Capitals good landing spot for Raiders’ Leason

Brett Leason celebrates scoring for the Raiders in the WHL playoffs.

    The NHL Entry Draft might have worked about better than first envisioned for Brett Leason.

    The 20-year-old right-winger from the Prince Albert Raiders was tabbed as a potential first round selection after being listed 25^th among North American skaters in the final rankings released by NHL Central Scouting in April.

    On the final day of this year’s NHL Entry Draft being held on Saturday in Vancouver, B.C., Leason was selected in the second round and 56^th overall by the Washington Capitals.

    Before the draft day festivities began, Leason received the E.J. McGuire Award of Excellence. The award is given to candidate who best exemplifies the commitment to excellence through strength of character, competitiveness and athleticism.

    Leason was presented the award after persevering through going undrafted in 2017 and 2018 and having a breakout season with the Raiders posting 36 goals, 53 assists for 89 points and a plus-55 rating in 55 regular season games.

Brett Leason had a breakout season with the Raiders in 2018-19.

    He helped the Raiders finish first overall in the WHL regular season with a 54-10-2-2 record and win their second WHL title and appear in the Memorial Cup tournament. In the WHL playoffs, Leason posted 10 goals and 15 assists for 25 points and a plus-six rating in 22 games.

    The Calgary, Alta., product also earned a spot on Canada’s team at the last world junior tournament played in Vancouver and Victoria, B.C.

    While you can bet Leason, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 210 pounds, would have loved to have been selected in the first round, he ended up in a good NHL landing spot.

    The Capitals have qualified for the NHL playoffs in 11 of the last 12 seasons. They’ve won 45 or more games in each of the past five campaigns.

    Washington captured the Stanley Cup in 2018. Last season, the Capitals topped the Metropolitan Division with a 48-26-8 record before being upset in the first round of the post-season by the Carolina Hurricanes in a series that went the maximum seven games.

    The Capitals likely won’t fall off the map any time soon being loaded with veteran talent like the great Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, Brooks Orpik and netminder Braden Holtby.

Brett Leason (#20) and Aliaksei Protas (#21) were drafted by the Capitals.

    Leason will have a chance to develop and be molded to a spot on the team. He won’t be expected to come in and light things up offensively right away.

    He will be looked upon to be a potential piece to keep the good times going for the Capitals.

    Falling to the second round, it can also be argued there might be some doubts as to whether Leason can duplicate his stellar 2018-19 campaign with the Raiders. The doubt card could provide another motivating factor.

    On the other end of the spectrum, the fact Leason slipped in the draft takes some pressure off to come in and make an impact right away.

    Leason gained another bonus in the draft when one of his Raiders linemates in Belarusian left-winger Aliaksei Protas was also selected by the Capitals. The Capitals picked Protas in the third round and 91^st overall.
    Protas, who stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 205 pounds, was a WHL rookie in the 2018-19 campaign, and he steadily improved posting 11 goals, 29 assists and a plus-24 rating in 61 regular season games.

The Raiders celebrate a post-season goal from Brett Leason (#20).

    The 18-year-old had a head turning WHL playoffs posting 12 goals, 10 assists and a plus-12 rating in 23 games.

    Leason and Protas will be able to continue to help each other in the Capitals system.

    You are almost watching to see if the Capitals will sign their centre with the Raiders in Sean Montgomery as a free agent. Montgomery has exhausted his major junior eligibility after playing five seasons with the Raiders.

    Things couldn’t have fallen in place any better for Leason. When the draft came to a close, he was likely thankful things played out as they did.

Blades’ Maier get draft snub

Nolan Maier was passed over in the NHL Entry Draft.

    Nolan Maier has to be wondering why he was the odd man out when it comes to the NHL Entry Draft.

    The 18-year-old product of Yorkton, Sask., couldn’t have done anything more at this point in his hockey career to earn an NHL Entry Draft Selection. The Saskatoon Blades star netminder was passed over at this year’s draft that was held on Friday and Saturday in Vancouver, B.C.

    As a 16-year-old rookie in the 2017-18 campaign, Maier joined the Blades and racked up a string of impressive performances including a run of winning 10 straight games. He became a WHL starting netminder as a 16-year-old rookie, which is not very common in the current era of major junior hockey.

    Maier finished out his rookie campaign posting a 23-17-2 record, a 3.31 goals against average, a .895 save percentage and two shutouts.

    There were times that season you could argue he was one of the top five netminders in the WHL.

Maier followed things up with a stellar sophomore campaign where he posted a 36-10-6 record, a 2.64 goals against average, a .910 save percentage and four shutouts.
    Thanks to Maier’s efforts, the Blades finished fourth overall in the WHL’s regular season standings with a 45-17-8 record and made the post-season for the first time since 2013.

Nolan Maier has been stellar for the Blades in his two WHL campaigns.

    Maier kept up his impressive play in the playoffs helping the Blades advance to the second round. In Saskatoon’s 10 post-season contests, Maier posted a 6-4 record, a 2.86 goals against average, a .903 save percentage and one shutout.

    The Blades fell in a six-game series in the second round to the eventual WHL champion Prince Albert Raiders.

    Maier posted shutout wins over the Raiders, who topped the WHL regular season standings with a 54-10-2-2 record, twice in the 2018-19 campaign. He blanked them once in the regular season and once in the post-season.

    On top of playing for the Blades, Maier has found himself firmly planted on Hockey Canada’s radar. In November of 2017, he was a member of Team Canada Black at the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge held jointly in Dawson Creek and Fort St. John, B.C.

    Last August, Maier was on Canada’s under-18 team that won gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup held jointly in Edmonton and Red Deer.
    After the Blades were eliminated from the WHL playoffs in April, Maier suited up for Canada at the under-18 world championships held in Ornskoldsvik and Umea, Sweden.

    Earlier this month, Maier took part in Hockey Canada’s Program of Excellence Goaltending Camp in Calgary, Alta.

Nolan Maier has been locked on Hockey Canada’s radar.

    On top of all of that, Maier is a well-mannered person that everyone he has met says good things about. He has been one of those perfect representatives for the Blades in the community.

    The only thing more he could have done is maybe found a way to stretch himself to gain three inches in height.

    Maier stands 6-feet and weighs 173 pounds. It seems like those making decisions in NHL personnel departments are weighted towards finding puck stoppers who stand 6-foot-3 three or taller.

    It is safe to say that Maier would have been drafted had he stood 6-foot-3 with the numbers he put up with the Blades.

    Even with that said, three goaltenders were selected in the seventh round who were similar in size to Maier.

    With the 197^th overall pick, Finland’s Filip Lindberg, who stands 6-feet and weighs 180 pounds, went to the Minnesota Wild.

    The Colorado Avalanche took Vancouver Giants netminder Trent Miner with the 202^nd overall selection. Miner stands 6-foot-1 and weighs 187 pounds.

    Everett Silvertips star Dustin Wolf, who stands 6-feet and weighs 156 pounds, was selected 214^th overall by the Calgary Flames.

    At that point, it becomes a head shaker when you reflect on the fact Maier wasn’t drafted.

    A total of 22 netminders were selected in the NHL Entry Draft. At this point in time, it can be argued Maier is better than most of those.

Netminder Nolan Maier celebrates a win with his Blades teammates.

    Still, he was only listed 22^nd among North American goalies in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings in April, so for some reason, he isn’t cracking on the NHL’s radar.

    In Maier’s case, the NHL Entry Draft is a lesson on how life can be unfair.

    All Maier can do is keep building on the tremendous work he has already done and let the chips fall where they may.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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