It’s that time of year again! We at the DubNetwork always try to come up with a new order for previews each year and this season we are going with least recent to most recent Ed Chynoweth Cups for our order of previews. They will run 2-to-3 a day until September 20th. Then on September 21st – the day the season opens – we will have our predictions.
Six teams have not won a WHL title, so we went with least recent to most recent trips to the WHL final.
The Red Deer Rebels are up and this is their preview.
1992-93 was the year the Rebels made their debut in the Western Hockey League. In their most successful season, the Rebels won the Ed Chynoweth Cup and then went on to win the Memorial Cup on the back of a 54-12-3-3, 2000-01 season. Red Deer last won the Central Division during the 2010-11 season. They were granted hosting duties of the Memorial Cup for the 2015-16 season and lost in the semi-final.
2017-18:
It was an interesting season in Red Deer. The team was sub-.500 for the duration of the year but still made the playoffs. They made some moves at the trade deadline and were able to get Brandon Hagel back in the lineup after he suffered an injury. Alexander Alexeyev also suffered an injury and the loss of his mother during the season. After a spell that saw the team win just once in 25 opportunities, Red Deer made a run from outside the playoff picture to third in the Central Division. They ended the season with a record of 27-32-10-3.
Lethbridge ended the Rebels’ 2017-18 story in the first round of the playoffs after just five games. The exit was the third time in the last four seasons that the Rebels were eliminated in the first round of the WHL playoffs.
Off-season departures:
Captain Grayson Pawlenchuk aged-out of the league and is headed to the University of Alberta Golden Bears team. Forward Mason McCarty also aged out and has signed with the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL.
Forward Kristian Reichel signed with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL and is not expected back with the Rebels. The import player would also be a two-spotter on the team.
Associate Coach Jeff Truitt parted ways with the Rebels and moved into an assistant coaching role with the Prince Albert Raiders. Goalie Coach Taylor Dakers also moved on from the club.
The Rebels traded defensemen Sam Pouliot to the Swift Current Broncos for a draft pick in the tenth round in 2019.
Also, the Rebels traded a second round pick in 2019 and Brandon Cutler to the Royals for Dallon Melin and a fifth round pick in the same draft.
Goaltender Riley Lamb was released from the team before the start of training camp.
Newcomers:
Red Deer drafted Oleg Zaytsev in the first round of the CHL Import draft. The Russian player has fit in nicely with the teams offense and at 6-foot-1, 185 pounds, is looking to make an impact in front of the opposing team’s net. He played for the Russian U18 team that participated in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup this past August.
As mentioned above, Dallon Melin was brought into the team on a deal with the Royals. He has looked good in the preseason and could be one of two 16-year-old players to make the final roster as the season begins. He is listed at 6-foot-3, 195 pounds.
The other 16-year-old is defenseman Chase Leslie. He will be battling to stick with the team once Alexander Alexeyev and Dawson Barteaux return from NHL training camps. Another rookie whom he will be competing with for a roster spot is Ryan Gottfried. The 17-year-old has yet to see any WHL regular season action but has played well in the preseason.
Brad Flynn was brought in from the Corpus Christi IceRays of the NAHL as an assistant coach. He was joined by Ryan Colville, formerly of the Cincinnati Thunder of the NA3HL. Colville has been a part of a Stanley Cup winning NHL team, serving as video coach for the Los Angeles Kings in 2012. Former Rebels goaltender Kraymer Barnstable was added as the team’s new goaltender coach.
General manager Brent Sutter also picked up former Rebel forward Jeff de Wit on waivers over the summer to battle for a roster spot as one of the three 20-year-old players.
Overage situation:
It would have seemed to the fans of the Rebels that the three 20-year-old spots were covered by newly minted captain Reese Johnson, NHL drafted (went unsigned) Brandon Hagel and the traded for defenseman Colin Paradis. GM Sutter found it necessary to create a little competition in bringing in Jeff de Wit after he was released by the Victoria Royals following the end of last season.
It is anyone’s guess what the Rebels will do in this situation. The team would not be considered to be in rebuilding mode but could use the offense. There are three 19-year-old defensemen on the roster so it could be that Paradis is expendable and de Wit will remain with the team. October 10th is a few weeks away and so the team has time to figure out exactly what they want to do.
Import situation:
With Alexander Alexeyev being a first round NHL draft pick, the Rebels were eligible to select twice at the CHL Import draft. Oleg Zaytsev was the first player the team picked and he has signed with the team and came ready to play following the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. The second was Belarusian defenseman Ivan Drozdov. He did not attend camp or sign with the Rebels and therefore we know that the players that are locked in are Zaytsev and Alexeyev. Alexeyev is away at Capitals training camp but is expected to return to Red Deer.
Returning scorers:
| Pts rank | Player | GP | G | A | Pts |
| 76 | Brandon Hagel | 58 | 18 | 41 | 59 |
| 143 | Reese Johnson | 72 | 23 | 16 | 39 |
| 154 | Alexander Alexeyev | 45 | 7 | 30 | 37 |
| 184 | Dawson Barteaux | 64 | 3 | 29 | 32 |
Returning goalies
| Player | GP | GAA | Sv % | Record |
| Ethan Anders | 42 | 3.09 | .905 | 10-19-6-1 |
| Byron Fancy | 1 | 4.80 | .815 | 0-0-1-0 |
Forwards:
This group has been depleted by the departures of McCarty, Pawlenchuk and Reichel, as well as the trade that saw Cutler head to Victoria. The four players combined for 96 goals, which is 46.6% of the 206 goals they scored not including shootout winning goals. The four players will be dearly missed.
There is some upside though in Red Deer as the team will get a full season from Brandon Hagel, barring injury. The team will also have new import forward Oleg Zaytsev who will look to improve his NHL draft stock after coming over from Russia.
Red Deer also returns captain Reese Johnson, Josh Tarzwell, Chris Douglas, River Fahey, Arshdeep Bains, Austin Schellenberg and Alex Morozoff. It is expected that each and every one of these forwards will take a step forward in their development and show gains on the ice. Especially if they continue to play the game the “right way”.
Three 2001-born forwards will be looking to make the roster as rookies. The aforementioned Zaytsev, Zak Smith and Blake Sydlowski. Recently traded for Dallon Melin is just 16-years-old and is currently listed as being on the opening day roster for the Rebels.
Unless there is some instant chemistry in the bottom six of this roster, this team will struggle to score goals. There are a lot of unproven talents here, it would be the hope of the Rebels staff that they are able to show them how to create offense soon enough to compete in a tight Central Division.
Defense:
This is quite possibly the saving grace of the Rebels this season. Red Deer will return seven defenders from last season, two of which were drafted in the NHL draft this past June (Alexeyev – Washington Capitals, Barteaux – Dallas Stars).
The defense for Red Deer scored only 18 goals but they were not expected to carry the weight of scoring. Alexeyev led the way with seven goals, and he missed 27 games last year. He will be expected to quarterback the power play when he returns from the Capitals training camp.
Dawson Barteaux also saw some time on the power play, he was a great set up man from the point. He is also very reliable in his own end of the ice.
Overage defenseman Colin Paradis is on the bubble as he and Jeff de Wit are fighting it out for the final 20-year-old roster spot. He may be in tough as the team requires more offense and Paradis has not excelled in that area in his career.
Carson Sass, Ethan Sakowich and Jacob Herauf are all very reliable defenders in the top-six. They won’t wow you with goals but they do an effective job of clearing their zone and killing penalties.
Finding minutes might be an issue for 6-foot-5 205 pound Hunter Donohoe. He did spend time playing forward throughout last season, and was also the seventh defenseman in situations that warranted it. He also missed 22 games.
Rookie blue liners Chase Leslie (’02) and Ryan Gottfried (’01) will also be hard pressed to find considerable ice time behind the five incumbents from last season. This is a problem for them but a nice problem for the Rebels to have.
Goalies:
Before training camp even began, it was pretty apparent who was going to be the starting goaltender for the 2018-19 season. Riley Lamb was released from the team as they don’t generally carry 20-year-old goaltenders, especially not as a back-up.
Ethan Anders played well in his rookie season for the Rebels, after being pressed into action following Lamb’s injury. He would go on to play in more than half of the team’s games and help lead them to the playoffs. He would be the goaltender of record in the only Rebels playoff win last season.
Second round draft pick Byron Fancy will begin in the backup role.
Outlook:
It really is a toss up this season. The Rebels are a team that are certainly capable of a lot with the guidance of GM and Head Coach Brent Sutter. There are a lot of new staff on board though so how quickly they learn the ways of Mr. Sutter will go a long way in helping mould this team.
A lot of things will need to go their way if they plan to gain home ice in the first round of the playoffs. The offense as a whole will need to step up by more than just one step. The defense, while good on paper, will need to be great. And Ethan Anders will need to play the lions share of the games and perform at his best night in and night out.
What is more likely, the team will struggle to win games when they play high powered offenses. Red Deer will need to see more 2-1 and 3-2 games than barn burners. The defense on this team is capable of holding off some of the best teams in the Western Hockey League.
One thing is for certain, Red Deer will be in the mix for a playoff spot. Where exactly they fall is anyone’s guess. This division is once again pretty wide open, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat are nearer the top of the class than the rest.
