As teams start preparing for the 2020-21 season in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, recruiters are facing new territory in how to find players and to evaluate their talent.
Teams have not had spring camps to invite players to try-out because of the stoppage in play resulting from COVID-19.
And, there will not be spring and summer free agent camps around the country to look for talent for the same reason.
鈥淎t this point you go a lot on what your scouts saw last season,鈥� said Yorkton Terrier head coach and general manager Mat Hehr.
Hehr said while he and Terrier scouts have seen the Saskatchewan players on the team list, and others they are watching, the job gets tougher when trying to evaluate players from outside the province.
鈥淚t鈥檚 tough for out of province players,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n Saskatchewan we鈥檝e at least seen them a few times.鈥�
Hehr said it has changed from watching players to listening to their coaches and others, having to trust their input on how a player might fit into a roster.
While there are challenges to recruiting this year, Hehr said the Terriers are fortunate they have limited spots to fill. The Terriers potentially return 19 players; 12 on offence, six defencemen and a netminder.
鈥淲e鈥檙e in a good position,鈥� he said, adding the returning players all contributed last season and will be given opportunities for expanded ones this fall.
As a result of the rather deep returning pool, Hehr said they have a slightly different plan in terms of filling spots.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping to kind of go younger this year,鈥� he said, adding if that plan works out they expect at least some players on their 40-player protected list to fill those spots. The list players are a more known commodity than a player recruited without the benefit of camp evaluation.
The Terriers had planned a large spring camp, double the number of players hosted in 2019, to better evaluate the younger talent, said Hehr, but with that out, they will work on getting the young players on their list coming their way in the fall.
鈥淲e will be looking to get commitments from players on our protected list,鈥� he said.
Certainly the Terriers do have some large skates to fill with offense standouts Chantz Petruic, Alec Zawatsky and Jordan Guiney all graduating.
Hehr said it is not a situation that is very much different than a year earlier when Jared Legien and Braden Klatt aged-out of Junior.
It helps too that Keenan and Kaeden Taphorn are eligible to return.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e both well over a point-per-game,鈥� said Hehr.
Finding a line mate to compliment the twins will be a priority this fall, although Hehr has an inkling who it might be already.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to judge so far out, but given how many bodies we do return, we hope it鈥檚 someone coming back,鈥� he said, adding that might well be Steven Norum.
Hehr said Norum lined up with the Taphorns after Christmas this year, and the trio clicked well down the regular season stretch, putting up good numbers.
Of course it could be a new face stepping in to be a key offensive player. Hehr said with no camps players are starting to look for opportunities for next season.
鈥淲e鈥檝e definitely had some calls and quite a number of emails from players, showing interest to come to spring camp,鈥� he said, adding 鈥�... with no spring camp they definitely want to come to fall camp.鈥�
Hehr said it is a positive that players are interested in being a Terrier.
鈥淚t makes us proud Yorkton was one of their choices,鈥� he said.
Hehr said among the hopefuls are a couple of Junior 鈥楤鈥� players in Alberta.
鈥淏oth were two-point a game players,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e hoping they come to fall camp to see if they can produce at Junior 鈥楢鈥�.鈥�
