The Spokane Chiefs are well represented at NHL Development Camps this Fall, with sixteen current and former players participating.
Current Chiefs at Camps
Five different Spokane Chiefs players are attending NHL Development camps this week.
The first is none other than the wizard Berkly Catton. Catton was drafted eighth overall this past summer by the Seattle Kraken and became the highest-selected Spokane Chief since Pat Falloon in 1991. Catton’s remarkable 116-point effort last season, which included fifty-four goals, was good enough for fourth in the WHL in points and to be named the U.S. Divison’s player of the year.
Catton signed with the Kraken following the Kraken development camp this past July; however, will be back with the Chiefs for one more season.
The second player is 2005-born Chiefs netminder Dawson Cowan, who will attend the San Jose Sharks camp.
Cowan appeared in forty-three games for the Spokane Chiefs last season, posting a .899 save percentage and a 3.59 GAA, and went 18-20-2 on the season in his first full year as a Chief. Cowan also played in the prestigious Kubota CHL Top Prospects game, an annual event that showcases the top NHL draft-eligible players from the Canadian Hockey League. According to NHL Central Scouting Services, Cowan finished the season as the fifth-ranked North American goaltender but went undrafted.
Sage Weinstein, who signed with the Colorado Avalanche last October as an undrafted free agent at eighteen years old, will attend the Avalanche development camp.
Weinstein had a breakout season, finishing the year with a +18 and a career-high twenty-five points, which allowed him to be named the Chiefs defenseman of the year. Weinstein will return to Spokane as the second-oldest defenseman on the roster this season.
Another defenseman on the Chiefs attending a development camp is Nathan Mayes.
Mayes was the last player selected in the NHL draft going 225th overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs. In his first full year in the WHL, Mayes had a -16 and sixteen total points.
The last current Spokane Chief will be at a development camp, and the third defenseman is William McIsaac, who will be at the St. Louis Blues camp.
McIsaac scored the goal that clinched a playoff birth for the Chiefs this past season to cap off a career year in the WHL. He finished the season with a +15 and a career-high twenty-seven points, which made him the third highest-scoring Chiefs defenseman last season as a seventeen-year-old. McIsaac was a fifth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues this past summer.
Notable Former Chiefs at NHL Development Camps
Eleven former Spokane Chief players will attend different NHL Development Camps this fall; here are a few notable ones.
One of Spokane’s own, Forward Tyler Johnson, will attend Boston Bruins camp after playing for the Chicago Blackhawks the past three seasons.
Johnson, a former Ed Chyrnowth and Memorial Cup Champion in the 2007/08 season, and the WHL Playoff MVP that year, has made a significant impact in his career. His sportsmanship was also recognized when he won the WHL Brad Hornung trophy, which was awarded to the WHL’s most sportsmanlike player.
Johnson has enjoyed a luxurious eleven-year NHL career so far, including two Stanley Cup Champions in 2019/20 and 2020/21 with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Johnson was also selected as an All-Star in the 2014/15 season, when he had the most points in the NHL playoffs.
Forward Adam Beckman, who spent three seasons with the Chiefs, is slated to be at the New Jersey Devils camp after spending three seasons as a Minnesota Wild prospect playing for their AHL Affiliate, the Iowa Wild.
Beckman spent three seasons with the Chiefs and was the Bobby Clark trophy winner in 2019/20. This trophy goes to the WHL player with the most points. Beckman was awarded the WHL Player of the Year award after a 107-point season that included forty goals, the most in the WHL that season.
As stated, Beckman has spent the first three years of his professional hockey career, most of them playing in the Wild system. However, the former third-round pick has appeared in twenty-three NHL games and has three NHL points to his name.
One more familiar former Chief who will be at a camp is defenseman Ty Smith, the Carolina Hurricanes 2018 first-round draft pick and former Chiefs captain.
Ty Smith spent his entire four-year WHL career with the Spokane Chiefs. At that time, Smith won multiple accolades from the Chiefs. Most notably, Smith was the CHL Defenseman of the Year in 2018/19. Also, winning WHL Defenseman of the Year in back-to-back seasons in 2018/19 and 2019/20. Smith also won a World Junior Championship Gold Medal with Canada in 2019/20.
Smith never played a game for the Carolina Hurricanes, however, Smith played two full seasons in the NHL for the New Jersey Devils, along with a handful of games for the Pittsburgh Penguins before being sent to their AHL Affiliate. In 123 NHL Games, Smith has accumulated 47 points.
Northwest Sports Desk 