Mateychuk bides his time as WHL awaits

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/11/2020 (1537 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For a rising young prospect such as Denton Mateychuk the stops and starts in the hockey season this fall is a lesson in patience for anyone playing the game.

Such is the life in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League these days, where Mateychuk, the 16-year-old rearguard from Dominion City, has spent the first part of this season with the Steinbach Pistons, where he has shown his flashes of brilliance in a league where most of the players are several years older than him.

Playing with the Pistons this season was not part of the original plan for Mateychuk, who starred with the Eastman Selects ‘AAA’ U18 squad last season, and also competed internationally for the Team Canada U16 squad at the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics last January at Switzerland.

That’s because he was pencilled in to be part of the roster of the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors.

That league hasn’t even come out of the starting gates this year as the WHL is tentatively planning to start their season on Jan. 8.

As the WHL was idle this fall, the league gave the green light for some of their players to suit up with MJHL teams this fall. The Pistons had two of those players, Jonny Lambos of the Brandon Wheat Kings and Michael King from the Spokane Chiefs, both Winnipeg natives.

Lambos and King just joined the Pistons in late October, and each had played only two games when the season was suspended. King had four goals in his two-game stint with the Pistons.

For Mateychuk is was a different scenario. As he was not part of a WHL roster last season, he has been with the Pistons since the start of training camp, with the understanding that he would go to Moose Jaw when the WHL began their training camps.

Those of you that were fortunate enough to see Mateychuk in action in the few games the Pistons played at home this fall (and with the limited number of fans allowed in) saw firsthand the talent that the young rearguard possesses.

This is a surprise to no one. We see before our very eyes the making of an NHL player is what many believe could be a landing point for the 5’10”, 182 pound defenceman down the road.

Although he isn’t eligible for the NHL draft for another two years, that discussion is already underway in some circles. Warriors’ head coach Mark O’Leary, who is looking forward to having Mateychuk on his team for what could be three or four years, said, “there are NHL scouts at all of our games, they will be very well aware of him.”

He has drawn early comparisons to a couple of local players from the past, Ian White from Steinbach and St. Malo’s Dan Lambert, who both cracked the line-up of the Swift Current Broncos as 16-year-olds and both went on to become among the highest scoring defencemen in Western Hockey League history.

Mateychuk is similar in stature to White, who played more than 500 games in the NHL. White is also 5’10” and his playing weight was closer to 200 lbs, with skating ability that was off the charts. Mateychuk will gain a few pounds over time and he shows some of that slick skating ability.

Pistons’ head coach Paul Dyck said, “Denton came in and made an immediate impression, he is an elite player and plays with the confidence and poise that is rare for a 16-year-old, he is a special player.”

Mateychuk says he appreciates his time spent in Steinbach with the Pistons. He did not billet in Steinbach but instead made the 45-minute daily drive into Steinbach for practice while still attending high school at Roseau Valley School at Dominion City.

“It was good to be part of the Pistons, it is close to home, they are a very professional organization and Paul is also a great coach.” Mateychuk in a way is following in the footsteps of Paul Dyck, who spent two years as a defenceman with the Moose Jaw Warriors, now some 30 years ago, before embarking on a 15-year professional career.

Midway through the regular season last year, Mateychuk was called up from the Eastman Selects to the Warriors, and spent seven games with the Warriors, which included scoring his memorable first WHL goal.

And remember, he was only 15-years-old at the time, playing against players as much as five years older than him.

O’Leary said, “He got to play with us last year as a 15-year-old, but he didn’t play like a 15-year-old, he played beyond his years. We used him in all situations, he had a regular shift and played on the powerplay.”

“Denton is just a dynamic player and he possesses tremendous skating ability,” added O’Leary. “He will be part of our team this year.”

Sixteen-year-old starters on WHL teams are not that common. O’Leary says some years they may have one, or none at all, but expects two this year as the Warriors will be a younger team and are in re-building mode after a 14-44-4-0 campaign last season.

Meanwhile, with the MJHL currently shut down until at least Jan. 1 and WHL players expected to report to their teams on Dec. 27 to get ready for that tentative Jan. 8 start to the WHL season, the reality is that any resumption in the play of hockey this season remains a question mark.

The season, both in the MJHL and the WHL could be delayed even further, depending on if the COVID-19 numbers go down in the coming weeks. Another possibility is that if the WHL is a no go, and the MJHL is, Mateychuk could still return to the Pistons. Only time will tell.

In the meantime, Mateychuk says he is just working out at home and staying in shape as best he can.