Logan Stankoven will be taken in the NHL Draft on Friday (Image Credit: Allen Douglas / Kamloops Blazers)

By Chad Klassen

BUILDING THE BLAZERS

Stankoven, Zary could be start of next wave of Blazers’ top NHL picks

Jul 21, 2021 | 4:33 PM

KAMLOOPS — When Logan Stankoven’s name is called on Friday, it’s expected to be in the second round, although experts say he could easily be a late first-round pick.

If he goes in the second round, it would be the first time since Devan Dubnyk and Roman Tesliuk were picked in the first and second rounds in 2004, respectively, that Blazers have been picked in rounds one and two in the same year or consecutive years.

Connor Zary was drafted in the first round, 24th overall by Calgary, last year.

If Stankoven is a first rounder, it would be the first time since Shane Doan and Jarome Iginla, who were seventh and 11th overall, respectively, in 1995 that two Blazers have gone in the first round in the same year or consecutive years.

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With what the Blazers have built in the last couple years, it’s a trend that could continue.

“If you don’t get players into your program that have potential — and not just potential to be good players for the Kamloops Blazers in the Western Hockey League — they’re not going to end up able to have that potential for the NHL,” said TSN hockey analyst Craig Button. “So it all starts with the scouting, the recruiting, the development process that the Kamloops Blazers have put in place.”

A lot of that credit belongs to former Blazers GM Matt Bardsley, who changed how the team drafts players.

“We’ve probably really refined what we’re looking for in a player in valuing the things that are important to be an NHL player,” said new assistant GM Tim O’Donovan. “You need to have great skills, you need to have drive, you need to have hockey sense, good skating. I think putting extra value on those qualities has probably led us in the right direction.”

For O’Donovan and new GM Shaun Clouston, it means picking the players in the bantam draft, even if it means taking a risk on a player who’s already committed to a university.

Bardsley showed that in choosing both Mats Lindgren and Connor Levis in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft when both had committed already to the University of Michigan.

Bardsley has left a solid found from which the Blazers can keep building a winner.

“Moving forward, it’s something to build off of and continue to improve,” said O’Donovan of Bardsley’s legacy. “The gap always gets tighter. Other teams improve at the same time, but we really stick to our philosophy and stick to our lists and really get all the information and just outwork everybody. That’s really how you can create that competitive advantage.”

Button believes it will have more scouts at the Sandman Centre in the next few years, somewhat reminiscent of Blazers’ teams from the past.

“You look back at the Kamloops Blazers in their hayday, the 80s and the 90s, everybody knew when you were scheduling to watch junior players, better get Kamloops on the schedule!” Button exclaimed. “And it wasn’t just first-rounders like Scott Niedermayer and Shane Doan and Jarome Iginla, it was all the way through the draft. It was all the way through. It was everybody.”

From 1985 to 2000, there were 62 Blazers drafted into the NHL. In the last 20 years, there have been 35 players selected. The franchise is hoping to boost that number in the coming years with talent coming up the organization.