What we’ve learned from Thunderbirds training camp

The hockey season officially began in Seattle last week as the Thunderbirds hosted two days of prospect scrimmages and two days of main camp followed by the annual Blue-White game. The preseason begins this weekend in Everett as Seattle will play in three contests, one each against Tri-City, Victoria and Spokane.

We’ll learn more as the preseason wears on and roster moves are made, but here’s some of what we were able to glean from training camp.

Goalie battle will go down to the wire

Both Logan Flodell and the newly-acquired Taz Burman played well in training camp, with neither doing quite enough to establish himself as the clear-cut No. 1 guy.

Burman, playing on Team Blue during training camp, didn’t allow a goal until rosters were mixed up for the Blue-White game that ended camp. Flodell actually took home the win in the final scrimmage, stopping 16 of the 18 shots he faced. Also in the picture is Ryan Gilchrist, who allowed one goal on eight shots in the Blue-White contest.

Expect Burman and Flodell to split the majority of playing time in the preseason as the team seeks to identify a No. 1 netminder. More likely, the two solid young goalies will enter the regular season as 1-A and 1-B on the depth chart, with both receiving ample playing time barring a trade.

Young defensemen are ready to step up

We’ve had the chance to get a good look at the T-Birds’ top four defensemen, which include Jerret Smith, Jared Hauf, Ethan Bear and Turner Ottenbreit. With the offseason departures of Shea Theodore and Evan Wardley, it was a bit of a question who might be ready to step in and fill those vacancies on the blue line.

Sahvan Khaira received significant playing time on defense last year but just seemed a tad behind, which isn’t uncommon for 16-year-old D-men. In camp, however, Khaira looked like an entirely different player. The Surrey, British Columbia native looks like he put in work in the offseason to shed a few pounds. That translated to a faster, more agile player who was also much more confident with the puck on his stick in all three zones.

Brandon Schuldhaus was also impressive in his quest to earn a full-time roster spot. The left-handed shooting defenseman possesses imposing size at 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, but also moves well, is patient with the puck, and has a big shot from the point.

Two other names to keep an eye on at the Everett preseason tournament are last year’s first-round pick, Jarrett Tyszka, and Reece Harsch. Tyszka was dominant at prospects camp and looks like he has the potential to be a top defenseman in this league. Harsch is another big 16-year-old who, if he doesn’t make the roster this season, almost surely has a spot waiting for him next year.

That leaves at least four players fighting for three roster spots, as Seattle will carry at least seven defensemen. Tough choices will need to be made by the coaching staff as it decides who will stick around, but it’s a good problem to have.

Forward depth is also impressive

Like on defense, a number of young forwards stood out during camp. However, the logjam may be even more severe than we thought, despite the recent trades of Lane Pederson and Calvin Spencer.

Mathew Barzal, Ryan Gropp, Keegan Kolesar, Scott Eansor, Jamal Watson, Nolan Volcan, Donovan Neuls, Alexander True, Nick Holowko and Gustav Olhaver should all be locks for full-time spots. Kaden Elder played in 56 games last year, six of which came in the postseason, and was a first-round pick a couple of years ago, so it’s logical to think that he’ll be in line for more ice time. Luke Osterman also played in 45 games, registering 76 penalty minutes.

If every one of those players makes the roster full-time, that would leave only the 13th forward spot open for a group of talented rookies that include Matthew Wedman, Wyatt Bear and Mackenzie Wight. With such a deep group of forwards, don’t be surprised to see the T-Birds make another trade prior to the season beginning in an effort to get their rookies a bit more ice time.

Also eligible to make the team this year would be Luke Ormsby and Baker Shore, both of whom impressed during camp but have yet to sign with the team. Fifteen-year-old Elijah Brown, this year’s top Bantam Draft pick, isn’t eligible to play full-time this season, but looks like he’ll skate with the Seattle in the Everett preseason tournament.

Jamal Watson is going to be an impact player

Maybe it’s because I hadn’t had the chance to watch him much before this season with Lethbridge belonging to the Eastern Conference, but Watson is one of the best skaters I’ve seen at the WHL level over the past few seasons.

During camp, he routinely beat defensemen to the puck on dump-ins and often made it look easy. In many situations, that may speak negatively of the defense, but in this case, it’s a major compliment to Watson, who also showed soft hands, impressive vision and a willingness to bang in the corners.

He spent most of training camp on what will most likely be Seattle’s checking line alongside Scott Eansor and Nolan Volcan. Should those three stay together, it will be a formidable combination that will make life difficult for the WHL’s best offensive groups.

Gustav Olhaver looks like he’ll adjust quickly

If you watched any of training camp, you didn’t miss Gustav Olhaver. Listed at 6-foot-6 out of his skates, he’s probably closer to 6-foot-9 on the ice. Despite his incredible size, the Swede moves gracefully and didn’t look out of place during camp. We’ll see if that changes during the preseason, but there’s no reason to think that he’ll have trouble after putting up impressive numbers in some of Sweden’s top leagues.

It would make sense for Olhaver to line up next to fellow import Alexander True, who stands at 6-foot-4 himself. The talented Europeans will make up two-thirds of a line that will provide major matchup problems once it gets up to speed.