NHL Central Scouting has released its annual ‘Players to Watch’ list for the 2020-2021 season.
The list rates draft-eligible players from North America and Europe on a three-tier scale. ‘A’ indicates a potential first-round selection, ‘B’ indicates a potential second or third-round selection, and ‘C’ indicates a potential fourth, fifth, or sixth-round selection. The list will be updated throughout the winter months.
36 Western Hockey Leaguers were named to the list including three Brandon Wheat Kings skaters. Yaroslav Busygin, Jake Chiasson, and Vincent Iorio are all ‘C’ rated players on the first list.
Darnell Duff had a chance to chat with Jake Chiasson after he realized that he made the list. Jake is eligible for the 2021 NHL Draft.
“Any time you can be recognized within the game, it means a lot and it’s an honour,” said Chiasson. “I’ve put so much work into it, hockey has pretty much taken over my life and I love it. To share the spot with all of these players on the list, that’s special to me.”
Last season was Chaisson’s first full campaign with the Wheat Kings. Prior to the season being shut down because of the novel coronavirus, he scored five goals and added 10 assists. The native of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Chiasson says he wasn’t happy with the first half of his season; however, it was a visit with his family that helped him in the long run.
“I went home for Christmas and I had the chance to spend time with my family and take a break from the game,” offered Chiasson. “I felt my game had some growth to it in the second half. My goal is to be a point contributor this year, the strongest part of my game has always been in the offensive end.”
Chiasson will return to Brandon this year.
The WHL has said it plans to begin the new season on Friday, January 8. Although it may be hard to say anything is certain during the pandemic, the hope is lights around the league will be on right after Christmas.
Brandon was 35-22-4-2 when last season was shuttered. They had clinched a playoff spot and were just six points behind Prince Albert for the top spot in the East Division.
Last year’s biggest highlight for the team was a 10-game winning streak and an 11-game point streak. They didn’t lose from December 30 to January 24 prior to an overtime loss against Lethbridge on January 25.
As we now look forward to January 8, Chiasson is very excited to return to Brandon for what many members of the team believe could be a special season.
“We’re pretty excited about what we have coming into the year. We have some top prospects and everyone has the same goal in mind,” he said.
Offensive threat:
In his final season before joining Brandon, Jake played with the Yale Hockey Academy Prep U-18 team in the Canadian School Sport Hockey League and he had a sensational season. In 36 regular-season games, Jake scored 27 times and he added 42 assists. He would add 11 more points in just four games. In 40 total games that season, Jake averaged two points-per-game.
Besides playing with Yale, Chiasson was also given the opportunity to represent his province that season. He played on Team British Columbia at the Canada Winter Games. He scored four times and had two assists as B.C. finished in seventh place.
“It wasn’t the result we wanted, but what an experience,” added Chiasson. “It was an experience that certainly helped me develop. It’s also always a privilege when you can represent your province, wearing that crest was great.”
Dream come true:
Jake’s dream has always been and still is to play in the National Hockey League. He knew in order for that to happen that he had to advance to the next level after playing U-18 hockey and the first step was getting drafted in the WHL.
At the 2018 WHL U-15 draft, that was the case for the Abbotsford native. Jake was drafted 15th overall by Brandon after he recorded 74 points in 33 games with the U-15 Yale Prep team.
“I hadn’t even really talked to Brandon before I was drafted. I know my dad had a talk with them the day before the draft, so I guess that set things in motion,” ended Chiasson. “I’m really happy that they took a chance on me, this is such a great organization. I love getting the chance to be a Wheat King and I’m looking forward to moving forward with them.”
Jake has done big things in the past and he’s ready to do big things moving forward. Stay tuned to hear Vincent Iorio’s thoughts on making the ‘Players to Watch’ list later this week.
