Kia CHL Top-10 Spotlight: Wolves back with bite
The Sudbury Wolves are hungrier than ever.
With the club on an upward trajectory, last season saw the Wolves claim top spot in the OHL’s Central Division, standing at 70 points in 63 games when play paused.
Among the most important contributors to the Wolves’ first division crown since 2001 was hulking pivot Quinton Byfield, the second-overall selection to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2020 NHL Draft who remains a strong candidate to be the most dominant player in the junior circuit this season.
Earning CHL Rookie of the Year honours in 2018-19, Byfield then followed his successful freshman campaign with an even more impressive second season to the tune of 32 goals and 50 assists for 82 points through only 45 games that placed him fifth in points-per-game among OHL scorers.
As the OHL continues to work toward a Return to Play, Byfield is currently competing with the Ontario Reign – the Kings’ top minor-league affiliate – where he has picked up one point through two pro appearances.
🚨ICYMI: @byfield55, @jackthompson_22, & @isaakphillips7 had their dreams come true as they heard their names called during the #NHLDraft✨
Byfield: 2nd Overall @LAKings
Thompson: 93rd Overall @TBLightning
Phillips: 141st Overall @NHLBlackhawksRead👉 https://t.co/BEz9qfsVX7 pic.twitter.com/4XfTc08cNB
— Sudbury Wolves (@Sudbury_Wolves) October 9, 2020
“I just want to make the best of the opportunity,” Byfield told Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times. “So if that is playing in the NHL, I just want to make the best of my opportunity and hopefully stay out there. If not, wherever I go … I am going to try and be the best player of myself and make an impact either way.”
With the Wolves, Byfield is the team’s most important offensive threat, and even more so following the offseason graduations of fellow forwards David Levin, Macauley Carson, and deadline acquisition Matej Pekar who has turned pro with the Buffalo Sabres’ organization.
But while Byfield is sure to draw the most attention from the opposition this season, he won’t go it alone with the Wolves as among the club’s returnees includes frequent linemate Blake Murray. The 19-year-old left-wing who was chosen in the sixth-round of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes finished third in team scoring last season with 72 points but first in the goals column with 35 tallies.
With Byfield and Murray pushing the pace for Sudbury, the Wolves will also look to further ingrain 17-year-old right-wing Chase Stillman, one of two team skaters alongside newcomer Nick DeGrazia recognized as Players to Watch by NHL Central Scouting ahead of the 2021 NHL Draft
The son of longtime NHL forward and former Wolves bench boss Cory Stillman – who has since stepped into an assistant capacity with the Arizona Coyotes following three seasons in Sudbury – Stillman had a successful rookie season last year in which he finished sixth in team scoring with 34 points and tied for seventh among freshmen league-wide, helping him earn a spot on the OHL First All-Rookie Team.
🐺 From one pack to another, Cory Stillman has been named an Assistant Coach with the @ArizonaCoyotes.
Congratulations 🎉 Cory, we wish you all the best and much success with your coaching career. 👊Read 👉 https://t.co/kDgwCv1Wzo pic.twitter.com/mxgMoHKs1M
— Sudbury Wolves (@Sudbury_Wolves) December 15, 2020
While Stillman is seen as the next wave up front, Sudbury’s youth movement also extends to the back end where the club deploys a dynamic duo in Jack Thompson and Isaak Phillips, a pair of budding blue-liners who both heard their names called in the 2020 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks, respectively.
Phillips has joined the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs on loan in preparation for the coming junior season, an opportunity that he believes will allow him to further round out his game in the interim and build on a strong showing with the Wolves last season in which the fleet-footed defender recorded nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points.
“It is my first professional camp and I finally get to show them what I have been working on for nine months, to show them I am a different player from what I was when I was playing back in March,” Phillips told Ben Leeson of the Sudbury Star. “I think my shot has gotten a lot better, I have put on a lot of size, so I think I am going to look a lot bigger out there. I think my overall game and my physical game is really going to show out there.”
Offering plenty of promise in their own end coupled with a top scoring threat leading the offensive ranks, the Wolves will bring plenty of bite when the OHL returns to the ice.
Loading ...