Prospect Update: Bryce Pickford

Pickford and the Tigers started their 3rd round series on Friday at 9:00 pm ET against the Prince Albert Raiders, which is taking place at the time of this writing. The Tigers dominated the first two rounds by beating the Regina Pats 4-1 and then went on to sweep the Calgary Hitmen. While Pickford hasn’t scored at the same pace that he was in the regular season, his 5 goals and 10 points in 9 playoff games are still very good for a guy leading the offence from the back end.

Over his last few games, Pickford has been showing more of his passing abilities, as he has an assist in each of the last 3 games. Nonetheless, that won’t change the fact that he will always be primarily a shooter. It shouldn’t be long until he gets back into the goal column with that amazing shot of his. It will be interesting to see if he can surpass his playoff total of 13 goals in 18 games from last year. Although after having only 5 goals in 9 games, it seems like the odds are against him, but if anyone can turn those odds in his favour in the WHL, it’s Pickford, who tied teammate Liam Ruck for the most goals in the WHL despite playing 13 games less.

Another factor for Pickford needing to hit 13 goals in 18 games once again is if the Tigers can even win their series against the Raiders. However dominant they have been under Pickford’s leadership, the Tigers seem like they will at the very least reach the finals. With that being said, we likely shouldn’t see him join the Laval Rocket any time soon. Nonetheless, he will be there starting next season and should be an intriguing player to watch from the get go.

Pickford has shown he has the shot and offensive awareness to possibly be an NHLer in the very near future; the only issue is that right now his defensive game still leaves a lot more to be desired.

Considering he is a defenseman that is a concerning. Although during a Trust the Process  Sick Podcast episode this week, Simon “the Snake” Boisvert did joke that maybe he has a future as a forward in the NHL since it would make his path to the league easier with all the offensive qualities he brings.

Honestly, turning him into a forward at the pro level may be the answer, although he has the ability to develop into a solid bottom-pairing defenseman who can be used as a power play specialist with that incredible shot. However, it would take 2 solid years with the Laval Rocket in order for him to do that.

Do you see Pickford and the Medicine Hat Tigers moving on to the WHL Finals?