MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- The 2023-24 season might have officially come to an end for the Moose Jaw Warriors with their championship celebration this past weekend, but things are still happening around the team.
And for one player, there’s still some hockey to play.
The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Wednesday that Warriors captain Denton Mateychuk had been assigned to the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League and will be reporting to the team immediately.
Cleveland is currently in the midst of the Calder Cup playoffs and trail the Hershey Bears three-games-to-none in their best-of-season Eastern Conference final.
Mateychuk is Columbus’ first-round pick, 12th overall, in the 2022 NHL Draft and could play in Game 4 on Thursday night in Cleveland.
The 19-year-old defenceman is coming off a stellar run with the Warriors, having put up 17 goals and 75 points in 52 regular season games before following up with another 11 goals and 30 points in 20 playoff games.
Mateychuk was then one of the top scorers at the Memorial Cup with three goals and seven points in four games and no penalties, leading to the Dominion City, Man. product winning the George Parsons Trophy as the tournament’s most sportsmanlike player.
Mateychuk has undoubtedly played his last game in a Warriors uniform, and as a 20-year-old next season will likely end up in the Columbus system.
The Hershey Bears also have a major connection to the Warriors, with former defenceman Dylan McIlrath serving as the team captain.
To the surprise of none, the pro ranks also came calling for Moose Jaw Minor Hockey product Atley Calvert earlier this week.
The highest-scoring Moose Jaw-born Warrior in history, Calvert has signed a two-year contract with Wilkes-Barre Scranton, the AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins and will join the team this fall.
It was the best season of Calvert’s WHL career in 2023-24, as the Prairie Hockey Academy grad had 45 goals and 95 points while playing all 68 games this past season. Calvert also had eight goals and 20 points in the Warriors’ playoff run and capped his WHL career with 105 goals and 220 points over 237 games and five seasons with the Warriors.
Calvert was in camp with Pittsburgh last fall, taking the ice alongside Penguins first-rounder and Warrior teammate Brayden Yager.
The Warriors open the 2024-25 on Friday, Sept. 20 in Brandon and one night later on Saturday, Sept. 21 will raise the first WHL championship banner in team history when the Prince Albert Raiders are in town.
