That was the immediate reaction from many onlookers when the Warriors announced Thursday morning that overage forward Luke Ormsby had been placed on 20-year-old waivers and subsequently released by the Western Hockey League team.
But as Tribe general manager Alan Millar explained after the team’s annual general meeting later in the day, it was just a simple matter of other, younger players having a better fit for the team heading into a season with an eye to the future.
“With us adding (overager Jadon) Joseph and the number of young players we have up front, we’re going to play those young guys and develop them,” Millar said. “So he just didn’t fit with us in terms of another 20-year-old forward. We’d like to keep that spot open for the time being, but he’s a quality, quality young man and he’s going to do well in life whether it’s in hockey or whatever he does.”
Ormsby will report to Vernon Vipers of the BCHL. As for Almeida…
“Justin Almeida right now is a pro hockey player, he’s signed an NHL contract and very rarely do those guys come back and play a 20-year-old year,” Millar said. “Obviously he did have a significant injury and I don’t know how that impacts Pittsburgh’s plans, but right now we wait and see and we’ll be very happy to see Justin start his pro hockey career, most likely in Wilkes-Barre of the American Hockey League.”
That takes us to now, on the eve of the Warriors’ season-opener with the Regina Pats. Millar expects the team to play with as many as 11 17-year-olds, the youngest team the Tribe have had in years. They’ll be expected to learn as much as possible from their returning veterans, including the likes of Joseph, Anaheim Ducks draft pick Brayden Tracey and 2020 NHL Draft prospect Daemon Hunt.
“We want our young guys to get experience and play, but when you have the number of young guys like you have here, you have to surround them with quality people and quality players,” Millar explained. “Players don’t develop just by getting thrown on the ice, there has to be opportunity and success, they have to be put in the right situations and our veteran group has to be complimenting that in terms of helping young guys fit in.
“So (Tate) Popple, the Taphorns (Kaedan and Keenan), (Carson) Denomie, (Daniil) Stepanov as an 18-year-old, Tracey as an 18-year-old, these guys will play a role just like the coaches will in terms of these young guys getting better.”
During the AGM, Millar laid out the long-term scope of the team, leading up a season two years from now where the Warriors expect to once again seriously contend for a title. Part of that will include seeing the entire current crew of youngsters improve and develop going forward.
“You look at those 11 17-year-olds, 10 of them have come through our development plan, either drafted or listed at 15 or 16 years old, Ryder Korczak is the one exception that we acquired in the trade with Calgary,” Millar said.
“We believe there’s value in young players growing up together and a lot of times they have success together. We’re excited looking at this group in terms of how they develop and see what they look like when they’re 19 years of age.”
