Raiders rookie defenceman Landon Kosior looked fondly at his first season in the WHL (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff).

By Aaron Schulze

Kosior Reflects on Raiders

Raiders’ Kosior reflects on rookie season, looks ahead to NHL Draft

Apr 12, 2020 | 2:56 PM

For Landon Kosior, his first season in the Western Hockey League (WHL) with the Prince Albert Raiders went better than he could have imagined.

The 17-year-old defenceman cracked the Raiders’ roster out of training camp after playing two seasons of Midget AAA hockey with the Tisdale Trojans.

The Raiders had some shifting around to do, as they entered the 2019-20 WHL season with four 20-year-old players; three of them also being defencemen. The WHL only allows teams to carry a maximum of three 20-year-old players.

After four games in 2019-20, offensive defenceman Max Martin was dealt to the Kamloops Blazers, leaving Zack Hayes and Jeremy Masella as the 20-year-old defencemen while opening the door for Kosior to play more at even strength and on the power play. Kosior got to pick the brains of all of them, but said it was a tough day when Martin was traded.

“He was my [defence] partner for the time he was there,” Kosior said. “He was always mentoring me and giving me tips on what to do… he had such a big impact on me in the short time there.

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“I was lucky. I got to play with Zack at the start of the year. He had just got back from [the Anaheim Ducks] camp, so I asked him a lot of questions about what it’s like to be at an NHL camp. Later in the year, I was with Jeremy. He’s a great guy and had a lot of good tips for me defensively. I couldn’t have asked for better 20-year-olds to help me out.”

Kosior concluded the 2019-20 season with 23 points (five goals and 18 assists) in 64 games, good for Top 10 in scoring for WHL defencemen entering their first NHL Draft year.

When NHL Central Scouting unveiled its final rankings ahead of the 2020 Draft, it showed Kosior had jumped to No. 98 amongst North American skaters, 28 spots higher than his midterm ranking. Three other Raiders – defenceman Kaiden Guhle, right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt, and center Ilya Usau – were also ranked.

Although having already been passed before in the WHL Bantam Draft in 2017, Kosior doesn’t try to think about the draft process, as it hasn’t defined where he’s ended up.

“I knew it was my draft year, but I put it in the back of my mind,” he said. “I came to Prince Albert because I love hockey. Hopefully, I can make it to the NHL someday, but I’m just playing the game I love. There have been [some NHL scouts approach me] here and there; there should be more later.”

Individually, some of Kosior’s favourite moments included his first career WHL goal during the Raiders’ home opener against the Saskatoon Blades. He also said playing against top junior players such as Dylan Cozens – the Lethbridge Hurricanes center who was selected 8^th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft, who Kosior considers to be the toughest player he’s had to match up against.

As a team, Kosior admitted the Raiders’ season was better than he expected – finishing 1^st in the Central Division with a 36-18-6-4 record. But he always had a feeling they would be better than expected in 2019-20, even after some massive roster overhauls following their WHL Championship win in 2019.

“I saw last year how big of a role Ozzy was playing as a 16-year-old and I knew he was going to step up and be good for us,” he said. “Kaiden Guhle being a 1^st overall pick (in 2017) and Nolan Allan being a top pick… I knew there were a lot of young guys coming in that can make an impact. Great 20-year-olds, great veterans, everyone on that team.”

While the 2019-20 WHL season being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic left a somber taste in the Raiders’ mouths, Kosior is optimistic about the years to come in Prince Albert– whether he’s an NHL Draft pick or not.

Because the Raiders had optimism of the post-season resuming, Kosior said he didn’t have exit meetings with the team before he went home. However, he does have his own critiques on what to fix ahead of a potential 2020-21 season.

“I’ve got to improve on my backwards skating, get faster my first couple of strides, and work on my all-around defensive game,” he said. “Everyone is so much more skilled, everyone can make passes, and it showed me what I had to work on. It’s a lot harder.”

Kosior’s goal is to stay in shape and practice his skills at home during the pandemic until gyms and ice rinks open. A new date for the 2020 NHL Draft hasn’t been announced.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow