The Rockets don’t have to find one player to replace last year’s offence.
They have to find several.
Kelowna lost its top six point producers from a season ago, leaving a lot of offence to replace and plenty of questions heading into the new WHL season.
General manager Curtis Hamilton isn’t looking for one player to solve the problem.
“I think you can never have enough goal scoring, and usually, if you don’t have enough of that, then you’re missing defence or goaltending or something else,” Hamilton told RocketFAN. “There’s always something you’re trying to improve on.”
The Rockets do have some familiar faces returning, but their roles could look very different this season.
“When you look at last year, and even the year before, there’s been some turnover here just in how we had to put that team together last year,” Hamilton said. “Certainly we have some important pieces coming back this year, and we’re fortunate to have them.”
The players who aren’t guaranteed anything will have to make their case quickly.
“We have some tough decisions still to make on our 20-year-olds and some of our young players that are pushing for positions here,” Hamilton said. “A lot of them are ready, but ultimately there’s only so many spots on the roster.”
Up front, there is an intriguing possibility involving the Rockets’ three European forwards.
Jakub Frolo and Tomas Poletin have already played together internationally, while Vojtech Cihar could join them in Kelowna if he returns after training camp.
“I know Frolo and Poletin had played together at the U20s. They were on a line together, and Cihar is a solid player too,” Hamilton said. “If he ends up coming back here, he’s going to be a really good player in our league.”
Hamilton sees the potential, but he isn’t interested in deciding the lineup before the players have had a chance to make those decisions for him.
“Adding those three players, I think, should help with the scoring for sure, and it’s easy to put them together,” Hamilton said. “But I think we have some other good forwards that can help and play with those guys and have success.”
Then there is Madden Daneault.
The first overall pick in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft hasn’t played a WHL game yet, but he won’t have much trouble attracting attention when he does.
Hamilton has seen something different in recent first overall picks.
“There are these players that are coming along now, especially the first pick or the first few picks. They’re all special players, it seems like,” Hamilton said. “They’re quite a bit better than some of the rest of their peer group, certainly.”
Still, the Rockets aren’t going to rush the 15-year-old simply because of where his name appeared on the draft board.
“Madden’s going to be put in those conversations because of where he got picked, but we try to be realistic with all these things because of his age,” he said. “He’s a young player still, and he’s going to have his ups and downs certainly.”
What Hamilton sees isn’t just a highly drafted player.
“The player I know is a very good player, very well-rounded player,” he said. “He’s a solid character guy. We talked to the coaches about it all the time. He’s just a hockey player, and he’s a 1% guy. There aren’t many of him.”
There is another significant change in Kelowna this season.
Mike Reagan takes over as assistant coach after spending 19 seasons with the Flin Flon Bombers, bringing with him experience that Hamilton believes can help both the Rockets and their players.
“Mike’s been involved in junior hockey for a very long time. I think 19 years, coaching out in Flin Flon. So he’s got a ton of experience for a guy that isn’t 100 years old. He’s a fairly young guy still, and he has experience leading players through the NCAA.”
That NCAA experience is becoming more important as players have more options when deciding where their hockey careers can take them.
“He played in the NCAA too, so he’s got a little bit of a different perspective,” Hamilton said. “I think you see that from the hockey world now with the NCAA being an option. I think there’s more and more teams that are looking at, as coaching staff, like adding a player that has experience in that, whereas in the past, maybe not.”
For Hamilton, that fits into a bigger part of what the Rockets are trying to do.
“And on the flip side of that, the coaches too, they want to come play in or coach in our league because it’s the best league,” Hamilton said. “So for us, we’re developing players, and we’re also developing coaches.”
The Rockets will find out soon enough whether the players returning from last season can handle bigger roles, whether the newcomers can provide the offence they need and whether the younger players are ready to push their way into the lineup.
Daneault will be one of the players worth watching.
Hamilton knows players like him don’t stay in junior hockey forever.
“Make sure you get out here and watch him because these guys don’t hang around too long.”
Comments