The offseason for Estevan Minor Hockey product Brayden Pachal is simple: working out, a little bit of golf and not worrying about the 2018 NHL draft.
According to the NHL draft rankings, Pachal is a bit of a longshot to get drafted. It’s his second time through the draft and this year he’s ranked 200th overall among North American skaters after a season where he scored seven goals and 19 assists for 26 points in 68 games for the Prince Albert Raiders in his first full season in Prince Albert.
“I’ll just be hanging out in Estevan, working and doing some offseason things,” said Pachal, whose Western Hockey League rights were traded to the Raiders from the Victoria Royals in the 2016-17 season. He won’t be focused on his own draft status but will be focused on trying to get better every day this offseason.
“Just pushing myself,” he said. “You’ve got to work out to get to where you want to be so with the draft in mind it’s extra motivation for sure. I’m just pushing myself daily to try to get better.”
The season didn’t start out great for the Raiders but the team that was in sixth place for a portion of the year ended up getting enough points to qualify for the playoffs.
“I think it went really well and our team really grew as the season went along,” Pachal said. “It helps for individual success as well. When your team does well, you get noticed. It was a big step for our team and myself as well.”
Pachal also chipped in a goal and three assists in seven playoff games with the Raiders, who pushed the league’s top-ranked Moose Jaw Warriors to seven games in the first round of the playoffs.
But so many teams went all-in for the 2018 Memorial Cup in the division, like Moose Jaw, Regina and Swift Current, that the Raiders are looking good on paper in the offseason.
“We had a really good division this year and those three teams kind of build up for this year and were really good teams,” said Pachal. “I think it kind of helped us show where we need to get and I think the next couple of years we’re going to be a really strong team.”
Pachal has a lot of faith in the management team of general manager Curtis Hunt and head coach Marc Habscheid to take the team to greater heights next season.
“Our management and coaching staff is unbelievable in P.A.,” Pachal said. “You’ve got to give them a ton of credit for what they did with our group. We weren’t even supposed to be in the playoffs and we took Moose Jaw to Game 7. We could have won the series… it was a really good series and a really good learning experience for us
