An off-season of change has begun for the CanElson Drilling Estevan Bruins.
Over the past seven days, the Bruins selected three players in the second-annual SJHL bantam draft, secured commitments for the 2016-17 season from four new recruits, traded away two regulars from the 2015-16 lineup to compete future consideration components of deals made this past January and lost the services of one up-and-coming rearguard. These moves came on the heels of the club losing one top-pairing defenceman in Charles Manley, who has elected to attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, this coming September where he will man the blue line for the Engineers.
Chris Lewgood, head coach and general manager of the Bruins, said Manley has accepted a Division 1 full scholarship to RPI. The 19-year-old defenceman played the past two seasons for the Bruins recording six goals and 33 points in 101 games while playing top minutes for the club.
“That’s the name of the game,” said Lewgood. “The more guys we can get to that next level or help work with the team (to) develop into Division 1 players the better. Charlie was a real huge asset for us for two years and did everything we expected of him and this year was a co-top defenceman on our hockey team. It’s good to see him get the opportunity to go play at RPI.”
Also heading to new clubs in 2016-17 are defenceman Jake Heerspink, high-scoring forward Braden Oleksyn and grinding left wing Zach Paxman. Heerspink, 18, played a regular role on the Bruins defence during the postseason suiting up for three SJHL playoff games against the Nipawin Hawks and all four Crescent Point Energy Western Canada Cup matches, but decided to play with a British Columbia club this winter.
Oleksyn, who tallied 27 goals and 52 points in 49 games with the Bruins, has been sent to the Melville Millionaires to complete the futures component of the Jan. 7 trade that brought Tyson Predinchuk to the Bruins for prospect Turner Ripplinger. Paxman has been moved to the MJHL’s WayWayseecappo Wolverines to finish the Jan. 10 trade that featured Landon Gross coming to Estevan in return for defenceman Nathan Peabody.
“Both players, Predinchuk and Gross, were huge additions to our team and brought us a lot of success down the stretch drive in leading up to the playoffs and come playoff time I thought Landon Gross was one of our best players in the Western Canada Cup,” said Lewgood, noting it is uncertain if Gross will be back next season for his final year of eligibility. “Those are the types of sacrifices you have to make if you want to be competitive in the SJHL.”
June 1 marked the first day clubs could sign new players for the upcoming season and the Bruins made a splash by locking up defencemen Brendan Mark and Davin Padgham as well as forwards Isaac Embree and Hayden Guilderson.
Mark, 18, played with Grand Rapids High School in the United States High School League last season where he recorded five goals and 16 points in 25 games, while Padgham, 18, tallied nine goals and 43 points in 42 games with the Pacific Junior B Hockey League’s (PJHL) Aldergrove Kodiaks last year. Embree, 18, potted 19 goals and 43 points in 35 games with the Canadian Sport School Hockey League’s Delta Hockey Academy Prep School. Guilderson, 19, also surpassed the point-per-game mark by racking up 13 goals and 51 points in 40 games with the PJHL’s Abbotsford Pilots.
Lewgood described Mark as a two-way blueliner, Padgham as an offensive defenceman, Embree as a power forward and Guilderson as a grinding forward. He said signing them to a commitment to play with the Bruins means they have a spot on the roster locked up out of the gate, but another player can still unseat them if they have a better showing early next season.
“We’re going to take the 23 players who give us the best chance to win short term and long term and if young guys come out and knock these guys out of their spots so be it,” he said. “But these are the guys we believe deserve a foot in the door as well as some other guys who we’re still looking to recruit and at the end of the day we thought these guys needed to know they were high on our list and we’ve committed to them to start the season.”
Mark said he chose to sign with the Bruins because he felt the facility is a great place to play, the hockey environment is outstanding and the team’s staff treated him well when he attended the Bruins late-April spring camp in Estevan. He said there are a lot of things that he is still working on with his game, but he definitely can bring an offensive presence from the blue line to the team.
“I have a couple of tournaments and might do some of the camps the high school team does,” said Mark, “but obviously I’ll be on the ice and off the ice training a lot to prepare myself for this fall.”
The Bruins added three more players to their 50-man protected list on June 2 at the SJHL draft. The club selected Alameda defenceman Dylan Hull with the eighth overall pick, right wing Eric Houk with the 20th selection and rearguard Jack Michell with the 44th pick.
“It’s great,” said Hull, 15, who notched 11 goals and 28 points in 30 games with the TS&M Estevan bantam AA Bruins last season. “I’m just proud to be selected by a good team in this draft.”
Hull said his focus is on making the Swift Current Legionnaires midget AAA team this upcoming season. He said the plan from there is just to work hard, increase his strength and hopefully seize any future opportunity to play.
Lewgood said they had a chance to watch Hull a lot this past season and the belief is he fell under the radar provincially and in Western Canada. He said the projection for Hull is to be a high-end defenceman and very good junior A hockey player.
“He’s going into his 15-year-old season and we think it’s realistic that by 17 he’s playing with us,” said Lewgood. “Some guys come even earlier and other guys wait until they’re 18, but we’ll let it take its course. His development will determine that and we’ll continue to contact with him and watch him closely and at the end of the day we’re excited to see how he shapes up as a junior hockey player and where he fits with the Estevan Bruins.”
