EVERETT — The Everett Silvertips entered training camp last August with four candidates for their three overage slots.
However, the emergence of goaltender Carter Hart in the 2014-15 season made it seem clear from the outset that netminder Austin Lotz would be the casualty, leaving forwards Remi Laurencelle and Carson Stadnyk, and defenseman Cole MacDonald as the three 20-year-olds for the 2015-16 Tips.
When Lotz was claimed by Medicine Hat in October’s overage draft, Stadnyk became the lone 2010 Everett bantam pick remaining on the Tips’ roster.
Though held without a goal in the 2016 postseason, the Saskatoon native had six assists in the six playoff games in which he appeared before he was injured and missed the final three games of the second-round series loss to the Seattle Thunderbirds.
“It’s pretty emotional,” Stadnyk said. “I’m used to having this and then knowing I’d see the guys next year. That’s a little weird, but it is what it is. It sucks we had to lose out like that and I couldn’t play, but what can you do? That’s playoff hockey.”
While Stadnyk’s path to Everett was conventional, Laurencelle’s was circuitous. He was an eighth-round bantam pick by the Lethbridge Hurricanes in 2010 and had a pair of strong midget seasons back home in Manitoba before joining the Hurricanes for the 2012-13 season.
That’s when Laurencelle’s career stalled. He found himself toiling on Lethbridge’s fourth line while rarely playing on a struggling team. Laurencelle was on the verge of quitting when he was dealt to the Tips for a sixth-round draft pick midway through the 2013-14 season.
“It’s one of those things where you get discouraged and really — I wouldn’t say depressed — you get down on yourself very quickly,” Laurencelle said. “I’m happy these guys gave me a second chance and that’s kind of the only thing I wanted.”
Laurencelle’s grind-it-out mentality worked well on a team full of overachieving, hardworking players. He was frequently one of the last players off the ice following workouts.
“I always work hard no matter what the situation is and I came back (at 19) and told myself that if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do this right and I’m going to play as hard as I can,” Laurencelle said. “And the last two years have been something special for me. I proved myself, that I could do something and that I could be a tough contender in this league.”
Stadnyk and Laurencelle provided the bulk of Everett’s offensive production while playing together on the first line. Laurencelle finished as Everett’s leading goal-scorer (28) and point producer (58) while Stadnyk was second in both categories (21, 28).
“Remi has been a pretty solid guy all year,” Everett head coach Kevin Constantine said. “I think a lot of people last year thought possibly that playing with (Nikita) Scherbak was why (Laurencelle) happened to have a decent year last year. I think this year he proved he wasn’t Scherbak-dependant to be a good offensive player in this league.”
MacDonald added nine goals and 27 assists from the back end and was the Tips’ top goal-scoring defenseman. He scored two power-play goals in Everett’s 4-2 series-clinching victory over Portland in the first round and a coast-to-coast goal on the man advantage in Game 2 of the Seattle series.
“It flew by quick and I guess time flies when you’re having fun,” MacDonald said. “We’re all proud. We were definitely the underdogs this season. But I thought we had a helluva season and it showed in the playoffs.”
Originally an undrafted, listed player from Wetaskiwin, Alberta, MacDonald skated four seasons with the Tips. He only missed one game in his final two seasons combined.
“That’s remarkable durability at a position where you’re getting pounded every single night,” Constantine said. “There are only six of you to handle the workload and to be able to do that for all these years and really never miss any games due to injury is really remarkable.”
None of the overagers have professional contracts, but that doesn’t necessarily mean their hockey careers are over. All three could get a free agent look or move on to play collegiate hockey in Canada.
Stadnyk, the nephew of former St. Louis Blues star and NHL Hall-of-Famer Bernie Federko, skated at the Blues’ training camp last fall.
“I have no idea what’s in store,” Stadnyk said. “I’ll see when I get home. I’ll sit down and talk with (my agent) and talk with my parents and see what I should do and go from there.”
For the latest Silvertips news follow Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
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