Head of the class

To hear him tell it, Tyden Lafournaise has been on a self-improvement kick for about six years.

And if you want to meet a hockey player with an unusual capacity for self-evaluation, Lafournaise is your guy, even though he’s only 15.

“It really changed when I was nine years old,” explains Lafournaise, who won the Winnipeg AAA U15 Hockey League scoring title with 126 points, including 66 goals, in 32 games with the Winnipeg Bruins Gold during the 2023-24 season. “I kind of really noticed that my skating was weaker than most of the other guys.

“I was a little slower. I was a bigger guy and I just kind of I felt I needed something to change. So, I started working out at the Rink Training Centre with Testify (Performance gym). When I went for my first assessment, they said my glutes and my ankles were weak. So, for that first year and a half, I would go twice a week, every week, and just work on getting stronger and I think that probably is why I’m who I am today.”

What the 6-0, 150-pound Lafournaise has turned himself into is one of the best — if not the finest — 2009-born prospect in Manitoba for the Western Hockey League Draft, set for Thursday.

“He’s just a phenomenal player,” says his coach Chris McColm.

“I’ve never coached a player like Tyden before. You hear people talk about him, comparing him to Jonathan Toews. In practice, he’s very creative and innovative. He wants to try new things. He wanted to do things, whether it was on the power play or on breakouts or things like that. He just wanted to do some different things. He’s a very mature kid.”

Lafournaise’s status was confirmed at the league’s recent awards banquet where he walked away with MVP, top forward and impact player of the year honours.

The memory of what he was at nine inspires him to this day.

“Tyden’s the full deal.”–Coach Chris McColm

“I was a first-round cut for that Brick Tournament and obviously when you think you’re a top guy but then get cut in the first round, it’s kind of hard on you,” says Lafournaise. “I just thought something’s got to change.”

Lafournaise, who also attends the Churchill Hockey Academy, more than doubled his point production from his 13-year-old season at the AAA U15 level.

“Tyden’s the full deal,” says McColm. “He can distribute pucks, he can make plays and he’s a great skater. And he’s got all those little skills.”

While Lafournaise certainly has the credentials to be the first local player chosen Thursday, at least two other Manitoba players — Winnipeg Thrashers White centre Prabh Bhathal and Rink Hockey Academy defenceman Graeme Pickering — could also grab that honour.

Pickering, the younger brother of Pittsburgh Penguins first-round draft pick Owen Pickering and Colgate University blue-liner Avery Pickering, has the speed and puck-moving skills WHL teams love. He’s also a right shot, a highly coveted trait among defenceman.

The only real knock on Pickering is his size. But at 5-8, 148 pounds, he’s two inches taller and 15 pounds heavier than Owen was when he was chosen in the ninth round of the 2019 draft by the Swift Current Broncos. Owen eventually grew eight inches and added 54 pounds.

At 5-9, Avery is one of the tallest defenders in NCAA women’s hockey, so it seems probable Graeme is due for a growth spurt.

“I wouldn’t mind that but it’s out of my control,” says Graeme. “Whatever I turn out to be, I’ll be fine with that.”

As for the on-ice stuff, he’s received high marks across the board after making the transition from the Eastman Selects AAA U15 team to a star-laden RHA team playing in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. In 27 games, he had seven goals, 36 points and 47 penalty minutes.

“Pickering is just really, really smart,” says Joel Henderson, director of scouting for Puck Preps, who has the youngest Pickering tabbed as the 11th-best prospect in Western Canada. “He dissects plays off the transition and he’s probably one of my most improved players across all leagues this year.

“He’s determined and he’s got great defensive instincts, too. And I think all of the things that he’s doing off the rush, all of his habits, they’re just going to be even better when he’s 6-foot-whatever.”

Graeme says he has benefitted from RHA’s wide array of intensive training — on and off the ice.

“Probably the biggest difference is just my confidence,” he says. “When I started the year I wasn’t sure what to expect going into the CSSHL. But then once I kind of understood what it was like, I found my confidence grew and I was making more plays. I felt like I was a better player.”

Bhathal, meanwhile, has a goal-scorer’s gift that keeps on giving.

As a 13-year-old, he scored 46 goals and 73 points in 34 games but that performance was only an appetizer for a spectacular 2023-24 season when he exploded for 83 goals and 119 points in 32 games. His league-leading goal total included 14 on the power play and nine game-winners.

“He scores in all kinds of ways,” says Thrashers White head coach Vince Hourie, who raves about Bhathal’s dedication and attention to detail.

“He can bang them in from the side, he can shoot from below the goal line and use his reach and shoot it off a goalie’s pad or over his shoulder. He can pick it up off the breakout and get up to top speed and blow past the defenceman and put it in.”

This past season, Bhathal added a physical dimension to his game.

“He can rip shots — he has the best shot in my opinion — but he can also create in traffic,” says Hourie. “He’s very, very good at protecting the puck and finding space. He can score goals any way goals can be scored.”

Bhathal’s size — he’s 6-2, 183 pounds and still growing — is another attribute that has scouts buzzing.

“By the time he hits the Western League two years from now… I have no doubt he’ll probably be close to 6-4 and his frame will probably support 230 or 235 by the time he’s 18… He’s going to be a handful in the Dub.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

 

A top 10 made in Manitoba

Here are some of the province’s best 2009-born prospects for Thursday’s WHL Draft:

1. Tyden Lafournaise, C, Winnipeg U15 AAA Bruins Gold

Hometown: Winnipeg

Height: 6-0; Weight: 152 pounds

Joel Henderson says: “He reminds me a little bit of Conner Roulette. He could end up scoring a point per game or more at the WHL level if all things go well.”

 

2. Graeme Pickering, RD, Rink Hockey Academy U15 Prep

Hometown: Ste. Adolphe

Height: 5-9; Weight: 146 pounds

Brad Purdie says: “He’s got a good shot. He’s very deceptive and he defends well. He’s not a big guy but if you follow the trend for (brother) Owen and his sister (Avery), who are both big defenceman, I don’t see why it doesn’t happen for him.”

 

3. Prabh Bhathal, C, Winnipeg Thrashers White U15 AAA

Hometown: Winnipeg

Height: 6-2; Weight: 183 pounds

Joel Henderson says: “He’s a really strong shooter and not only that, he follows up his opportunities really well. He’s really determined with those second and third chances… But he’s got to get more agile. If he was really explosive on his turns, we’re talking about an easy top five pick in the draft.”

 

4. Ludovic Perreault, C, Winnipeg U15 AAA Bruins Brown

Hometown: Winnipeg

Height: 5-7; Weight: 155 pounds

Joel Henderson says: “If you’re smaller you have to be incredibly disciplined. You have to be willing to go into battles and win pucks and he does both of those things. His size doesn’t really worry me because he’s so feisty and he fights through checks and he fights through stick battles.”

 

5. Asher Gingras, C, Eastman U15 AAA Selects

Hometown: Steinbach

Height: 5-11; Weight: 150 pounds

Joel Henderson says: “He’s very straightforward and very powerful. He loves to walk into shot lanes… He’s looking for space to be a shooter, to be powerful and move into space.”

 

6. Drayden Uhrina, F, Rink Hockey Academy U15 Prep

Hometown: Winnipeg

Height: 6-0; Weight: 164 pounds

Brad Purdie says: “He has all the tools. He’s got the ability to be that kind of player at the next level. He’s big and heavy. He’s got a heckuva shot and he’s physical. He protects the puck really well.”

 

7. William Picklyk, C, Eastman U15 AAA Selects

Hometown: Mitchell

Height: 5-9; Weight: 150 pounds

Joel Henderson says: “I really like how well-rounded his game is. He’s not as naturally quick or as long strided as some of the other guys in the draft but he’s so smart and strong.”

 

8. Madden Tymchak, LD, Rink Hockey Academy U15 Prep

Hometown: Ste. Adolphe

Height: 6-0; Weight: 150 pounds

Brad Purdie says: “He’s Scott Stevens type. His timing on hits coming across the middle was, at this level, phenomenal. He caught a lot of guys with their heads down and being a bigger player, he always got the penalty for it just because when a guy hits a little guy at this level it has to be penalty, right? He’s a throwback guy with a lot of sandpaper.”

 

9. Cohen Lewko, C, Rink Hockey Academy U15 Prep

Hometown: Sanford

Height: 5-11; Weight: 171 pounds

Brad Purdie says: “Another throwback guy. The way he plays he’s right out of the ’70s and ’80s from the NHL. He’s just a physical player. Skates well and he’s got an unbelievable shot for a 14-year-old.”

 

10. Anthony Bedard, F, Rink Hockey Academy U15 Prep

Hometown: Winnipeg

Height: 5-8; Weight: 155 pounds

Brad Purdie says: “He’s a skilled forward who sees the ice well and has a nice scoring touch. He skates well and is defensively reliable. Fantastic kid.”