This is an ongoing series as we start the long road to the 2019-20 WHL season. We will be going in the order that teams were eliminated from contention. Keep in mind that the roster guesses vary because of information made available to us. We did our very best to capture all of the signings, but could be missing some.
2018-19 WHL Season: After taking home the Scotty Munro Trophy for best record in the WHL in 2017-18, the Moose Jaw Warriors were expected to take a step back in 2018-19.
Their big names though carried them to a 40-20-6-2 record, 88 points and the third seed in the East Division.
Tristin Langan, Justin Almeida and Brayden Tracey were one of the best forward trios in the WHL as Langan put up 113 points, Almeida had 111 and Tracey walked away with the Eastern Conference Rookie of the Year with 81 points.
Josh Brook was named Eastern Conference Defenseman of the Year with 75 points in only 59 games. Jett Woo also added 66 points in 62 games.
Moose Jaw’s lack of depth was exposed though in the first round as the Saskatoon Blades swept them in four straight. Tracey missing some of the series with an injury didn’t help matters.
2019 WHL Bantam Draft: They traded their first round pick as part of the package for defenseman Kale Clague. They also moved their second round selection at the January 2018 deadline for defenseman Brandon Schuldhaus. They moved Schuldhaus to Saskatoon and got a second round pick back this season but that doesn’t come until the 2020 draft. It also appears they do not pick in the third round either as part of the deal for Brayden Burke in the 2016-17 season. It appears that the Warriors do not pick until the fourth round.
Signed Players (32):
Forwards (19):
1999 – Justin Almeida#, Luke Ormsby, Alec Zawatsky
2000 – Kaedan Taphorn, Keenan Taphorn, Carson Denomie, Tate Popple, Kale Clouston
2001 – Daniil Stepanov, Yegor Buyalski, Kjell Kjemhus, Brayden Tracey, Cameron Sterling
2002 – Payton McKenzie*, Levi Thiessen*, Calder Anderson*, Cade Hayes*
2003 – Eric Alarie*, Josh Hoekstra*
Defensemen (9):
1999 – Josh Brook#
2000 – Jett Woo#, Matthew Benson
2001 – Matthew Sanders, Drae Gardiner, Alek Sukunda
2002 – Cory King*, Daemon Hunt
2003 – Lucas Brenton*
Goalies (4):
1999 –
2000 – Adam Evanoff
2001 – Ethan Fitzgerald*
2002 – Jackson Berry*
2003 – Brett Mirwald*
#=NHL-signed
*=Did not play 10 or more WHL games in 2018-19.
Aged Out: Langan, defenseman Dalton Hamaliuk and goalie Brodan Salmond are all now too old to play in the WHL.
Going Pro: Almeida and Brook are both signed by the NHL teams and very likely will not be back as overagers. Woo was signed by the Vancouver Canucks as well and is the first NHL-signed 19-year-old we have come across in this series so far. He would need both a great camp and the Canucks to not re-sign their older d-men for him to not come back to the Warriors.
Overage Shuffle: With Brook and Almeida moving on, the Warriors are left with just Luke Ormsby and Alec Zawatsky, both of whom they traded for. The latter had just two points in 25 games after coming over and will need to regain his form.
Import Issues?: Daniil Stepanov had 19 points, while Yegor Buyalski put up 14. This is not exactly the production you would expect of your imports, but they were only 17 year olds. With the losses to their top line, Moose Jaw may want to bring them both back and see what a second season playing in the WHL and an increased role does for their production.
2019 NHL Draft: Tracey flew up the draft chart and finished 21st among North American skaters. He and Woo will be a potent combo coming back to Moose Jaw next season. No other Warriors were ranked.
