Undrafted to committed: How Landon Kosior became a part of the P.A. Raiders’ future

“They’ve got a good history,” Kosior said. “Lots of good NHL players come through here and they’ve really been on a great path the last few years developing players. It’s just an exciting time in Prince Albert.”

By signing with a WHL team, Kosior forfeited his eligibility to play for an American university involved in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as hockey players must keep their amateur status prior to entering college. Canadian Hockey League (CHL) teams fall under the NCAA’s definition of professional sports teams.

Kosior said balancing post-secondary education options made his decision difficult. But because the WHL offers players a full year guaranteed scholarship including tuition and textbook to a post-secondary institution of their choice for every season they play in the league, he was content with his commitment to the Raiders.

Having multiple junior hockey options wasn’t guaranteed for Kosior. He finished Top 10 in scoring among Saskatchewan Bantam AA defencemen with 26 points (eight goals and 18 assists) in 30 regular season games during his final year with the Prairie Storm in 2017. He didn’t get selected in that year’s WHL Bantam Draft.

“I was definitely feeling very sour that day,” Kosior said. “I was pretty mad but I just turned it into motivation, kept working every single day, and I got myself to compete for a spot.”

While Kosior’s final season of Bantam AA hockey wasn’t enough to influence a WHL team to draft him, he did impress Darrell Mann, the head coach and general manager of the Tisdale Trojans at the time.

Mann believed Kosior’s smaller body size at the time of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft was a factor in him not getting selected, but he and his coaching staff knew the potential in Kosior after watching his final year in Bantam AA.

“He played the style that we liked to coach, and he seemed like a perfect fit for our hockey club going forward,” Mann said. “We were very fortunate. He’s such a hardworking student of the game and he just got better and better his first year as a 15-year-old, until he really blossomed here as a 16-year-old as the top defenceman in our league.”

Kosior said Mann and the Trojans coaching staff didn’t promise him a coveted spot in the line-up, as he would have to earn his stay. He took the opportunity with the Trojans during the 2017-18 Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL) season and was named the team’s best defenceman after scoring 20 points (four goals and 16 assists) in 41 games.

It was enough for Raiders General Manager Curtis Hunt to add Kosior to their protected list just one month into the 2018-19 season.

“There are a couple of things about [Kosior],” Hunt said. “As a player, he has tremendous hockey sense combined with a great feed, and just a real natural in terms of how he plays and skates. He’s a really good young prospect that we knew had options. In the end, this was a path he felt comfortable with, and for us he fills a great hole and we’re really excited about where he’s going to be as a player in the next two or three years.”

The following season in 2018-19, as Mann mentioned, was when Kosior took off.

Kosior lead all SMAAAHL defencemen in scoring with 52 points (nine goals and 43 assists) in 44 games, was named the inaugural Adam Herold Memorial Award winner as the league’s best defensive defenceman, and a SMAAAHL First Team All Star. In the post-season, he had eight assists in seven SMAAAHL playoff games. He led all defencemen in scoring with six assists in four games at the Telus Cup Western Regionals in Tisdale. He was also named top defenceman at the Telus Cup national midget ice hockey championship despite only scoring two assists in seven games.

To Mann, the Telus Cup showed how well rounded Kosior is as a defenceman.

“He was playing against every team’s top line and players throughout the tournament,” Mann said. “We needed him to focus more on the defensive side of the puck and he was a plus player in almost every game and shut down the top players on every team. He didn’t get the numbers he probably would have wanted, but it showed but him winning top defenceman and in that bronze medal win against Calgary.”

Mann projected Kosior to eventually become a first pair defenseman for his Trojans, but never to the extent of his 2018-19 season. He thinks Kosior adjusting to the strength of the WHL – competing against 20-year-old men – will be his greatest learning curve, although he praised Kosior’s work ethic and high Hockey IQ will be the two main factors for his success.

“He’s a guy that understands what’s going on out there every shift,” he said. “He’s two steps ahead of the guy trying to do something against him in a one-on-one battle. I don’t know where P.A. will have him slotted in, but I know he’ll be moving up their projection ladder as the season and years go on.

“I’ve been fortunate enough in Tisdale that I’ve coached seven defencemen that went on to play in the NHL. For our hockey club, he was as valuable as any of those seven guys. The sky is the limit for Landon.”

Kosior credited his offseason training and the confidence he gained from the trust shown to him by his Trojans coaches. He was more critical in his own Hockey IQ evaluation than Mann was, but sees his offensive instincts and defensive abilities flourishing in the WHL.

“I have to make everything a lot quicker,” he said. “Players are faster, they’ll hit me more, so I’ve just got to get tougher and make faster decisions.”

Kosior will be alongside 17-year-old Kaiden Guhle, a top prospect eligible for the 2020 NHL Draft and 16-year-old Nolan Allan the SMAAAHL’s top defenceman in 2018-19.

Because the Raiders have four 20-year-old defencemen returning from their 2019 WHL championship team – Zack Hayes, Max Martin, Jeremy Masella, and Brayden Pachal – the margin of error is slim when it comes to earning a spot on the blue line. But Hunt said Kosior will be in the mix every night during their WHL pre-season schedule.

“In terms of how the coaches use him, that will be up to Landon, but he’s had a terrific start,” Hunt said. “If he continues to develop and understands how we play as a team, I’m sure he’ll be in the mix every night.”

Hunt said Kosior, who had one assist in the Raiders’ first pre-season win 4-2 against the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sept. 4, was in the upper echelon among players who suited up.

The Raiders open their season at home against the Saskatoon Blades on Friday, Sept. 20 at the Art Hauser Centre.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @SchulzePANow

by Aaron Schulze

Undrafted to committed: How Landon Kosior became a part of the P.A. Raiders’ future

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