When it was finally decided that the Western Hockey League’s Kootenay ICE franchise would be relocated to a new home in Winnipeg, it gave the team a chance to start fresh with a clean slate. Memorial Cup champions in 2002, the ICE had found it extremely difficult to put together winning seasons in recent years which had also made it extremely difficult to put fans in the seats. Relocation seemed inevitable, and the club’s awful 13-45-10 record in 2018-19 was the final metaphorical nail in Kootenay’s coffin. On January 29, 2019 it was formally announced that the current regular season would be its last in British Columbia and that the team would be moving East to the province of Manitoba. Since the former Atlanta Thrashers NHL organization had relocated to Winnipeg, hockey was more in-demand than it had ever been before. The city had been mourning the loss of their beloved Jets for decades, and its return in 2011-12 had awoken passionate fans in droves. The ICE faced much better odds of survival in hockey-mad Winnipeg, but now a new question begged to be answered: how were they going to ensure a better product for the fans than those in Kootenay had gotten the last few years?
The answer is the same as it is for an NHL club asking the same question: through the draft. So that’s exactly what the Winnipeg ICE did, acquiring an extra first round pick in a trade with the Swift Current Broncos. When the lottery balls were drawn to reveal the order of selection for the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, the relocated ICE were not only picking first overall (a huge win) but also second overall thanks to the first rounder from Swift Current. This small stroke of luck was exactly what they needed and exactly when they needed it. The rest would be up to general manager Matt Cockell, who would be tasked with the burden of making the actual selections. If he used the top two picks of the draft on the right prospects, he would be a hero to the fans forever. If he didn’t pick the right prospects…well, maybe even the city of Winnipeg wouldn’t be able to keep the franchise alive any longer. Much rested on his choices.
With the first overall pick of the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft the Winnipeg ICE selected Matthew Savoie, a center from the Northern Alberta X-treme Prep team in the Canadian Sports School Hockey League (CSSHL). The 15-year old had just been named the Most Valuable Player of the CSSHL’s U18 division after he racked up 31 goals and 71 points in 31 games. Savoie was the most hyped Western Canadian prospect in a long time, and was considered far and away the best player available for the 2019 Bantam Draft. He had even applied for exceptional player status and was widely believed to be a strong candidate (though he was ultimately denied).
With the second overall pick, the ICE chose a “hometown” player of sorts, Manitoba native Conor Geekie from the Yellowhead Chiefs in the Winnipeg AAA U15 program. Geekie would move up to the U18 level for the 2019-20 season and record 35 points (18g17a) in 26 games, winning Rookie of the Year in the process. At just 15 years old, Geekie stood about 6’3” and weighed nearly 200 lbs. With how rare it is to see a 6’3” forward show off the kind of high-end skill he had put on display all season long in Manitoba U18 AAA, it was clear the ICE had found a big piece to their proverbial puzzle (no pun intended).
Both Matthew Savoie and Conor Geekie made their actual WHL debuts in 2019-20 as 15-year olds, which wouldn’t have happened in either the OHL or QMJHL. The WHL, you see, does a Bantam Draft, meaning they select their players a year earlier than the other major junior leagues in Canada. A player drafted into the WHL as a bantam cannot technically play a full season with the team until the following year, but there is a clause that allows call-ups of 15-year olds on an “emergency” basis. So it was that Savoie was able to appear in 22 contests with the Winnipeg ICE. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned for Savoie. He was held to no goals and just 7 assists in the WHL before suffering a concussion at the hands of a devastating open-ice hit. Geekie got a 7-game call-up himself in 2019-20, but was held without a point.
The 2020-21 campaign was supposed to be the official WHL rookie seasons of both Savoie and Geekie, but when the season start was put on hold (and that hold was extended) things started to change. Savoie had initially joined the Sherwood Park Crusaders of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) and impressed there, putting up 3 goals and 6 points in 4 games. The AJHL’s regular season was suddenly halted as well, and soon it was in the same state of limbo as the WHL. The talented center received an offer to join the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League (USHL) soon after, and he took it. Savoie put up 21 goals and 38 points in 34 games during an excellent major junior debut.
The WHL’s delay forced Geekie to look elsewhere for competitive hockey too, and he found it in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL) with the Virden Oil Capitals. The now-6’4” centerman had a so-so showing in the MJHL, collecting 4 points (1g3a) in 9 games. Thankfully, the WHL finally agreed to run a shortened 24-game 2020-21 regular season schedule. The Winnipeg ICE would be short one of their prized rookie pivots but were icing a deep squad that featured 2019 NHL Entry Draft first rounder Peyton Krebs (17th overall) as team captain. 16-year old Conor Geekie would put on a show, notching 23 points (9g14a) in his 24 games to finish second in scoring by a first-year player and help the ICE to an 18-5-1 record.
This season, the Winnipeg ICE have been the best team in the entire WHL and the top two picks of the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft have been a big reason why. Though last year’s captain, Peyton Krebs, turned pro this year and has been splitting time between the NHL and AHL, the addition of Matthew Savoie has more than made up the difference so far. Through the first 9 games of the season the ICE remain undefeated with a perfect 9-0 record, and Savoie has been their most dominant player with 15 points (6g9a) which ties him for the team (and league) lead. It’s not just the fact that Savoie is scoring at such a high level, but when he is scoring that has been the most impressive. Take Winnipeg’s ninth and most recent contest for example. Trailing the Moose Jaw Warriors 4-1 entering the third period, the ICE had not been generating many quality scoring chances in a tightly contested battle. It appeared the winning streak was in serious jeopardy, at least until Matthew Savoie decided it was time to take over. The 17-year old scored twice in a span of 2:06 to bring his club within a goal of the Warriors. The ICE would tie the score 4-4 just 58 seconds after Savoie had notched his second of the game, then score a fifth goal at 19:15 of the third period to come away victorious and extend their streak to 9 games. Now that’s clutch.
The 6’4”, 205-lb. Conor Geekie has been Winnipeg’s second-line center this year, both at even strength and on the powerplay, as the club has decided to follow “the two-headed monster” model made famous by the Pittsburgh Penguins and superstar centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Geekie began the 2021-22 campaign red hot, posting 3 goals and 7 points in his first 4 games and shooting up many draft rankings lists as a result of his strong start. He has no goals and just 1 assist in 5 games since then, bringing his current total to 8 points (3g5a) in 9 games, but it’s not for a lack of chances or effort and it would be foolish to think his dry spell will continue much longer than it has. Geekie’s dynamic one-on-one stickhandling ability and top notch playmaking skill won’t be contained forever, and point-per-game production from a second-line center is not a luxury afforded to many teams in the WHL.
Savoie and Geekie are both eligible for next summer’s 2022 NHL Entry Draft, and both players are unanimously believed to be worthy of a first round selection. In my Part 1 Rankings released earlier this month Savoie was ranked fifth and Geekie twelfth, and it’s not out of the realm of possibilities to suggest that both players could potentially be top ten picks overall. Savoie is a well-rounded and lethal offensive force with an incredible skillset that makes him equally dangerous as a playmaker or pure sniper. Though a smaller forward (5’9”, 178 lbs.), he is a phenomenal skater and deceptive puckhandler who (especially since his concussion) rarely ever gets caught in compromising positions. The controversy around his size reminds me of what Chicago Blackhawks right winger Patrick Kane went through before going first overall in the 2007 NHL draft, and look how he turned out. If Savoie is able to continue scoring at his current 1.67 points-per-game pace, that would put him at 113 points over the course of a 68-game WHL season. Will NHL general managers pass over a guy with 113 points in his draft year simply because he’s deemed too small? The scary part is, he’s just getting warmed up. By the time he’s in mid-season form he could be absolutely unstoppable, and frankly he’s not far off from that right now.
Geekie obviously doesn’t face the same questions regarding his size, but there are some doubts about whether he will be able to keep up with the speed of the modern NHL game. He doesn’t have nearly the footspeed that Savoie has, but he can summon surprising bursts of speed with his powerful stride and he is typically very sound positionally. As Geekie gets bigger and stronger (hard to imagine, I know), his skating will likely also improve greatly, but he hasn’t had any real noticeable challenges arise to this point. His skill with the puck is sure to attract plenty of NHL suitors regardless, as he regularly beats defenders with a wide array of silky smooth dekes and dangles and has the outstanding vision and soft hands needed to make plays in the offensive zone. His shot isn’t the hardest in this draft, but his pinpoint puck placement and tricky release points make him a highly effective goal scorer as well. Barring a complete offensive collapse this season there is nothing stopping Geekie from becoming a top thirty-two selection next summer, and there are even some who think he could end up going higher than Savoie based on his size/skill combo.
Winnipeg ICE GM Matt Cockell entered the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, the first in the relocated franchise’s new history, with the top two selections and a chance to start things off on the right foot with a pair of gamechanging talents. As it turns out, that is precisely what he did.
The Draft Report 