Silvertips lagging behind in production of NHL players

It was a good year to be a Western Hockey League fan watching the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Whether it was Braden Holtby (Saskatoon Blades) backstopping the top-seeded Washington Capitals, or Clarke MacArthur (Medicine Hat Tigers) scoring the Game 6 overtime winner as the Ottawa Senators eliminated the Boston Bruins, or Ryan Getzlaf (Calgary Hitmen) at times single-handedly carrying the Anaheim Ducks on his back, the WHL’s imprint was all over this year’s NHL playoffs. Even in the biggest moment of the season — when the Nashville Predators had what should have been the opening goal waived off by a quick whistle in the decisive Game 6 of the finals — it was former Kelowna Rocket Colton Sissons who stabbed the puck into the net.

But really, that’s no different than any other year. The WHL is one of the world’s leading hockey development leagues, sending as many of its products to the NHL as any other league. So every year in the playoffs there’s going to be a Leon Draisaitl (Prince Albert Raiders) breaking out for the Edmonton Oilers, or a Ryan Johansen (Portland Winterhawks) leading the way for the Predators. In every single game viewers can focus on former WHL players, rooting for individual success rather than for a specific team, should they choose.

However, if you’re a fan of the Everett Silvertips, you’re still waiting for a full invitation to this party.

The Silvertips are heading into their 15th season of existence, a success story that’s seen the team hang seven banners and turn itself into one of the pillars of the community. But something is missing. For everything Everett has accomplished, the Tips are still waiting to establish a firm foothold in the NHL.

Tips in the NHL

The date was Nov. 26, 2006. The NHL’s Anaheim Ducks, playing host to the Calgary Flames, gave the nod in goal to a rookie call-up named Michael Wall.

And just like that Everett had it’s first NHL player, a mere 2 1/2 years after its inaugural season came to an end.

Wall became the first of a long line of former Everett players to reach the highest level of professional hockey. In total, 17 players who wore a Silvertips jersey have played in the NHL. In 2016-17, seven former Tips appeared in an NHL game.

On that November day in 2006 Wall made 19 saves to earn the win in a 5-3 victory. However, Wall’s NHL career proved to be a short one, consisting of just four games. That’s been the fate for most of Everett’s alumni in the NHL. The Tips can claim just three players who established themselves as regulars in the NHL: forward Peter Mueller, and defensemen Radko Gudas and Ryan Murray. Gudas and Murray were the only Everett alums to play regularly this past season, and neither is a star.

How does that compare to the rest of the WHL? An examination of this year’s rosters showed there were 110 former WHLers who appeared in at least 40 NHL games this season. If those players are assigned to the WHL team for which they played the most games, the team with the most alumni was Kelowna with 12, followed by Portland with 11. Everett is tied for 18th among the league’s 22 teams with two. Just Regina and Edmonton trailed with a single player.

Why does Everett, a team that’s had its share of success in the WHL, lag so far behind the league’s leaders?

Tips in the NHL draft

The 2017 NHL draft is upon us. The first round is Friday, with rounds 2-7 following on Saturday.

This is not expected to be a bumper year for Everett in the NHL draft, but that’s more the exception than the rule. In fact, Everett has been one of the WHL’s most successful franchises in getting players drafted in recent years.

Everett took part in its first bantam draft in 2003, four months before the Tips played their first game. That year’s bantam draft was for players born in 1988. Those players first became eligible for the NHL draft in 2006, and between 2006 and the present the Tips had 19 players selected, which is tied for seventh among WHL teams over that span. That total is substantially behind Portland’s league-leading 30, but also dwarfs Tri-City’s league-low of eight and is above the league average of 17.1.

What about the best of the best, the first-round NHL picks? By that measure Everett’s even better. Of the Tips’ 19 NHL draft picks, seven were selected in the first round. That’s the most from any team in the league during that stretch.

So whatever the reason for Everett’s difficulties in getting alumni established in the NHL, it’s not because the NHL doesn’t like the Tips’ talent.

A matter of time

So why have the Tips been unable to bust that NHL door wide open?

The answer could be as simple as time.

“I know 15 years seems like a long time, but our history is pretty short,” said Consolidated Sports Holdings chief operating officer Zoran Rajcic, who’s been with the Tips since the inaugural season. “We’re pretty proud of the players who have come through here and gotten drafted. Though we haven’t had a lot of success with players playing in the NHL, I think that has more to do with the infancy of our program than anything.”

Rajcic has a point. Among the former WHLers who played in the NHL in 2016-17, many played in the WHL in years prior to Everett joining the league in 2003. If the pool of players is limited to those who didn’t play full-time in the WHL until 2003-04, then Kelowna, Portland and Calgary are tied for first with seven NHL regulars apiece. Everett is one of six teams tied for 13th with two, and five teams have fewer, including Kamloops with zero. So the Tips are still on the low end, but no longer an outlier.

There are two teams that joined the WHL after Everett. Victoria (previously Chilliwack) joined in 2006, and Edmonton began play in 2007. Both are similarly low on the list of NHL regulars, with Victoria having two in 2016-17 and Edmonton having just one. So time is a factor.

Everett also has been a victim of circumstance. There are two quality young NHL players who easily could have played in Everett. Columbus defenseman Seth Jones, an NHL All-Star this year, appeared on the verge of signing with Everett when then-Tips general manager Doug Soetaert was fired in 2012. Jones subsequently announced he wouldn’t play for the Tips and was traded to Portland. Toronto forward Auston Matthews, who scored 40 goals as an NHL rookie this season, was set to play for Everett until he became so good that a Swiss pro team decided he was worth signing before he turned 18. Add those two to Everett’s stable and the Tips are right in the mix.

What about style of play? Eight of Everett’s 14 seasons came with Kevin Constantine as head coach. Constantine’s teams were disciplined, structured and defensively sound, and that led to a lot of wins. But some question whether that style brought out the best in the Tips most talented players.

Everett made a coaching change this offseason as Constantine’s contract was not renewed. Style of play was one of the reasons cited for the move. Could the change have an effect on Everett players having success in the NHL?

“When we draft players as bantams, we’re hoping they’ll be good WHL players,” current Everett general manager Garry Davidson said. “If they become good pros, that’s icing on the cake. The growth and development of players, we believe we were coming up short in some areas, that’s why we made the change. Time will tell if there was any truth to that, I guess. The people we had did some very good things as an organization and a coaching staff to prepare players for the next level. But the NHL today is all about speed and skill, the game is tremendously quick and fast today. Players have to grow and develop, and we have to make sure what we’re doing here is encouraging that.”

And the team can only do so much. Once a player leaves the WHL, there’s no more the franchise can do.

“It’s all bouquets in junior (hockey), but when you get to the NHL, sometimes you have to take different roles,” said Soetaert, who’s worked as a scout and in management at the pro level since leaving Everett. “Players have to find the way or the will to get the job done. You look at Zach Hamill (20 career NHL games), he was a great junior. Peter Mueller was a good junior, too. One played 200-some games in the NHL, the other didn’t. Some figure it out, some don’t.”

Hope for the future

Don’t fear, Silvertips fans. Hope could be on the horizon.

Everett has several alumni who could be on the brink of a breakthrough. Forward Jujhar Khaira received a cup of coffee with the Edmonton Oilers this season and has the tools to be an effective bottom-six forward at the NHL level. Defenseman Mirco Mueller may have had his development hindered by being rushed to the NHL at 19, but he was just traded by the San Jose Sharks to the New Jersey Devils and the change of scenery may open an opportunity. Forward Nikita Scherbak made strides in the American Hockey League this season and scored his first career NHL goal during a brief call-up to the Montreal Canadiens.

Then there’s the players who were still in Everett this past season. Defenseman Noah Juulsen was a first-round pick by Montreal, and now that he’s headed to the pro ranks, he’ll be given every chance by the Canadiens. Goaltender Carter Hart is a two-time winner of the WHL Goaltender of the Year award, so the Philadelphia Flyers have to like what they have in him.

Yes, it may be taking some time for former Silvertips to dot the NHL landscape, but eventually Everett fans should get to see their former favorites grace the stage during the NHL playoffs, just like the fans of every other WHL team.