Keith Hershmiller Photography

Off-season outlook: Regina Pats

We continue on with our 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 a couple straight seasons of going all-in, the 2018-19 Regina Pats season was expected to be a rebuilding one. Along the way they traded away Nick Henry, Jake Leschyshyn and many more. Coming in they had six 19-year-old forwards and a 19-year-old defenseman. All but one of that group were dealt away.

This was a necessity for the Pats as they tried to recover draft picks after ravaging their stocks the previous two seasons.

Sergei Alkhimov

The bright spots during their season which they went 19-45-1-3 for 42 points in, came from the new imports and some of the younger players. Sergei Alkhimov finished second in team scoring with 27 points in 66 games and defenseman Nikita Sedov had 19 assists.

16-year-old center Cole Dubinsky had some highlight-reel goals among his five. He also had four assists for nine points.

In net, after acquiring Dean McNabb, him and Max Paddock provided the Pats with some strong goaltending. While their numbers were not great, they did find a way to keep the Pats in some games and steal others.

If the Pats are heading towards a youth movement, they need to start adding to the 2002 and 2003-born age groups.

2019 WHL Bantam Draft: In years previous, They moved their first round pick, third overall, to the Saskatoon Blades as a part of the Libor Hajek trade at the 2018 trade deadline. They also moved their second round pick to Seattle for Aaron Hyman and their two third round picks as part of trades for Cam Hebig and Ryan Kubic.

This season though, they picked up a first (17th overall) and a third plus more from Lethbridge as part of that big trade. They also got a second round pick from Vancouver for Jadon Joseph, another third round pick from Lethbridge for Scott Mahovlich and yet another third rounder from Tri-City for Hyman.

Signed Players (25):

Forwards (13):

1999 – Austin Pratt, Sebastian Streu

2000 – Ty Kolle, Koby Morrisseau, Riley Krane, Duncan Pierce

2001 – Blake Allan, Sergei Alkhimov, Garrett Wright, Carter Messier, Logan Nijhoff

2002 – Cole Dubinsky, Cale Sanders*

2003 –

Defensemen (9):

1999 –

Max Paddock (Andy Devlin)

2000 – Kyle Walker

2001 – Tyson Feist, Nikita Sedov, Steven Zonneveld, Ryker Evans

2002 – Makai Mitchell, Sam McGinley*

2003 – Jake Johnson*

Goalies (4):

1999 –

2000 – Max Paddock, Dean McNabb

2001 – Matthew Pesenti*, Carter Woodside*

2002 –

2003 –

*=Did not play at least 10 games in the WHL last season.

Overage Shuffle: They held on to Austin Pratt despite the fact that there had to have been offers for the then 19-year-old forward with Memorial Cup experience. That leaves him as a lock to return to the team an very likely be the next team captain. The only other overage on the roster right now is forward Sebastian Streu, who came over from the Kootenay ICE and was productive. He put up 22 points in 36 games after coming over. Despite his limited time with the team, he is the fourth highest returning scorer. Look for him to be back with the Pats.

The last spot is open. Looking at the current roster, they could definitely use an experienced defenseman with two veteran guys aging out after the 2018-19 season.

Import Issues?: Despite having a high CHL Import pick, the Pats would be smart to hang onto Sedov and Alkhimov. They both grew as the season went and on paper look like cornerstones for the 2019-20 Pats season.

Cole Dubisnky (Photo-Regina Leader Post)

Aged out: Forward Brett Clayton and defensemen Brady Pouteau and Liam Schioler have all moved on from the WHL.

NHL Draft: The final NHL Central Scouting list was released and defenseman Sedov (186th NA skater) and goalie Paddock (30th NA goalie) were both ranked. If they are selected it appears they will be taken with late-round fliers. Sedov is playing for Russia right now at the U18 World Championships, giving him another chance to impress NHL scouts before June’s draft.