We put out our team predictions earlier today and now we release who our 21 voting contributors think will hoist the five major trophies in the WHL.
Of all the player awards, this was the most lopsided. Kamloops native and forward Logan Stankoven took home 14 of the 21 votes. He showed his mettle in the preseason with 15 points in six preseason games and had a goal and an assist as a 15-year-old in the WHL playoffs last season. He seems ready to go and is the first 16-year-old to lead the preseason in scoring as far back as the WHL has them posted on their site. The last time a rookie put up 15 or more points in the preseason was Aleksi Heponiemi of the Swift Current Broncos in 2016-17. Heponiemi went on to take home the Jim Piggott Trophy as WHL rookie of the year. The last time a Kamloops Blazers player won rookie of the year was Scottie Upshall in 2000-01. Edmonton’s Dylan Guenther and Seattle’s Conner Roulette also received multiple votes.
Ho-hum another Everett Silvertips goalie we are expecting to win WHL goalie of the year. This time Dustin Wolf, a year after winning Western Conference goalie of the year and losing the overall league award to Ian Scott we feel should win it. This would be the fourth time an Everett Silvertips goalie won this award in five seasons. Wolf posted a 1.69 GAA and 0.936 save percentage last season – both tops in the league. He again has a solid blue line in front of him and should again be able to post some incredible numbers. Vancouver’s Trent Miner and Medicine Hat’s Mads Sogaard also received some consideration.
Byram might have won this award last season if not for Spokane’s Ty Smith. Now with Smith looking to crack the New Jersey Devils roster in the NHL as a 19-year-old, by a lopsided count, we feel like Byram will win the Top Defenseman award. The only other Vancouver Giants blue liner to do this was Jonathan Blum in 2008-09. Calgary’s Jett Woo was the only other defenseman to get multiple votes.
This was one of the closest votes with Dylan Cozens just edging out both Kirby Dach and Mark Kastelic. Cozens and Dach will likely miss more games than Kastelic with World Juniors but our voters thought that did not matter and ultimately picked the Hurricanes forward to improve on his 84 points. He is actually the only player in the top-15 in scoring a season ago likely to return to the WHL.
Only two others for the Hurricanes have led the league in scoring. Kevin St. Jacques did this in 1991-92 and Nathan Barrett accomplished the feat in 2001-02.
Bowen Byram won by a single vote over Dach and two over Cozens. That should tell you how much our group loves that 2001-born age group. This could end up being talked about as the year of the 18-year-old in the WHL. No Vancouver Giant has ever won the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as MVP. Byram might just be the first. The last defenseman to win the award was Calgary Hitmen blue liner Karl Alzner in 2007-08. Two goalies and eight forward have won it since then.
Alright now, how do you feel about our picks? Agree or think we missed someone? Feel free to interact with us in the comment or on social media!
