Despite falling behind twice in the third period on Friday in Spokane, the Portland Winterhawks found the answers they needed to force overtime, where they would eventually prevail over the Chiefs thanks to James Stefan etching the overtime winner.
Following the game, I caught up with the newest member of the Portland Winterhawks and Seattle Kraken prospect, Tyson Jugnauth, after he assisted on both the game-tying and game-winning goals.
He walked through his play to find Stefan open for the game-winner. “I had a good stick on the puck,” Jugnauth said. “I saw Stefan open in the high slot, so I tried to get it to him as quick I could, and he made a great play.”
The sequence was an example of Jugnauth’s offensive ability, which didn’t get displayed at the University of Wisconsin as frequently as he wanted. That’s part of the reason he recently changed courses and joined the Portland Winterhawks.
Acquiring his CHL rights just last week from the Kamloops Blazers, the price to get Jugnauth was not cheap for the Winterhawks, as they gave four future WHL Bantam Draft choices to the Blazers. Jugnauth had been playing for the Badgers in the NCAA, but he recently made the decision to leave the Badgers mid-season to join the Winterhawks, becoming one of only a handful of players to move from the NCAA to the CHL in recent history (Charlie Coyle and Jamie Oleksiak are two players that made that switch).
As a sophomore, Jugnauth wanted more responsibility with the Badgers, but they weren’t meeting the needs he felt were best for his development. That left him feeling like he wasn’t a priority of theirs.
“Over time, I wanted to get a little bit more of a role and get more ice time with the team,” Jugnauth said. “But that just wasn’t happening.”
The lack of stable and sufficient opportunities led him to look elsewhere for playing time, and Portland was willing to give those opportunities to him.
“I didn’t know if those trends were going to change, so it was either stick it out there or come play in Portland,” Jugnauth said. “It all happened pretty quickly, but it’s been nice how it’s worked out so far.”
The 19-year-old defenseman from Kelowna, British Columbia, had just two assists in 13 games this season at Wisconsin, a total he has already more than doubled in his short time with the Winterhawks. He has five assists in five games played thus far.
Jugnauth was selected in the fourth round (No. 100) by the Kraken in the 2022 NHL Draft, to which he added that the close proximity Portland has to Seattle helped him to readjust and re-acclimate himself with hockey in the Pacific Northwest.
“[The Kraken] played a huge part in my decision to play here, with also being closer to my hometown of Kelowna. They’ve been helpful with the transition here as well.”
While he may not be playing for the Badgers anymore, he’s still enrolled in classes at Wisconsin. He says he will begin a full transition to Portland’s education program during the new year. “It’s still going to take some time to get settled in here, but so far it’s been really good.”
Congratulations Tyson, gramma Ursula would be extremely proud as I’m sure your parents are, work hard and make it to “the show”