EVERETT — Everett Silvertips 19-year-old left wing Dawson Leedahl will succeed fellow Saskatoon Platoon member Kole Bauml this season as captain of the team, the organization announced Thursday.
Leedahl, who scored 14 goals and had 19 assists last season, was joined on the Tips’ leadership team by three assistant captains: overage forwards Carson Stadnyk and Remi Laurencelle, and overage defenseman Cole MacDonald.
The quartet will lead Everett in the team’s regular-season opener at 7 p.m. Friday in Prince George.
“It’s an honor to be thought of like that by your peers,” said Leedahl, who is entering his fourth full season in Everett. “Any time you can be a captain of a team or leader it’s a good feeling knowing the guys look up to you and follow your lead.”
Mentoring the younger players is a large part of a captain’s role, and with five 16-year-olds on Friday’s opening-game roster, there is no shortage of newcomers for the captains to teach.
“They definitely have a lot of skill,” MacDonald said. “They’re pretty good young players out there. They know how to play the game well. Once they learn the systems I’m sure they will be some great players.”
MacDonald is one of the top returning defensemen for the Tips. He scored 10 goals and had 26 assists in 72 games last season. He’s a fourth-year Everett player and native of Wetaskiwin, Alberta.
Stadnyk, the top returning scorer from last season with 27 goals and 42 assists, is a fourth-year player as well who joined Leedahl and Bauml as part of last year’s Saskatoon Platoon. Stadnyk is a two-time winner of the team’s Iron Man Award.
“Obviously we were there once,” Stadnyk said, referring to this year’s crop of rookies. “Now (we have) to show them the ropes and show them how to behave and respect the organization on and off the ice and work hard on and off the ice. … By setting the tone hopefully they’ll follow.”
Meanwhile Laurencelle’s story of WHL redemption has come full circle.
Acquired by Everett from Lethbridge during the middle of the 2013-14 season, Laurencelle blossomed as a 19-year-old last season with 23 goals and 10 assists while centering the line that included NHL first-round draft pick Nikita Scherbak.
“(Everett) feels like home now,” the Winnipeg native said. “I came halfway through the season and I think at that point it was a little bit different. Coming in last year it became more of a home.”
Laurencelle’s path hasn’t been particularly smooth en route to earning assistant captain honors. A self-described “fourth-line grinder” while playing for Lethbridge, Laurencelle plans to draw on those experiences as he mentors his younger teammates.
“I’ve been through the worst of the worst,” Laurencelle said. “I know what these guys go through because I’ve been through it myself. Some guys come in at 16 or 17 and come in hot. They play first line and don’t get to see what some of the guys get to go through. I think that’s going to help me relate to them personally.”
It all gets underway Friday. The Tips finished 5-2-0-0 in the preseason and are coming off their first U.S. Division title and first playoff series victory since 2007.
The trip to Prince George is one of Everett’s longer bus trips of the season and is by far the longest the Silvertips will take to play a Western Conference opponent. The Silvertips wrap up their season-opening road trip at 5 p.m. Sunday in Prince George before returning to Everett immediately after the game.
Prince George (3-2-0-0 preseason) was 31-36-2-3 last season and placed third in the B.C. Division and seventh in the Western Conference. The Cougars lost in five games to Victoria in the first round of last year’s playoffs. Prince George’s win was its only postseason victory in the last eight seasons.
Center Jansen Harkins (29 goals, 59 assists) was a second-round pick by Winnipeg in the 2015 NHL draft and returns to lead the Cougars. Twenty-year-old left wing Chase Witala (38 goals, 31 assists), center Brad Morrison (23 goals, 27 assists) and defenseman Sam Ruopp (three goals, 23 assists) are other key pieces for the Cougars.
Notes
The Silvertips cut their roster to 27 players Thursday as they returned 16-year-old forward Bryce Kindopp to the Lloydminster Bobcats of the AMHL. … The current roster number includes Noah Juulsen (away at Montreal Canadiens NHL camp) and Alexander Scherbakov (out for the season). … The roster includes five 16-year-olds: forwards Riley Sutter, Connor Dewar and Brian King, and defensemen Jake Christiansen and Jantzen Leslie.
Follow Silvertips writer Jesse Geleynse on Twitter @jessegeleynse.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
