Ozzy Wiesblatt finished second on the Raiders with 70 points in 64 games played last season. (Jeff D'Andrea/paNOW Staff)

By Trevor Redden

Draft Delay

Wiesblatt making most of offseason as draft, return to play draw nearer

Sep 10, 2020 | 12:33 PM

Raider forward Ozzy Wiesblatt has known for many years that his first crack at being drafted into the National Hockey League [NHL] would come in 2020, but it’s taken a little longer than he expected.

Originally scheduled for late June in Montreal, the draft has now been pushed to Oct. 6 and 7 because of the pandemic, and any in-person component is unlikely.

Regardless of the setting, Wiesblatt is thrilled about the opportunity.

“It’s going to be really cool. It’s been my dream to get selected in the draft, and just watching hockey even now in the playoffs, and thinking that I might get drafted to one of those teams is a pretty cool feeling,” Wiesblatt said. “I’m definitely excited, but I know there’s still a lot of work to be done and that’s just the start of it.”

Had things gone as planned, the end of the Raider season would have flowed straight into an extremely busy offseason, full of NHL events like the draft combine, the draft itself, development camps, and training camp. Instead, Wiesblatt has been home in Calgary since the Western Hockey League [WHL] shut down in March trying to make the most of this extra time to develop as a player on and off the ice.

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“At the start it was a bit tougher because we didn’t know if we were going to come back or when the season was going to start. It’s definitely been a process with your training schedule and how hard you’re skating. It’s starting to ramp up as the season starts to get closer, but I think one thing you have to do is take advantage of all this time you have,” Wiesblatt said.

In Calgary, his training group includes fellow WHLers like Jake Neighbours of the Edmonton Oil Kings, Ronan Seeley of the Everett Silvertips, and Matthew Rempe of the Seattle Thunderbirds. Around the gym he also sees professionals like Kale Clague and Austin Wagner of the Los Angeles Kings, and Dryden Hunt of the Florida Panthers.

“It’s been awesome to train with those guys, they’ve pushed me every day to be better and get extra reps in and just push myself,” he explained. “It’s cool to see some pro guys and see how they carry themselves off the ice and how they push themselves when they’re working out.”

Beyond the upcoming NHL draft, the WHL season is slated to open on Dec. 4. A return to Prince Albert to re-join his Raider teammates is something Wiesblatt has spent a lot of time thinking about.

“You definitely see on the zoom calls that we’ve had so far that we’re a really close team and we’re all really anxious to see each other again. It’s going to be a special feeling when you see all those faces again and get back on the ice with them. I’m super excited,” Wiesblatt said.

Wiesblatt enters the draft as the 19^th ranked North American skater by NHL Central Scouting, sixth among all WHL players.

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trevor.redden@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @Trevor_Redden