It has been just over three weeks since the Canadian Hockey League announced its decision to cancel the playoffs and Memorial Cup.
This unfortunate news means that the 1999-born players such as Dakota Krebs, Kyle Olson, and captain Mark Kastelic will not get the send-off they worked so hard for over the past five seasons.
Despite these circumstances, the Calgary Hitmen may be faced with a difficult decision in the early stages of next season. The Hitmen currently have four 2000-born skaters and must reduce that total before the October 10th deadline. This year, career-high point totals from Josh Prokop and Orca Wiesblatt likely made that potential decision significantly more difficult for general manager Jeff Chynoweth. Prokop recorded 15 goals and 36 points in 57 games played while Wiesblatt tallied 20 goals and 57 points in 64 games. The natives of Edmonton and Calgary both earned top-six roles while also displaying value on the Hitmen penalty kill. Wiesblatt is a homegrown product of the Hitmen, having signed as a list player before the 2018 season. Prokop, on the other hand, just completed his second season alongside his brother Luke. This may be a reason to believe that the winger will end his WHL career with his younger brother who, although draft-eligible, will surely return next season.
On the other hand, Riley Stotts and Carson Focht are both massive factors in the Hitmen overage process. Both players have been drafted as Toronto selected Stotts in the third round of the 2018 NHL draft, while Focht was picked by Vancouver in the fifth round of this past June’s draft. Despite the fact that the two centremen remain protected by NHL clubs, neither have signed. In the case that both of these players return, they will add to the league’s list of potentially sought-after overagers. While Stotts tied Mark Kastelic for the team lead in points playing in six more games, Focht struggled with consistency at times throughout the season. Stotts was also a major part of the Hitmen penalty kill as the veteran’s two-way game continued to improve throughout the campaign. Another interesting fact regarding potential overage movement is that both players are products of current WHL markets. The natives of Winnipeg (Stotts) and Regina (Focht) bring up the possibility of one of these top league talents returning home for his final junior season, assuming that neither signs and plays for his respective NHL organization. It is also important to note that with Egor Zamula likely heading to Lehigh Valley, the Hitmen will have no import players signed. This means that bringing in a European player with WHL experience as part of an early-season trade is something that may be of interest to the Hitmen.
Lastly, it is important that the tremendous achievements of this season’s Hitmen overagers do not go unnoticed. First of all, Dakota Krebs of Okotoks, Alberta, finished his career with 13 goals and 62 points while suiting up for 308 games. Krebs spent time with Tri-City and Calgary over the course of his career. Furthermore, Kyle Olson, a 2017 fourth-round selection of the Anaheim Ducks, finished his career with 61 goals and 187 points in a total of 219 contests. Olson spent the vast majority of his career in Tri-City before being shipped to his hometown of Calgary at the January 10th deadline. Although the WHL careers of these two seasoned veterans has come to an end, both players will likely attract the eyes of several USPORTS clubs. Finally, captain Mark Kastelic recently signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Ottawa Senators who drafted the hulking forward in the fifth round of the 2019 draft. Kastelic spent his entire five-year career with the Hitmen, recording 126 goals and 109 assists in 321 games. The native of Phoenix, Arizona, will likely be a permanent fixture with one of the Senators’ minor league affiliates next season.
