“Crank” overlooked in NHL Entry Draft due to size

Blades star left-winger has skill to play at next level

Kyle Crnkovic (#16) does his best to make the fans happy.

If Kyle Crnkovic stood 6-foot-3 and weighed 200 pounds, he would be an NHL Entry Draft selection.

The star left-winger of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades has great skill, but you can bet he went unselected in this past NHL Entry Draft because he stands 5-foot-7 and weighs 161 pounds.

The only member of the Blades who was selected in the NHL Entry Draft that was held this past Tuesday and Wednesday via video conference call from the NHL Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey, was centre Tristen Robins. Robins went in the second round and 56^th overall to the San Jose Sharks.

Due to the fact Robins stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 179 pounds, NHL teams were a little less concerned on the size front. Still, players that have heights and weights similar to Robins are some of the smaller sized players in the league.

Kyle Crnkovic drives a shot on goal for the Blades.

Very few players skate in the NHL who have been similar in size to Crnkovic. The notable exception is Theoren Fleury, who stands 5-foot-6 and weighs 182 pounds.

Back in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft, size didn’t matter to the Blades and skill did when they selected Crnkovic in the first round and 10^th overall. Since joining the Blades, the Chestermere, Alta., product has lived up to the expectations of being a first round WHL Bantam Draft pick.

In his first full season with the Blades in 2018-19, Crnkovic had a solid campaign as a 16-year-old rookie posting 11 goals, 20 assists and a plus-three rating in the plus-minus category in 52 regular season games.

As that campaign went on, Crnkovic saw increased ice time as the Blades finished fourth overall in the WHL regular season standings with a 45-15-8 record.

Kyle Crnkovic celebrates an OT winner on March 6.

It was also becoming apparent that Crnkovic was becoming a fan favourite too. He interacted easily with the young fans he met at Blades community appearances.

Crnkovic has a bit of a baby face to him too, and he could likely pass for a fan, if he wasn’t dressed in his Blades jersey.

He was popular enough that he was one of the players the team included in the novelty cartoon character type T-shirts they rolled out.

The shifty forward played some of his best hockey that season with the Blades in the 2019 playoffs. Helping the Blades advance to the second round of the playoffs, Crnkovic netted two goals, two assists and an even rating in the Blades 10 post-season games.

Kyle Crnkovic had 64 points last season for the Blades.

Crnkovic played fearlessly and battled in the tough areas of the ice. He played smart and was able to avoid the huge hit with his skill.

This past season, Crnkovic appeared in all of the Blades 63 regular season games finishing second in team scoring piling up 21 goals, 43 assists and a plus-nine rating. He helped the Blades post a 34-24-2-3 record to lock up a playoff berth for a second straight year before the campaign was prematurely ended due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has gripped the world.

Crnkovic never cracked the midterm rankings put out by NHL Central Scouting. He made the final NHL Central Scouting ranking being listed 208^th among North American skaters.

Kyle Crnkovic was a first round WHL Bantam Draft selection.

The appearance on the rankings didn’t translate into an NHL Entry Draft selection.

The story of Crnkovic not getting drafted due to his lack of size isn’t a new one in the sport of hockey.

In the history of the Blades, he might go down as the Ryan Fujita in the team’s current generation.

Fujita, who is also known as Kiyoshi Fujita, was a dynamic centre who played for the Blades and led them in scoring for two seasons from 1991 to 1993. The Lethbridge, Alta., product was one of the smaller players on the ice standing 5-foot-7 and weighing in at 163 pounds.

In 1991-92, Fujita topped the Blades in scoring with 38 goals and 44 assists for 82 points appearing in all of the team’s 72 regular season games.

Kyle Crnkovic quickly became a fan favourite player.

In the playoffs, helped the Blades advance to the WHL Championship series, where they fell in a series decide Game 7 to the eventual Memorial Cup champion Kamloops Blazers. Fujita appeared in all of the Blades 22 games in that post-season posting a league leading 13 goals and nine assists.

He followed up that campaign by again leading the Blades in scoring as an overager in the 1992-93 season appearing in all 72 regular season games piling up 56 goals and 54 assists for 110 points. Fujita suited up in seven of the Blades nine games in the 1993 playoffs recording two goals and three assists.

Having never been selected in the NHL Entry Draft and never suiting up in a meaningful NHL game, Fujita had a lengthy career playing professionally in Japan and was a member of host Japan’s national team that played in the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.

Kyle Crnkovic, centre, celebrates a goal this past season.

Crnkovic might one day be able to experience what Fujita did with the Blades. If Crnkovic does do that, he would go down as one of the best players to ever suit up with the Blades.

Even if Crnkovic achieves that level of success, he still might not get a chance in the NHL due to his lack of size.

Whenever the WHL is able to resume action in these pandemic times, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Crnkovic was constantly listed among the league’s best over the next three campaigns.

He deserves to get some attention from the NHL even now. If the NHL brass ultimately says Crnkovic can’t play based on his lack of side, it will ultimately be their loss too.

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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