Bryce Pickford Named WHL Player Of The Month

Pickford is currently on a 12-game point streak where he has 16 goals and 28 points in that span, following a goal and an assist on Friday night in the Tigers’ 6-3 victory over the Moose Jaw Warriors. The way the Habs prospect is playing, he truly seems unstoppable on his current point streak. Sure, there are a good number of players that haven’t been playing in the WHL due to the World Juniors tournament going on currently, but his play would be incredible for any offensive player, even more so a defenseman.

On top of that, none of the other top point getters in the WHL are at the World Juniors; therefore, the competition that Pickford has been playing the last few weeks really hasn’t dwindled that much. Despite his red-hot play, Pickford is still 4th in the WHL among all skaters with 52 points in 35 games, just 8 points behind the WHL points leader, Kamloops Blazers forward J.P. Hurlbert.

Pickford has, however, extended his goal-scoring lead over the past couple of weeks, as his 28 goals are 2 goals ahead of Brandon Wheat Kings forward Joby Baumuller’s 26 goals, who sits 2nd in the WHL.

Shockingly, thanks to the success of the Tigers over the past few weeks, despite Pickford continuing to produce offensively, his teammate forward Liam Ruck is now just one point behind him with 51 points. Meanwhile, Liam’s twin brother, Markus Ruck, is currently leading the WHL in assists with 41 as a pure playmaker. The Ruck twins have surely improved their draft stock by setting up Pickford for many of his goals over the last few months.

The Tigers have also just gotten one of their top offensive talents from the last few seasons, forward Andrew Basha, back after he spent the start of the year with the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL. With the arrival of Basha, the Tigers have only added another weapon that can allow Pickford to continue on his offensive takeover of the WHL as a defenseman. Unlike the Ruck twins, Basha will be the type of talent that will allow Pickford to up his assist numbers in the 2nd half of the season.

Nonetheless, Pickford is in good shape to become the second-ever defenseman to score 50 goals in WHL history. This fact alone is likely part of the reason that Pickford received his entry-level contract from the Canadiens earlier in the middle of December. Even though this is his age-20 season in the WHL, Pickford is on pace to make history this year, and he’s turning heads in the Habs organization and fanbase in the process.

The Habs prospect will be looking to extend his point streak to 13 games in tonight’s matchup against the Moose Jaw Warriors for the 2nd night in a row at 7:00 pm ET.

Do you think Pickford can get up to 50 goals in the WHL this season?