In season 58, the Vancouver Whalers struggled to a sub 500 record. They were 28-33-5, which was 8th by points percentage. The goal differential of -18 shows that with a few smart moves they can be right back in contention. Let's take a look at their strengths and weaknesses.

The Whalers were middle of the pack in scoring, with 168 goals for the season. They were similarly middle of the pack for goals allowed, with 186. Nobody truly stood out on offence last season, with Ako Zile being the points leader at 44. Simply put they didn't get enough offence from their wingers or centers. While 2 of their centers were leading scorers with 44 and 43 points, their wingers were next with 41 and 39 points. These players had good plus minus, showing that they weren't a liability on defence, so it's likely that we;re looking at a team with strong 2 way players. This could partially explain the low points totals as well.

Defensively, Rotzuba was their top scoring defender at 26 points. What's interesting about this is he was generally their shutdown defender, and given limited power play time. So he did most of his damage on 5 on 5, which is actually a good thing for Vancouver going forward. This is a clear strength.

They got a 910 save% out of their starting goaltender, which is a solid number. With more time in the offensive zone, he could have had fewer shots against and potentially better results. The best defence is a good offence is a key strategy for helping your goaltender.

Knowing that their needs were clearly for position players, Vancouver made some good draft choices in the draft to build towards their future. They took center Uhtred Ragnarsson, a well rounded center prospect who can score and play defence - exactly what they needed. With the 6th pick, they took left winger NeverBrokeAgain YoungBoy, a well rounded player who can make the smart pass in the offensive zone, but isn't a liability on defence. Later in the draft they selected Isiah Lopez, a winger who interestingly is a defence first prospect. This seems to be a theme for the Whalers - they know their strength is on goal prevention, and they have drafted players who buy into that goal. 

On the other hand, Vancouver knows you have to actually score to win games, so they drafted Elvis Alexander. He has elite vision for a rookie, and can make the smart pass and give and go to give them highlight real goals. And with another center, Gio Marsh, they have drafted another high end future center.

They also drafted a goalie of the future in Olof Karsikko, and this will help ensure that they have a strong pipeline for goaltending in the future.

The Whalers will need players like  this to succeed in order to return to contention, which wasn't that long ago. It was only a couple of seasons ago - Season 56 to be exact - that the Whalers were the best team in the league. The cycle of a minor league team relies on selecting the right minor leaguers, and time will tell if they made the right choices. This author believes that in a few years, we might be looking back at this draft and recognizing that these are some of the core players who will lead them to a championship. 


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