How the 2014-15 T-Birds were built: The 2012 Bantam Draft

This is part five of a series of articles looking at how the current T-Birds roster was built through the draft and various trades over the past five years.

Part 1: The 2009 Bantam Draft
Part 2: The 2010 Bantam Draft
Part 3: The 2010 Import Draft
Part 4: The 2011 Bantam Draft

When all is said and done, the 2012 Bantam Draft may go down as one of the most successful Bantam Drafts in Seattle Thunderbirds history, and one that really helped to change the way hockey is thought of in the Emerald City.

After all, it’s not often that your top seven draftees sign and play significant minutes before and during their 17-year-old seasons.

Seattle had 10 selections overall in 2012, none more important than the first overall selection, which they turned into Coquitlam, B.C.’s Mathew Barzal, one of the most promising prospects to come out of Western Canada since Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was taken first by the Red Deer Rebels in 2008.

The T-Birds actually finished the 2011-12 regular season with the third-lowest number of points among WHL clubs, but came up lucky in the draft lottery, jumping ahead of both Prince Albert and Prince George to snag the No. 1 pick and a chance at drafting Barzal.

Since being selected, every aspect of Barzal’s career, both on and off the ice, have been closely critiqued. Considering he was already projected as a top five NHL draft pick despite not being eligible for three years, it made sense that media all over North America wanted to know what he was doing at all times.

He came to training camp as a 15 year old and was one of the best players on the ice despite playing against some that were four or five years older than he was. He didn’t sign immediately or play in the preseason – an expected occurrence for some, an enormous red flag for others.

With 2011’s first round pick Ryan Gropp still unsigned, getting Barzal into the fold was critical. During his 15-year-old season, the 6-foot tall center played six games with the Coquitlam Express in the BCHL, a league that players from the area often play in while mulling options for their future.

Barzal attended one playoff game that year, a thrilling overtime victory over the heavily-favored Kelowna Rockets to give Seattle a 3-0 lead in the series in front of a sold out Two-for-Tuesday crowd at the ShoWare Center. The electrifying atmosphere in the building that night may have been the final push that Barzal needed to finally sign on the dotted line.

At the 2013 Bantam Draft in Calgary, Barzal’s decision to commit to the Thunderbirds was made official. WHL commissioner Ron Robison stood in front of the crowd at the draft and announced the signing with Barzal in attendance.

Very exciting day! Proud to be signed and officially a Thunderbird.

— Mathew Barzal (@Barzal_97) May 1, 2013

In 103 games through his 16- and 17-year-old seasons, Barzal has accumulated 111 points on 26 goals and 85 assists, demonstrating the vision, skating ability, and hands of an elite prospect and future NHL star. If not for a knee injury that kept him out for over two months this season just as he was starting to really find his groove, Barzal’s 1.3 points per game this year may be hovering up closer to 1.6, as he’s averaged over the past couple months. A 1.6 points per game pace over the course of a 72-game season would have given Barzal 115 on the year, which would have been the highest total for a T-Birds player since Patrick Marleau had 125 during the 1996-97 season.

His defensive game has improved leaps and bounds since his 16-year-old season when he was forced to adjust the mindset that he’d developed in Bantam and Midget level hockey, where he was able to get by showcasing his offensive skills. Now, he’s a fixture on Seattle’s penalty kill unit and is trusted by head coach Steve Konowalchuk in all three zones.

As much attention as Barzal receives, the success of the 2012 draft goes far beyond him. With the first of the two first round picks acquired from Portland in the Marcel Noebels trade in 2012, Seattle snagged power forward Keegan Kolesar at No. 20 overall.

Kolesar, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, went through the same adjustment phase that many power forwards do as 16 year olds. He had eight points in 60 games as a rookie on the team’s fourth line, focusing heavily that season on improving his skating.

This year, Kolesar has registered 38 points in 64 games on 19 goals and 19 assists. He’s also registered 85 penalty minutes and been a force in front of the opponent’s net, developing into one of the league’s premier power forwards. His skills aren’t limited to those of your typical big man, however, as Kolesar has shown the soft hands and shot that are usually reserved for finesse players.

Unfortunately for Seattle, Kolesar broke his arm a couple of weeks ago in a contest against the Victoria Royals. The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time, just weeks before the playoffs began when Seattle was days away from having a fully healthy lineup with the impending return of Alexander True. One of Seattle’s toughest challenges this postseason will be finding a combination of players who can replicate Kolesar’s production and presence on the ice.

A relative unknown outside of Seattle before the season, Kolesar’s development has triggered the interest of NHL scouts and it now appears he’ll be drafted by a professional club in June.

With their second round pick, No. 25 overall, the T-Birds drafted defenseman Ethan Bear from Ochapowace, Sask. Along with Kolesar, Bear signed almost immediately after being drafted, allowing him to spend his 15-year-old season without distraction.

When he was 16, clinching a roster spot was no guarantee for Bear. Some thought he wasn’t ready, but the coaching staff opened a spot for him next to 19-year-old veteran Adam Henry and Bear excelled. He had 19 points in 58 games as a 16-year-old, as well as four points in nine playoff games.

Now 17, Bear has become a fixture on Seattle’s power play and a very good two-way defenseman. He doubled his point total this season with 38 on 13 goals and 25 assists. With Shea Theodore likely out of the equation next year as he moves on to the professional ranks, look for Bear to become Seattle’s top offensive option on the blue line.

Still suiting up on Seattle’s third defensive pairing behind veterans Theodore, Jerret Smith, Evan Wardley, and Jared Hauf, Bear’s impressive point totals have come in relatively limited minutes.

Like Kolesar, Bear has played his way into the NHL draft conversation. He’s not the biggest or most physical player at 5 feet 11, but has shown that he can handle the rigors of a long season having only missed three contests this year.

Barzal, Kolesar, and Bear alone would have made this a successful draft, but Seattle still had a long way to go.

With their third round pick, No. 47 overall, the T-Birds were able to find their goalie of the future in Logan Flodell, a lefty from Regina, Sask. Flodell had a bit of a rough debut as a 16-year-old, playing in one game and allowing seven goals against the Prince George Cougars. He still ended up getting the win in a high-scoring affair, but that would be the only regular season action he saw in Seattle during his first year of eligibility.

After a strong training camp, Flodell was in the mix for a possible backup spot behind Kozun as a 17-year-old. Seattle had three capable goalies to start the year with Danny Mumaugh also being in the mix. The front office ultimately decided to go with experience, sending Flodell, who was a year younger than Mumaugh and three years younger than Kozun, back to the Nipawin Hawks of the SJHL.

In January, Mumaugh unexpectedly retired from hockey and the Thunderbirds called on Flodell once again to be Kozun’s primary backup. He’s been outstanding in nine games as a 17-year-old, boasting a .907 save percentage, 2.75 goals against average, and a 3-2-0-1 record. In the last week alone, Flodell has put together an impressive audition tape to become the starter next season, securing important wins against powerhouse opponents in Kelowna and Portland.

Seattle didn’t have a fourth round choice in 2012, but grabbed forward Lane Pederson in the fifth, No. 91 overall. As a 16-year-old, Pederson nearly made the team out of the gate, but was eventually sent back to the SMHL where he would receive consistent playing time. The staff also tasked him with adding some weight to his slight frame over the next year to prepare him for the demanding 72-game WHL season.

Pederson made it his mission to pack on some muscle, and where he was once thought of as a dangling forward who would make his living skating around opposing defenders, he now has the ability to challenge those opponents head on in the corners or in front of the net.

The Saskatoon, Sask. native has played in 63 games this season and often been asked to play a variety of different roles as other forwards have gone down with injury. When the staff has needed Pederson to step in on a checking line against the opposition’s top scorers, he’s been up for the challenge. When they’ve needed him to do the reverse and play on one of the team’s top two scoring lines, he’s filled in admirably. Overall, he’s accumulated 20 points on eight goals and 12 assists in 63 games.

There were times last season when other general managers around the league inquired about trading for Pederson, but T-Birds decision-maker Russ Farwell wasn’t ready to part with the promising prospect. He figures prominently into Seattle’s plans for the next few seasons as a two-way forward who will play in every situation.

Seattle had two picks in the eighth round, Nos. 157 and 161 overall, and made both of them count. With their first selection, they grabbed Donovan Neuls out of Grenfell, Sask. It would be hard to find anyone who could have predicted Neuls’ impact before the season began.

Playing on the Thunderbirds’ primary checking line with Scott Eansor and Nolan Volcan for most of the year, Neuls has excelled en route to being named Seattle’s Rookie of the Year. With seven goals and 17 assists in 69 games, he’s been offensively adept, but his most telling stat is his plus-nine rating while playing most of the season against the other team’s best scorers. With the U.S. Division featuring elite talents like Oliver Bjorkstrand, Nic Petan, and Nikita Scherbak, being a plus-rated player is no small feat.

Neuls has also been a flexible piece of the roster, sometimes moving off of Seattle’s checking line, either to give Seattle two strong defensive lines, or to step up and center a line to generate more offense. His versatility has given Konowalchuk the ability to juggle his lines and gameplan to accommodate whatever the opponent is throwing at him.

With their second pick, the T-Birds grabbed Luke Osterman, a defenseman by trade who made the move to forward to find himself a place on Seattle’s roster.

Osterman has been in and out of the lineup as a 17-year-old, scoring two goals and fighting 12 times in 45 games. He’s more than held his own with his gloves off despite standing just 6 feet tall and weighing less than 200 pounds, going toe-to-toe with some of the league’s well-known scrappers.

Seattle sees much more in the Stillwater, Minn. native than the ability to goon it up, however, as he was recently named the team’s Most Improved Player. After receiving inconsistent ice time this year, look for him to be a more stable presence on the depth chart next season.

The 2012 draft has already made a huge impact on the transformation of the Seattle Thunderbirds from a team that would barely squeak into the playoffs into one that is a force atop the U.S. Division and Western Conference. The Thunderbirds were able to accomplish an extremely difficult task in not only finding seven players who would develop into WHL-caliber players, but also managing to get each of them committed to playing in Seattle.

Barzal has proven to be the type of once-in-a-generation talent whose mere presence attracts other top-level players, in addition to the contributions he makes on the ice. Kolesar and Bear are future professionals, and Flodell, Pederson, Neuls, and Osterman are going to make this not only a very fun team to watch over the next few seasons, but also one that should contend for a WHL title if they can build on the success they’ve had as 17-year-olds.

Notable 2012 draftees that have not played in Seattle

Tyler Kreklewich, forward (ninth round, 179th overall): Kreklewich didn’t look out of place in training camp with Seattle as an offensively gifted forward, and has developed into an impact player in the same Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League that Pederson played in last year. Kreklewich had 40 points on 15 goals and 25 assists in just 20 games this season.

Zak Galambos, defense (tenth round, 201st overall): Galambos hails from Walnut Creek, Calif., an area quickly becoming more and more known for developing good hockey players. Galambos split this season between the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL and the Janesville Jets of the NAHL. When Galambos was just 16, he qualified for the San Jose Jr. Sharks 18U club and led the team in scoring by a defenseman. Many of the NHL’s best American players spent time in the NAHL before moving on to the next stage of their hockey career, whether that was in the NCAA or CHL.