Prospect update: end of regular season

Published 5:52 pm Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The major midget leagues in Canada completed their regular seasons last weekend, so it seemed an appropriate time for a prospect update.

I’m only going to detail a few players who are playing at the midget level, and I’m doing that for two reasons. First, with new general manager Garry Davidson now on board, we have no idea how he views Everett’s list and whether he’ll shake things up. Second, a lot of Everett’s players are playing in the Alberta Midget Hockey League, and the AMHL only lists the scoring leaders rather than all players, which makes it particularly difficult to write about defensemen.

Actually, there’s one other reason. A handful of Everett prospects had very good seasons and deserve a little highlighting (I probably should have done this before posting that prospects poll question last week). Anyway, players are listed with their current teams and draft positions:

Geordie Maguire, Winnipeg Wild

5th round, 2010

Maguire had an eye-popping season. In his first season at the major-midget level, the 16-year-old Maguire led the Manitoba Midget AAA Hockey League in scoring with 77 points (40 goals, 37 assists) in 42 games. It should be noted that Maguire plays for a team that is far better than its competition, but it also seemed the Wild made a point of spreading the scoring in the blowouts. Some things to consider, however. Maguire didn’t do much to stand out at training camp, and I don’t think he has signed with the Tips yet.

Carson Stadnyk, Saskatoon Contacts

8th round, 2010

Stadnyk was the big surprise at training camp, and he followed that up with an excellent season. This was Stadnyk’s second season playing at the major midget level, but the first where the 16-year-old was a top-six forward. He responded by leading his team in scoring and finishing seventh in the SMAAHL with 59 points (28 goals, 31 assists) in 43 games. Stadnyk also was recently called up for a pair of games in Victoria and reportedly played very well.

Ty Mappin, Red Deer Optimist Rebels

1st round, 2011

Just looking at the numbers, Mappin had a very good, but not spectacular 15-year-old season. The seventh-overall pick in 2011 had 42 points (19 goals, 23 assists) in 34 games and also finished first on his team in scoring and seventh in the AMHL. But the numbers are a little deceiving. Mappin is the only 15-year-old on a very deep Red Deer team, and his scoring took off after a slow start, presumably once he was given more responsibility. He also made his WHL debut when he was called up earlier this season.

Dawson Leedahl, Saskatoon Contacts

2nd round, 2011

Leedahl’s numbers are also a little deceiving. The 15-year-old had 11 goals and 21 assists in 42 games, finishing sixth on his team in scoring. Heck, he was just fourth on his team in scoring among 15-year-olds. However, my understanding is that Leedahl was playing through a pretty serious wrist injury early in the season, and look at what he did as the season wound down: five goals and 10 assists in his final 10 games.