“You really have to be careful when you look at the stats in junior,” cautions Coachella Valley Firebirds coach Derek Laxdal. He would know, having scored 61 goals for the Brandon Wheat Kings in 1984-85, later coaching the Edmonton Oil Kings to a pair of WHL championships.
“Those kids are playing anywhere from 28 to 35 minutes. Some coaches are running these forwards 40 minutes a night. They’re getting every power play, every odd-man situation. So their numbers are actually inflated a little bit.”
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At both Seattle Kraken rookie camp and the main training camp which starts this week, Laxdal’s focus is getting the best out of draft picks and other young prospects.
“There’s obviously is a skill set that we want to build on. And for these young players to be able to survive the next level, even to survive in the American Hockey League, you have to build a foundation of being able to play a 200 foot game.
“It’s like when you build a house. You can’t just build the four walls and a roof, unless you have a foundation. So these kids have to build that foundation to survive at the pro level.
“Sometimes kids are going to take two years, three years, maybe four years before they finally build the house. Get that process down where they feel comfortable.
“That’s the hardest message to talk to players sometimes, because they want it now. But as a coaching staff, you have to relay that message in a positive way. And there’s hard moments. There’s hard messages in there.”
David Goyette
Exhibit A is David Goyette, a junior hockey scoring machine, limited to six goals last season with Laxdal’s Coachella Valley Firebirds.
“He was building his game to allow himself to be able to perform and have those offensive numbers that we’ve seen in junior. The foundation is being able to play a 200-foot game, having great stick position, competing on pucks, competing in all three zones on the ice, just being able to survive in that environment.
“Going forward now, he’s put the work in this summer. I’ll give David a lot of credit. He’s come in wide-eyed and ready to work. He came in, in great shape. Now the foundation is being built. We’re putting the floor on, the walls are going up. And now he’s starting to decorate.”
Jagger Firkus
“He’s getting stronger. He understands the 200-foot game. That’s one of the biggest things you learn coming from Junior, being a 100-point scorer, to getting in the pros; there’s more than just scoring to be able to survive at the next level.
“Seattle has their top six forwards, right? So what are you going to do as a player If you get an exhibition game? How are you going to survive where you have to be able to track pucks, forecheck, have to have a good stick. Those are the areas that Jagger really took a step in last year to give himself the opportunity to play in exhibition games.”
Jacob Melanson
“Jacob is the prototypical power forward. He’s really learned how to be aggressive in his play, his speed, his strength. When to be physical, when to go through bodies.. If he’s forechecking you, he’s going to put you through the boards, he’s going to have a stick on the puck.
“He’s really taken a leadership role. He’s really taken a step into conditioning. He’s a type of player that nobody wants to play against. When you put those players in your lineup, when you drop the puck, (opponents) are looking across the line to see who they’re lined up against.”
Tyson Jugnauth
In Saturday’s Prospect Showcase game: “Made a great shot pass on (Eduard) Sale’s goal. Jugnauth is a real mobile defenseman, makes some great plays. We’re going to have work with him in some of the offensive situations he puts himself in, and and that’s part of the teaching game, right? But he’s got incredible moves, he’s got a great head, moves the puck well.”
‘Big Boy Hockey’
“Now it’s main camp. This is this is big boy hockey now. You get the vets coming in your practices, the tempo is going to pick up, the puck is going to move a lot quicker. When the puck drops here on Thursday and training camp starts, you have to be ready, and they will. This is where the kids really take that step, because when you have to play with that pace, you’re either in or out.”