Winterhawks reloading for another run at a title: WHL U.S. Divison preview

The general pecking order south of the border in the WHL shouldn't change much from the last past two seasons, with Portland, Spokane and Tri-City expected to yet again be the class of the U.S. Division.

Everett and Seattle are still building, but with the top three perhaps not quite as collectively strong as in the recent past, the Tips and T-Birds should at least make things uncomfortable for their division rivals.

Despite a lot of new faces, Portland is the favourite to take down the division and chase a third-straight Western Conference banner, but a deep Spokane club and a strong, defensive Tri-City team will press them at the top.

Portland Winterhawks

In 2011-12 — 49-19-3-1, 102 points, second in Western Conference. Won Western Conference championship, lost 4-3 to Edmonton in WHL final.

Drafted — D Derrick Pouliot (Pittsburgh Penguins, first round), F Ty Rattie (St. Louis Blues, second), D Tyler Wotherspoon (Calgary Flames, second), F Brendan Leipsic (Nashville Predators, fourth), F Taylor Leier (Philadelphia Flyers, fourth).

Draft Watch — WHL newcomer D Seth Jones looks to prove that he deserves the No. 2 spot in BTN's 2013 draft ranking.

Portland has fallen in the WHL final two years in a row, and losing the likes of Sven Baertschi, Joseph Morrow, Brad Ross and Marcel Noebels to the AHL in addition to three contributing overagers might signal that a rebuilding effort is at hand.

But the Winterhawks seem to simply reload these days, as the league's most hyped rookie (Jones) joins its top returning scorer (Rattie) on a team that has conference title aspirations yet again.

Rattie's 57 goals and 121 points last season were the most by a Winterhawk since 1993-94, and he's a good bet to lead the WHL offensively this year even though he's likely to be on a line with 17-year-olds Nicolas Petan and Oliver Bjorkstrand.

Portland has five NHL draftees on the roster (and possibly six if goalie Mac Carruth returns from the AHL), along with six others who are on Central Scouting's initial draft watch list for 2013. But eight of 15 forwards are rookies, and several of those who aren't are being asked to play a key role for the first time.

The Hawks are more experienced on the blue line, with the offensive-minded Pouliot and Troy Rutkowski leading the way along with the newcomer, Jones, who could be one of the league's dominant defencemen if he performs as advertised.

Brendan Burke takes over as the starting goaltender for now. He struggled a bit as a 16-year-old rookie, but coach/GM Mike Johnston has confidence that Burke can be the answer in net if Carruth isn't back.

The Winterhawks may start slower than expected as the new faces gel with the old, and there's more potential for things to go wrong in Portland this season than in the past two. But, Johnston seems to make all the right in-season moves to position his team for a deep postseason run. Expect this team to be playing its best hockey after the new year.

Spokane Chiefs

In 2011-12 — 38-25-5-4, 85 points, fifth in Western Conference. Lost in second round of playoffs, 4-3 to Tri-City.

Drafted — D Brenden Kichton (New York Islanders, fifth round)

Draft Watch — Rookie RW Riley Whittingham is the only Chief on Central Scouting's preliminary list for 2013.

The Chiefs were a mess at the Christmas break last season, but after trading leading scorer Anthony Bardaro to Prince Albert for goalie Eric Williams and forward Todd Fiddler, Spokane turned its season around.

A great second half led to the Chiefs pushing Tri-City to a seventh game in the second round of the playoffs before finally succumbing, and 10 forwards who played significant minutes last season return in 2012-13.

There's no stars up front, though 19-year-old Mitch Holmberg is the likely candidate to lead the team in scoring. With tremendous depth and little difference in talent among the forwards, it wouldn't be unheard of for the Chiefs to have six or seven 20-goal scorers and have none of them reach 30.

Returning 20-goal-scorer Marek Kalus could have a breakout season, and overagers Blake Gal and Dylan Walchuk should chip in. C Liam Stewart is also poised to take on a bigger role.

The return of overage defenceman Kichton provides a huge lift, especially on the power play, as he was the only WHL blueliner to lead his team in scoring last season (17-57-74 in 71 games).

The Chiefs won't dazzle with skill, but coach Don Nachbaur is a master at getting his team to play a direct, hardworking style that frustrates and wears down opponents. If they get any semblance of decent goaltending from Williams (and/or Mac Engel if they don't trade him), Spokane's depth will push them toward the top of the division and the Western Conference.

Tri-City Americans

In 2011-12 —50-18-2-2, 104 points, first in Western Conference. Lost to Portland 4-0 in Western Conference final.

Drafted — D Zachary Yuen (Winnipeg Jets, fourth round), F Patrick Holland (Montreal Canadiens, seventh)

Draft Watch —The Ams traded reigning Western Conference goaltender of the year Ty Rimmer to Lethbridge to allow Eric Comrie to take over the starting role. Comrie was solid in 31 appearances a 16-year-old and figures to be the top draft-eligible netminder in the WHL this season.

Tri-City had the third-best offence and second-best defence in the league last year in a 50-win season that resulted in the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs. The Ams should be fine in the latter category again this season, but it's unclear just where the goals are going to come from in Kennewick.

With Brendan Shinnimin and Adam Hughesman (who combined for 108 goals and 250 points last season) gone due to graduation, Tri-City has a crater to fill offensively. It helps that Holland may be back, but he's more of a distributor (84 assists last season) than a sniper (25 goals).

Holland, however, is headed to AHL camp in Hamilton at the end of the month and may not come back to Tri-City. That would leave overage captain Justin Feser (37-46-83 last season) as the one true returning offensive star. GM Bob Tory made one nice offseason acquisition to help bolster the offence, getting Philip Tot from Lethbridge.

The Ams will also look to guys like Connor Rankin and Jordan Messier to fill the void, and tough guy Jesse Mychan could emerge as a major contributor after putting up decent numbers last season with the Ams before severing his Achilles tendon and missing most of the playoffs.

Defensively, the Ams have the most experienced group in the division, returning six players, including Yuen, who filled significant roles last year. Mitch Topping started showing some offensive spark in the playoffs last season to go with his defensive skill. Sam Grist is a stay-at-home defender who limits opponents' chances. Overager Drydn Dow may be a 20-year-old casualty if Holland returns (Mychan and Messier are also 20).

Comrie's the best goaltender in the division on paper, and with the defensive group in front of him the Ams could allow fewer than 200 goals for a sixth time in seven seasons. If the offence gets going, Tri-City may be in the mix for another division title.

Everett Silvertips

In 2011-12 — 22-40-2-8, 54 points, eighth in Western Conference. Lost to Tri-City 4-0 in first round of playoffs.

Drafted — D Ryan Murray (Columbus Blue Jackets, first round), D Nick Walters (St. Louis Blues, fourth)

Draft Watch — After getting off to a slow start last year as a rookie, F Kohl Bauml posted 32 points and a +4 rating in his last 46 games and could open a lot of eyes this season despite his small (5-foot-8) stature.

No team is happier about an NHL lockout than the Silvertips, who get to enjoy bonus time with Ryan Murray until the labor strife is settled. Overager Landon Oslanski has joined the team in a trade with Lethbridge, and rookie import draft prospect Mirco Mueller should contribute along with Walters to give the Tips a decent top-four on the blue line.

Last year's leading scorer, Josh Birkholz, is gone, but otherwise most of Everett's offense from last season returns. The bad news is that offense wasn't very good (185 goals, third-worst in the league), so the group of veteran forwards that includes Ryan Harrison, Joshua Winquist and Cody Fowlie will need to step things up to keep the Tips competitive.

Goaltender Kent Simpson is gone, so the Silvertips acquired 19-year-old veteran Cole Holowenko from Prince Albert to share time with 17-year-old Austin Lotz. With what figures to be a downgrade in goal from Simpson, the Silvertips need to score more goals this season.

Everett was the clear worst team in the WHL at the Christmas break last season, but improved drastically in the second half to edge Seattle for the last playoff spot in the West despite winning a conference-low 22 games. With many of the key players from that run back, Everett is probably a favourite to finish ahead of the Thunderbirds again, though the Silvertips are still in rebuilding mode under new GM Garry Davidson.

Seattle Thunderbirds

In 2011-12 — 25-45-1-1, 52 points, ninth in Western Conference. Missed playoffs.

Drafted — F Branden Troock (Dallas Stars, fifth round)

Draft Watch — D Shea Theodore had 35 points in 69 games as a 16-year-old, and could elevate himself to first-round status by leading a still-young defensive corps.

What's the significance of February 24, 2010 to the Thunderbirds? That's the last day a goaltender other than Calvin Pickard earned a victory in net for Seattle (it was Michael Salmon, if you're wondering).

Pickard was perhaps the best goaltender in the WHL the last three seasons, talent-wise, but the T-Birds failed to even make the playoffs in any of those seasons despite Pickard often standing on his head to keep his team competitive (nobody has more saves in WHL history than Pickard).

So with Pickard off to the pros for good, how in the world can we be talking about the T-Birds taking a step forward?

Well, for a change, it seems that Seattle is actually making progress outside of the crease. Unfortunately, the Thunderbirds are still facing an uphill battle toward respectability, though a playoff appearance isn't out of the question this season.

Overage captain Luke Lockhart may lead the way offensively, but the T-Birds could get breakout seasons from Troock as well as RW Connor Honey, who joined the team in January from the USHL, and RW Seth Swenson, who showed some scoring touch last season after arriving at the trade deadline in a deal with Portland for Marcel Noebels.

Veteran Jesse Forsberg arrives via trade from Prince George to provide some experience to a youthful defensive corps, which features four 17-year-olds (including Theodore) and a 16-year-old.

That youth on the blue line could make for some long nights for Brandon Glover, a 20-year-old who comes in from the Calgary Hitmen to take over for Pickard.

So while this may be another lower-tier finish for the Thunderbirds, there is hope in Kent for coach Steve Konowalchuk's club, which will have some good talent coming through the pipeline the next couple of years.

Scott Sepich is a WHL contributor for Buzzing the Net. Follow him on Twitter @SSepichWHL.