Thunderbirds Jake Lee, Dillon Hamaliuk enter NHL Draft years with high expectations

Every player in the Western Hockey League is after the same dream. It’s a development league and the overall goal is to eventually get drafted and play in the NHL. For two Seattle players, that dream might just come true next June.

Defenseman Jake Lee and forward Dillon Hamaliuk are entering their second full season with the Thunderbirds as well as their NHL Draft years.

Lee, Seattle’s 2016 first-round Bantam pick, played in 64 games as a rookie last year and improved in each one. He worked his way up the defensive rotation and by season’s end joined veteran Turner Ottenbreit as the top penalty killers for the club.

He’s got the size, skill, and has turned into a solid two-way player.

“He’s not a guy who needs to change his game and become an offensive guy,” Thunderbirds head coach Matt O’Dette says of Lee. “He’s a great all-around defenseman and he needs to keep improving that type of play. We’ve talked about that and he’s prime to take a big step this year.”

While Lee doesn’t have the flash of someone like former Seattle defenseman Shea Theodore, he did show some signs that he can contribute from the blue line.

He scored four goals to go with six assists as a 16-year-old rookie and can move the puck to help the offense. Those numbers don’t jump off the page at you but its not far off from what the Thunderbirds all-time leading goal scoring defenseman recorded at the same age. Ethan Bear, now with the Edmonton Oilers, only scored six times during his rookie year. While Lee isn’t the same player as Bear was, his offensive side of the game is there, and we could see him contribute more this season.

Plus-minus is a flawed statistic in many cases, but Lee ended last year with an even rating. On a team that gave up more goals than it scored, Lee was only one of two Seattle defensemen who didn’t have a negative rating. Lee will command time at the top of Seattle’s defensive pairings as well as play on both special teams.

It’s that promise that will get him to show up on NHL Draft lists this season. For Lee, he just wants to improve his overall game.

“I want to be faster and work on foot speed and shot,” he says. “Just be more heads up and make faster and smarter plays. As confidence comes, my offensive side will come.”

Hamaliuk broke out last year as a rookie and will get a chance to be a bigger contributor this year. Listed at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, the Alberta product has the look and game of a typical power forward. He uses his frame well, is physical, and unlike some bigger players, he can skate.

That translated into 15 goals as a rookie, mostly coming while playing on the third line. This year, he’ll start the season manning the wing on Seattle’s second line. Being a solid top-six contributor is something that O’Dette and the Thunderbirds are expecting from Hamaliuk.

“I think he’s ready to make that jump,” O’Dette says of the guy they call ‘Hammer’. “We value his type of player. He’s got a lot of self-confidence in himself and his linemates by playing with speed and being that proto-typical power forward. I think he looks primed to breakout.”

Only two of Hamaliuk’s goals came while on the power play last year as he didn’t see a great deal of time with the man advantage. That could change this year as his big frame is tailor made to be a net-front presence.

Playing in the top six, on the second line, will also generate greater ice time and opportunity for Hamaliuk and there should be an uptick in his scoring as a result.

Getting to the NHL is the dream but both guys are aware that they can’t let the various rankings and reports become a distraction.

“I just take it game by game,” Hamaliuk says. “I don’t really think about that too much. I feel like if I continue to do that I’ll have a chance to go. Just play my game, same as last year, play a bigger offensive role and contribute to the team.”

Lee is also aware that he’ll start to get more attention from NHL scouts and the on line self-proclaimed draft experts.

“Honestly, all I have to do is go out there and play my best game,” he adds. “Be a good player in the dressing room and a good person as well.”

As a head coach, O’Dette is responsible to win games but also to help develop his players for hockey, and life, down the road. Seattle has had players drafted before and O’Dette is aware of the circus that can come with it.

Ultimately, the team success will help in the draft process. Seattle saw that with its 2017 Championship team. Five players from that squad were drafted and four more would sign pro contracts.

“We’ve been talking about that to the team in general,” O’Dette says. “It’s a team first approach. They need to be doing whatever it takes for us to improve as a team and have success as a team. When that happens, individual success comes with it.”

Lee, Hamaliuk, and the rest of the Thunderbirds will begin working on that team success Saturday when they open the season at 6 pm against Portland in the accesso ShoWare Center.

Follow @AndyEide