Hiring New Head Coach at Top of GM Sutter's To-Do List
May 10, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release
Red Deer Rebels president and GM Brent Sutter has some personnel decisions to make during the off-season and right at the top is finding a new head coach as his replacement.
"It comes down to finding the right person to come in and take this to the next level," he said. "I want a coach who's going to check off a lot of boxes and obviously he's going to be younger than me."
Sutter stepped down as head coach on April 10 and placed assistant GM Shaun Sutter behind the bench with assistants Ryan Colville and Brad Flynn.
Shaun Sutter has returned to his managing duties and will help Brent and senior vice-president Merrick Sutter in the search for a new bench boss.
Brent will remain as GM and all decisions will pass through him. In addition, he will be available as a mentor to the next head coach.
"I will still be heavily involved in any decision making and will oversee the whole operation," said Brent. "I still have a focus and a vision about where we need to be and that won't change because I'm not coaching the team."
Whomever comes on board - and Brent Sutter is considering hiring a person with pro coaching experience - he will have some up-and-coming players at his disposal.
In goal, Chase Coward looked like a keeper when he started four games - including three of the final four - this season.
Coward is 18, as are promising rearguard Kyle Masters and captain and centre Jayden Grubbe. Defenceman Trey Patterson and forward Josh Medernach are also in that age group.
Meanwhile, Kalan Lind is an exciting forward as a 16-year-old, while forwards Carter Anderson and Jhett Larson and defenders Hunter Mayo and Jace Weir are all 17.
Weir stood out on the Rebels blueline this season as a rookie.
"He was a great surprise for us," said Sutter. "He takes the game very seriously and he's an intelligent young man.
"He understands the game well and he's very coachable. Everything you want to see in a young players he has - he skates and moves pucks well . . . he just has a lot of great attributes to be a really good player."
Mayo, who was selected just before Weir in the 2019 WHL bantam draft, also showed promise this season.
"Hunter has to take the next step but he has had a taste of it now and understands how he must be with his work habits and how he has to train," said Sutter. "The same with Anderson and Larson."
Ben King, 19, and Grubbe will be the Rebels' top two centres next season and one or both will likely wind up on the same line as Lind, the team's first-round pick in the 2020 draft who could be an all-star level player in the not too distant future.
"He is very good already and will only get better if he continues to dedicate himself, gets stronger and remains focused and dialled in," said Sutter. "He has such a high upside and a lot of passion. He's very competitive and there's a lot of purpose in his game which you like to see in a young player."
Defencemen Chase Leslie, Mason Ward, Blake Gustafson - perhaps the team's most improved player this season - and Joel Sexsmith, are eligible to return as 19-year-olds.
Sutter, however, has concerns abut Leslie, who missed more than half of the season with concussion problems.
"We'll have to see how his summer goes," said Sutter. "He's had quite a few concussions. We had a discussion before he left and we have to sit down and talk about some things again.
"For me, it's not just about the game, it's about him and having a normal life moving forward. He's a salt of the earth young man, as good a person as you'll find. He loves the game but when you've had the injuries he's had you have to take a look at it.
"I'm looking out for what's best for him. With Les, right now hockey is the last thing he should be thinking about. It's about getting healthy again."
The forward group could feature as many as six 19-year-olds - King, Ethan Rowland, Jace Isley, Jaxsen Wiebe, Keaton Sorensen and Dallon Melin.
"All the 19s will have to be key players for us," said Sutter. "As you get older there's more responsibility and accountability put on your shoulders concerning leadership. You expect that from your older players. You want them coming in with the right attitudes and pulling on the same rope."
Sutter will be looking for the same from overagers Arshdeep Bains, who should be one of the team's top scorers, Zak Smith and Byron Fancy, if both are back.
Whatever, Sutter has increased expectations for the 2021-22 edition of the Rebels.
"From my standpoint, it doesn't matter who the coach is, expectations are going to be high here," he stated. "Players should expect that as should everyone in the organization. My expectations for this group are high but at the same time I don't want to put someone in the position to fail.
"We have to improve as individuals and as a team. Everyone has to get better - that's part of the drive to want to be better all the time.
"We all have to get better and I hold everyone accountable for that."
Notable: Depending on the COVID-19 pandemic and the Canada-US border crossings, the Rebels could have as many as four American players in training camp next fall, assuming the camp starts in September as hoped. The list includes forwards Gracyn Sawchyn and Aidan Willis, both selected in last year's US Prospects Draft, and defencemen Hunter Hady and Logan Wright. Sutter recently watched Sawchyn play in the US U16 nationals in St. Louis, along with recent list player Hady, who stands six-four and weights in at 205 pounds. Wright is a six-foot-six rearguard who was picked in the 2019 WHL bantam draft . . . Sutter is hopeful that Finnish defenceman Christoffer Sedoff will be back with the team next season. Sedoff, 19, was a Red Deer rookie in 2019-20 and spent the past season playing pro hockey in his home country.
Western Hockey League Stories from May 10, 2021
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