Salmond a season ago, but he could be out for nearly half the season after offseason surgery.
Moose Jaw released overage forward Luke Ormsby just prior to the start of the season, leaving an open overage spot as well. They also traded away 2001-born forward Kjell Kjemhus to the Regina Pats this past week.
Another big trade happened at the WHL Bantam Draft when they moved Jett Woo to the Calgary Hitmen for overage defenseman Vladislav Yeryomenko, 2002-born forward Ryder Korczak, a 2019 first-round pick and a second-round selection in 2021. Ultimately, Yeryomenko did not come back to the WHL.
Additions: Korczak brings over his 15 points as a 16-year-old in Calgary, and that makes him the seventh-highest scorer from last season on this year’s roster. He should get an opportunity to increase those numbers.
Jadon Joseph also came over from the Vancouver Giants in a recent trade. He had 25 points between the Regina Pats and Giants in the regular season but really found his stride in Vancouver’s playoff run. He had seven goals and five assists for 12 points in 22 games. For the second year in a row, Joseph came through in the playoffs as he had 12 the previous season with Lethbridge as well.
The other overage player on the roster is goalie Bailey Brkin, who arrives in time to help provide some stable netminding after taking the Spokane Chiefs on a run to the Western Conference Final.
Besides the acquisitions, Moose Jaw has a bunch of rookies looking to make an impact. They are led by first-round pick Eric Alarie. The Winnipeg native got into all four playoff games, scoring his first WHL goal in one of them. He also led his team in preseason scoring with 10 points in five games.
Three storylines for this season:
How will they find the net without the big guns?
Between Langan, Almeida, Brook, and Woo, the Warriors lose 365 points off the 2018-19 roster. Tracey will be one guy who can find the twine given any opportunity, but there are not many others who have found consistent offensive success in the league. Alarie and 17-year-old defenseman Daemon Hunt have the pedigree as first-round picks and will likely find more ice time than their counterparts of the same age elsewhere in the league. Another key duo is Keenan and Kaeden Taphorn who could be part of that next line that develops into something special under head coach Tim Hunter.
Can Brkin hold the fort?
The Chiefs did not bring back Brkin as an overager, and he stayed off any WHL roster until the Warriors scooped him up. Without a healthy Evanoff, the Warriors needed someone who had experience, and they found just that in Brkin. He posted a 2.75 GAA and 0.914 save percentage last season with Spokane, but does not quite have the defense he had in Spokane following him over to Moose Jaw. Moose Jaw did find some success last season with another overage goalie passed over elsewhere in the WHL in Salmond, and they are hoping to do the same thing with Brkin.
Young blue line ready to shine?
Moose Jaw closed the preseason with four 17-year-olds, three 18-year-olds, and only one 19-year-old on the blue line. Hunt is the real deal and should be the next Warriors defenseman drawing NHL scouts to Mosaic Place. Outside of him, the Warriors have two combined WHL goals. Matthew Benson, Matthew Sanders, and Drae Gardiner are the most experienced of the group, with Cory King, Braden Miller, and Cole Jordan trying to break into the league.
