Future NHL stars are developing in the Canadian Hockey League this season. Each week, NHL.com will highlight a few of the top NHL-affiliated prospects in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League.
Olen Zellweger and Shane Wright earned the attention of the hockey world for helping Canada win the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.
Their returns to junior hockey were just as notable.
Days after celebrating in Halifax, Zellweger, an Anaheim Ducks defenseman prospect, was traded on Jan. 8 from Everett to Kamloops of the WHL for four players and 10 draft picks between 2023 and 2026.
A day later Wright, a Seattle Kraken forward prospect, was traded from Kingston to Windsor in the OHL for two players and seven draft picks between 2023 and 2025.
With the trade deadline coming in early January for the CHL leagues, it was time for teams to load up for the Memorial Cup in May. But the trades for Zellweger and Wright were headline-stealing blockbusters.
“It’s I guess how junior trades go these days,” Wright said. “These top players are always getting traded for a lot of picks and a lot of prospects so it’s definitely pretty shocking how many picks can actually get traded in one deal. Definitely pretty crazy.”
Watching the craziness like other fans was Ducks director of player development Jim Johnson. He said Anaheim had no hand in the Zellweger trade, but the Ducks certainly are happy to know that the 19-year-old is heading to Kamloops, which as the Memorial Cup host, is guaranteed a spot in the four-team tournament.
“Getting meaningful games at the end of the season and a potential … you’re not guaranteed for a long run, but the potential for a long run,” Johnson said. “And Kamloops is hosting the Memorial Cup. Obviously they want to do well and they want a long run with it and it gives Olen a chance to play meaningful games at the right time of the year. And I think that’s important for the development of the player.”
Zellweger, who scored a goal in his Kamloops debut Wednesday and again on Friday, has 30 points (12 goals, 18 assists) in 25 games, and is tied for second among WHL defensemen in goals. The Ducks selected Zellweger in the second round (No. 34) of the 2021 NHL Draft.
“His overall skating is elite,” Johnson said. “His edge control, mechanics, his balance on his edges, his pivots, his transitions, are all in the upper end of elite skating. So that I think speaks well for where he’s going to go at the next level.
“His offensive instincts are elite, his ability to transport the puck up the ice and his ability to read offensively, his hockey IQ, it’s elite. And he makes good decisions with the puck.”
Wright had a goal and an assist in his Windsor debut Thursday.
Kraken general manager Ron Francis said he had little input on Wright’s trade, allowing the 19-year-old forward and his agent to pick the best destination.
“You could do certain things, you can do the homework and share it with them ahead of time based on where you might be, what the coaching staff looks like, what the linemates might look like, that kind of stuff,” he said. “But really at the end of the day, we want him to go to a place that he wants to go to. So letting him sort that out and make that decision was important to us and not saying hey, you have to go here and then he goes to that place and maybe he’s not happy. So it’s about going to a place where he wanted to be and be happy and we’re happy he went to Windsor. We think they’ve got a good team, got a good coach . I think he’ll do well there.”
Wright, the no. 4 pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, had two points (one goal, one assist) in eight NHL games. He said the message from the Kraken has been to focus on scoring.
“They want me to try to be a little more offensive,” Wright said. “I can take care of my own end and play well defensively, but they want me to try to play a little more offensively, try to play in the offensive zone a little more, try to score a lot of goals, get as many points as I can. They think that should be my focus.”
Francis said Wright having Marc Savard as coach in Windsor will help in that regard.
“Marc in his day when he played was a high-end, smart offensive player,” Francis said. “Now you’ve got Shane going into that environment with a coach who was that kind of player in the NHL. So he’s got the guidance, the experience there. When I watched Windsor play, I liked the way that Marc has them playing. He gives them some offensive freedom once they cross the red line into the blue line, but they certainly have structure to their game, especially on the defensive side in-zone. Those are all things that are positive.”
OTHERS TO WATCH
Anson ThorntonG, Barrie (Arizona Coyotes): Thornton was named the top goalie in the OHL for the month of December, and the 19-year-old has carried that play into the new year. He made 32 saves in a 6-1 win against Flint on Thursday and is 8-0-1 with a 2.13 goals-against average, .943 save percentage and one shutout in his past nine games. Signed by the Coyotes as an undrafted free agent on Oct. 11, 2001, Thornton is 13-6-3 with a 3.18 GAA, .910 save percentage and one shutout in 22 games this season.
Maxim BarbashevLW, Moncton (New York Rangers): Barbashev scored 11 goals during a nine-game goal streak that ended Wednesday. It was his best run during his three seasons in the QMJHL, and the second-longest ever by a Moncton player. A fifth-round pick (No. 161) in the 2022 draft, the 19-year-old has 21 goals in 37 games this season, a big jump from the 15 he scored in 59 games last season.
Logan StankovenC, Kamloops (Dallas Stars): Stankoven returned from helping Canada win the gold medal at the WJC and wasted no time rediscovering his WHL scoring touch. The 19-year-old had a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win against Kelowna on Jan. 7, a season-high five points (one goal, four assists) in a 6-3 win against Vancouver on Wednesday, and had a goal in a 6-3 win against Everett on Friday. The goal against Vancouver was his 100th, in 155 WHL games. A second-round pick (No. 47) in the 2021 draft, Stankoven has 52 points (20 goals, 32 assists) in 24 games this season, with at least a point in all 23.
Photos: Gerry Marentette/Windsor Spitfires; Allen Douglas
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