Three defencemen who have suited up for the Virden Oil Capitals saw action recently at National Hockey League development camps.
Hometown product Wyatt Kalynuk was in camp with the Philadelphia Flyers, who picked him in the seventh round of the 2017 NHL Draft.
After playing one game last season with the Vegas Golden Knights, Zach Whitecloud went to camp with their squad.
Justin Lee, who was the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s Rookie of the Year last season with the Oil Caps, competed at the Winnipeg Jets summer development camp.
“The best part was the experience I think,” Lee said. “I had a great time at the camp getting to see what it takes that play at that level. I had to make adjustments to the pace of the game due to it being a lot faster.”
Kalynuk
Wyatt, the son of Randy and Leanne Kalynuk of Virden, played his 16-year-old season with the Oil Caps in 2013-2014. He went on to play in the United States Hockey League and this past winter was the Co-Rookie of the Year at the University of Wisconsin.
Reporting on the Flyers’ development camp, Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia called Kalynuk “a quietly impressive defenceman.”
“He's sound and stays in front of forwards that are much quicker and smaller. On multiple occasions in one-on-one drills, he broke up plays with a poke check, not even allowing the forwards to move in deep or get off a shot,” wrote Hall, who noted that some of those plays came against first-round picks Joel Farabee and German Rubtsov.
Lee
Waskada’s Lee, who was a 17-year-old last season,found himself competing against players who had a wide variety of experience. The roster included, among others, recent Jets draft picks, players with overseas experience, and those who have played in the American Hockey League, the NHL’s top farm league.
“He looked good,” said Oil Caps head coach Troy Leslie, who had an opportunity to watch Lee last week. “He was doing what he does well. He was making hard, crisp passes and getting around the ice.”
The Virden bench boss said the experience will only help Lee, who last season earned a scholarship to the University of Denver.
“He will take this all in and it will help him with his game… He relishes these opportunities,” Leslie said.
Whitecloud
Whitecloud, a Sioux Valley Dakota Nation member from Brandon, played two seasons for the Oil Capitals. That was followed by two years at Bemidji (Minn.) State University. After last season, the undrafted free agent signed with the Golden Knights and played in one game with them before the expansion team’s impressive run to the Stanley Cup finals.
On the SinBin blog, Golden Knights observer Ken Boehlke wrote that Whitecloud was either the best or second-best defenceman in camp.
“Whitecloud is a stay-at-home style defenseman who always seems to make the right decision,” Boehlke wrote.
