Let's take a look at Arshdeep Bains. On Friday, the Canucks prospect was officially named winner of the Bob Clarke Trophy as the WHL's leading scorer.
A 21-year-old from Surrey, the Canucks signed undrafted Bains to a three-year entry-level contract on March 11. According to
CapFriendly, the two-way deal is slightly above an NHL minimum contract, with a signing bonus of $50,000 each year. It carries a cap hit of $816,667 per year at the NHL level and is worth $70,000 at the AHL level.
If you aren't familiar with Bains' story,
Ben Lypka from Black Press Media has a very thorough rundown of his journey to date.
Also passed over in the WHL's bantam draft, Bains caught the attention of Red Deer Rebels owner/GM/coach Brent Sutter as a 16-year-old, and made the team after being invited to rookie camp in the fall of 2017.
From there, it was a gradual progression: seven points in 20 games in his rookie season turned into 18 in 63 games in what would have been his first draft-eligible year in 2018-19, then 51 in 63 games before the pandemic shut down the 2019-20 season.
Bains was given an 'A' when the WHL finally got rolling last season. He picked up another 21 points in 23 games before his offensive explosion this year. He had 112 points in 68 regular-season games, including 10 game-winning goals.
The Rebels finished third in the WHL's Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, Red Deer took down Brandon in six games in the first round before being swept by the Edmonton Oil Kings. Bains had 10 points in 10 games. That tied him for the team lead with his linemate Ben King — a just-turned-20-year-old who will be in his second year of eligibility for the draft in July.
Moving forward, it'll be really interesting to see how many diamonds in the rough emerge out of this age cohort, where the normal scouting and drafting processes were disrupted so dramatically by the pandemic. King is a big boy, an Okanagan kid from Vernon who's listed at 6'3" and 201 pounds. He finished second in WHL scoring this year behind Bains, with 105 points — but has a late May birthday and had just 28 points in 21 games with Red Deer last season. So he was passed over in his first year of draft eligibility.
King was not included among the 224 North American skaters ranked by
NHL Central Scouting in 2021. This year, he went from
unranked at mid-term to No. 96 in the 2022 final rankings.
In Lypka's article, he says Red Deer Advocate editor Byron Hackett described the chemistry between Bains and King as "uncanny." Maybe that's something the Canucks could look to tap into with a third or fourth-round pick?
From the same article, here's how Brent Sutter describes Bains' evolution as a player:
"He’s a skilled player, he’s good along the boards and puck battles," Sutter said. "Very good one-on-one, has a good shot. He has become so much stronger, bigger and more mature since he came to us as a 16 year old. I’ve had many talks with him about the pro level and everyday is an important one. You can’t take days off and you have to focus. I know he’s looking forward to the challenge and I think he’ll hit it head on."
Of course, tearing up a junior league as a 20 or 21-year-old is no guarantee of NHL success. Remember when Mike Gillis took a flier on 20-year-old free agent Dane Fox when he was in the midst of putting up a 107-point season while playing with 16-year-old Connor McDavid in 2013-14? Fox became, primarlily, an ECHLer. He got into one AHL game with the Utica Comets and one with the Charlotte Checkers before departing for Germany after the 2016-17 season. Other than half a season in Denmark, Fox has settled in, now a 28-year-old veteran with the Nurnberg Ice Tigers.
And while the
Rebels have graduated a number of stars to the NHL over the years including Dion Phaneuf, Ryan Nugent Hopkins, Matt Dumba and Brandon Sutter, their track record over the last decade has been much spottier.
Since Nugent-Hopkins and Dumba were back-to-back first-round picks in 2011 and 2012, respectively, only four Rebels graduates have played NHL games, out of 13 who were drafted. Out of that group, the best stat lines are still pretty humble: 2014 seventh-overall pick Haydn Fleury has 31 points in 215 NHL games and 2016 sixth-rounder Brandon Hagel is on the upswing with 72 points in 142 games.
It is expected that Bains will start with Abbotsford next season. Hopefully, as a younger homegrown player, he can chip in some offense so that the team isn't as reliant as it was this year on AHL vets like Sheldon Rempal and Sheldon Dries.
A look back at previous WHL scoring champs is also a reminder that there's no guarantee that talent will translate to the NHL level, especially for players who are older when they hit their peaks.
Canucks fans remember past Bob Clarke Trophy winners Linden Vey (2011) and Brendan Leipsic (2013).
Here are the most recent champs:
2020-21: Peyton Krebs, Winnipeg Ice
2019-20: Adam Beckman, Spokane Chiefs
2018-19: Joachim Blichfeld, Portland Winterhawks
2017-18: Jayden Halbgewachs, Moose Jaw Warriors
2016-17: Sam Steel, Regina Pats
2015-16: Adam Brooks, Regina Pats
2014-15: Oliver Bjorkstrand, Portland Winterhawks
2013-14: Mitch Holmberg, Spokane Chiefs
Krebs, of course, was a first-round draft pick who has begun to show promise since he was traded to Buffalo in November as part of the Jack Eichel trade.
Beckman, now 21, was a third-round pick by the Minnesota Wild. He spent most of this season in the AHL, where he put up 34 points in 68 games.
Blichfeld, now 23, is a Danish player who was drafted in the seventh-round by the San Jose Sharks in 2016. He has played eight career NHL games so far, but spent all of this season with the AHL's San Jose Barracuda.
Jayden Halbgewachs, at 5'8", went undrafted despite two 100-plus point seasons. Now 25, he has spent the last four years with the San Jose Barracuda, but did get into three NHL games with the Sharks last season.
Sam Steel, now 24, was a first-round pick by the Anaheim Ducks in 2016. He has played just 53 AHL games since turning pro, and is now up to 65 points in 197 NHL games. With just 20 points last season, he is now being left behind by some of the other young talent in the Ducks organization — but also has the best NHL resume of any player on this list so far.
Adam Brooks was drafted in the fourth round by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2016. Now 26, he been a tweener throughout his career. He has 43 NHL games on his resume, with Toronto, Montreal, Vegas and Winnipeg. His 14 games with the Jets this year, where he was pointless, mark a single-season career high.
Oliver Bjorkstrand is the most successful player on this list. Now 27, he was drafted by Columbus in the third round in 2013, won a Calder Cup in his first pro season in 2016, and became a full-time NHL player in the 2017-18 season. Still with Columbus, Bjorkstrand has 234 points in 382 career games and hit career highs this season with 28 goals and 57 points.
Mitch Holmberg was undrafted, and had his 62-goal, 118-point season in his final year of eligibility, as a 20/21-year-old. After signing an amateur tryout contract and playing one game with the Oklahoma City Barons at the end of his breakout 2013-14 season, Holmberg then became an ECHL fixture. His
HockeyDB stat page ends after the 2016-17 season, when he bounced between the Wichita Thunder, the Colorado Eagles and the Wheeling Nailers.
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