Regina Pats prospect update

In the crease

Matthew Kieper has backed up a few games for the Pats while Max Paddock was out on a couple of occasions. He did eventually make a start against Lethbridge on October 13th.

Kieper, 15, is playing for the Winnipeg Bruins in the Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League. He has only appeared in three games for the Bruins. He sports a 1-1 record with a 1.51 goals against average and 0.961 save percentage. The team’s record is 6-5, and they are seventh in the 13-team league.

Next up is Spencer Welke, who just signed with the Pats on October 24th. The 17-year-old is in his second season with the Prince Albert Mintos. He has a 6-2 record in 9 appearances with a 2.24 goals against average and 0.930 save percentage. The team is 10-3, which is good for third in the 12-team league.

Spencer Welke
(Photo – paNOW)

Last season with the Mintos, Welke was 14-6 in 22 games played. He had a 3.26 goals against average and 0.900 save percentage in the regular season. The Mintos lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Saskatoon Blazers. Welke started all three games, registering a 0.930 save percentage and 3.37 goals against average.

On the back end

2019 first-round pick Layton Feist is playing at the Okanagan Hockey Academy for Team Red in the Midget Prep division. He is tied for the team’s scoring lead among defencemen with 10 points — one goal and nine assists in 12 games played. The team is 6-6, which is good for eighth in the 16-team league.

Parker Berge
(Photo – Keith Hershmiller)

Next on the blue line is Daylan Weigel. Weigel is in his second season in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA league and first with the Saskatoon Blazers. The 16-year-old already has 10 points in 12 games with two goals and eight assists. Last season with the Beardy’s Blackhawks, Weigel collected four goals and seven assists in 41 games played. The Blazers are 10-2 and second in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.

Parker Berge, 16, is playing in the CSSHL for the Northern Alberta X-Treme Midget Prep team. The X-Treme are at the top of the standings in the league, and Berge has contributed two goals and seven assists in 11 games played.

Up front

The 2019 CHL Import Draft seventh overall pick, Daniil Gushchin, has had a good start to his second season with the Muskegon Lumberjacks. His overtime-winning goal on November 1st made ESPN’s Top 10 plays of the day. Gushchin scored all four goals for his team in their 4-3 OT win. After going pointless in the first four games of the season, Gushchin had a five game point streak, in which he collected all of his points with eight goals and six assists. Four of his eight goals are game winners, which leads the USHL.

Daniil Gushchin
(Photo – USHL.com)

The 17-year-old is coming off a 16 goal, 20 assist campaign in 51 games played. It was his first in North America.

Josh Paulhus, who was listed and then signed during training camp this fall, is playing in the SJHL with Humboldt. Paulhus has put up 3 goals and 3 assists in 15 games. He has also collected 34 penalty minutes. The Broncos have a record of 11-8-1-1, which is good for fifth in the 12-team loop.

The 17-year-old is coming off two good seasons for the Saskatoon Contacts of the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League. In 2017-18, he had 13 goals and eight assists in 42 games played. The next season, he scored 22 goals and added 27 assists in 44 games.

American Easton Armstrong is playing for the Los Angeles Jr Kings U16 program. In eight games in the Tier 1 Elite Hockey League, Armstrong has put up seven goals and 5 assists. He is second on the team in scoring. The team is 7-1 and tied for first place.

Selected in the ninth round in the most recent bantam draft, Brayden Barnett is playing with the Regina Pat Canadians in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League. He has a modest two goals and two assists in his first season with the team. He is playing with fellow Pats prospect Cole Gordon. Gordon has contributed one goal and two assists. The team is 7-4-2, which is good for sixth in the league standings.

Ty Smilanic
(Photo – Rena Laverty)

Barnett is coming off a solid campaign where he was third in team scoring for the Martensville Marauders. He had 31 goals and 29 assists in 38 games between the regular season and playoffs as the Marauders won the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League championship.

Ty Smilanic, the Pats’ third-round selection in the 2017 bantam draft, is in his second year with the US National Team Development Program. This season, he has collected two goals and two assists in two games in USHL play. In eight games versus NCAA programs, Smilanic has one goal and three assists. At this time, he does not have a public commitment to an NCAA school.