| Jan Spunar | Portland Winterhawks | WHL | L | G | 6’3″ | 185 | Portland Winterhawks | 2022 | Olomouc | 2004 | 2023-2024: C+ 2022-2023: C+ 2021-2022: C+ |
Spunar is a long athletic goalie in his third year of eligibility and even though he has gone undrafted Neutral Zone has had him rated as a “C+” for all three drafts. In this one he faced 45 shot attempts with 23 hitting the net and hitting the net from inside of the house. The goal against came 1:40 into the the third period on a partial breakaway. On the play the Seattle player received a pass and sprinted from the blueline in before releasing a backfoot snapshot that beat him high glove. He faced 6 shots while Portland was shorthanded with 2 of them hitting the net and 1 being a fairly predictable sweeping wristshot from just above the face-off circle in the left dot-lane. With 9:05 remaining in the first period he showed his athleticism after kicking a rebound directly into the slot Spunar exploded off his left inside edge to make a beautiful cross crease save. He read line rushes well and early in the game he understood the importance of getting whistles as often as possible to slow the home team’s momentum.
Spunar is in his third year of eligibility and with the combination of his size, movement and numbers I’m surprised that he hasn’t been picked yet. This year he’s got a .933 in 18 WHL games and a .950 in one game with the Czechian National team so I would think he’s a solid late selection. Granted he needs a contract so maybe a team will just want to bring him into development camp and see how it goes.
| Diego Buttazzoni | Portland Winterhawks | WHL | L | C | 5’9″ | 181 | Medicine Hat Tigers | 2021 | Langley, BC | 2006 | 2023-2024: C |
Buttazzoni earned 14:25 in ice time (7th among fwds) including 1:55 on the PP (5th among fwds). He did not play PK. He finished +2 with 1 goal, 1 assist, 3 shots, 2 grade “A” opportunities, 2 PIMs for an offensive zone crosscheck, 1/1 on face-offs, 4 giveaways, 1 takeaway and for the season he is winning 44% of his 50/50 puck battles.
Buttazzoni is an undersized forward with excellent timing when heading into open ice or the quiet areas of the offensive zone. He scored a goal on a beautifully timed sprint to the backdoor. On the play he was involved in or around a mid-wall loose puck battle and when the puck was passed to the weakside defenseman Buttazzoni recognized that his coverage was puck watching so he slid into a the lane for a cross body one-timer into the open net. He showed a shooter’s mentality and his quick release low angle shot led to a rebound that was buried for a primary assist. Defensively Buttazzoni showed awareness and had an active stick that took away both shooting or passing lanes.
Buttazzoni is an undersized forward with 23 goals in 48 games so it’s obvious that he knows his way around the offensive zone. But at his size is an elite goal scorer who can play top line PP or top six minutes? At this point in his development I don’t see him as a scoring winger in the NHL so then we have to ask does he have the explosiveness and pace to play as a bottom six who can kill penalties and annoy the other team into taking momentum changing penalties? Truthfully I don’t think his frame will allow him to play that role in the NHL. He’s smart, quick and has a nose around the net but I think NHL teams will look to someone bigger than he is for that role.
| Hudson Darby | Portland Winterhawks | WHL | R | RW | 6’0″ | 177 | Portland Winterhawks | 2021 | Swift Current, SK | 2006 | Not yet rated |
Darby earned 10:09 in ice time (10th among fwds). He did not play special teams. He finished +2, went 0/1 on face-offs, 5 PIMs, 2 giveaways, 3 takeaways and for the season he is winning 47% of his 50/50 puck battles.
Darby is a December 2006 who was a 5th round draft pick in 2021 and he’s carved that into playing 37 games and 9 points in the 2023/24 season. Growing up playing minor hockey in Swift Current he never put up huge points but he was always around a point per game as one of the youngest players on the ice if not the youngest so to me he is someone worth paying attention to. This year he’s going to probably finish up as a forth line winger but with a full season of WHL hockey under his belt and a full off season of training the late 2006 could make some noise in his NHL draft year.
| Joshua Zakreski | Portland Winterhawks | WHL | L | LW | 5’11” | 188 | Portland Winterhawks | 2020 | Saskatoon, SK | 2005 | 2022-2023: C |
Zakreski earned 14:29 in ice time (6th among fwds) including 1:15 on the PK (6th among fwds). He did not play PP. He finished +1 with 3 shots, 2 grade “A” opportunities, 1 hit, had 2 shots blocked, 8 giveaways, 2 takeaways and for the season he is winning 44% of his 50/50 puck battles.
Zakreski is a late 2005 who was an 8th round pick in 2020. Since then he’s played 127 WHL games and scored 29 goals. Now that might not sound like rockstar numbers but he’s improved every season and this year he’s got 16 goals and is on pace for 22. Again that doesn’t gaudy but as an 8th round pick who’s built like a truck I think he’s worth paying attention to. I don’t think he’s a draft pick but the combination of the coaching he’s received in Portland with his obvious inner drive makes him a kid who earns a development camp invite and from there you never know what you’re going to get as a 22 year old.
Photo Credit: Dan Hickling/Hickling Images