Two Seattle Kraken prospects, Jagger Firkus and Tyson Jugnauth, are set to face one another in the WHL Championship Series. The winner of the seven-game series will go on to the Memorial Cup, a four-team tournament held annually to determine the champion of the entire CHL.
Seven current members of the Kraken organization have participated in the Memorial Cup tournament in years past, Philipp Grubauer, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Marian Studenic, Ryan Winterton, Logan Morrison, Cale Fleury, and Tucker Robertson. Grubauer won the tournament with the Windsor Spitfires in 2010. Now, one more member of the Kraken organization will join the small club of players to have competed in the Memorial Cup.
The Moose Jaw Warriors, after their Game 7 overtime win over the Saskatoon Blades, will head down to Portland to take on the Winterhawks in the 2023-24 WHL Championship Series. The Warriors carry Jagger Firkus, one of the Kraken’s top prospects who statistically just put up one of the best regular seasons in WHL history. Meanwhile, the Winterhawks have offensive defenseman Tyson Jugnauth, whose season has turned into an interesting journey.
Jagger Firkus (selected by Seattle No. 35 overall in 2022)
Firkus had just about the best season anyone could have asked for. Night after night throughout the season, it felt like he was continuing to outdo himself, and he increasingly impressed those in the Kraken’s camp who have been paying close attention to his development.
The 5-foot-11 forward from Irma, Alberta, led all CHL players in points during the regular season with 126, winning him the Bob Clarke Trophy, awarded to the WHL’s scoring leader. He moved into second for points all-time by a Warriors player, only trailing Theo Fleury for the franchise lead.
He and the Warriors have been on another level this season and playoffs, rocketing them into the franchise’s first finals appearance since 2005-06. Firkus is currently tied with his teammate Denton Mateychuk for the lead in overall points during the playoffs at 27.
The run Firkus has been on this playoffs has been filled with clutch plays in crucial moments that have led to wins for the Warriors. What could be argued as the biggest goal of his WHL career to this point was his late-game goal in Game 7 against Blades to help to force overtime, where the Warriors would wind up clinching the series and their matchup with the Winterhawks.
Expectations for this series: Firkus will continue to take advantage of Portland’s D-corps and find himself in prime scoring areas at 5-on-5 throughout the series. From there, it’s all about capitalizing on those opportunities, and he has done that well with nine even-strength goals during the playoffs.
Tyson Jugnauth (selected by Seattle No. 100 overall in 2022)
It took a while for Jugnauth to settle in as a member of the Portland Winterhawks, but once he did, it allowed him to play more freely and opened up his offensive abilities.
Not even he could have imagined how his season would turn out, or that he’d be playing hockey this time of year at all, given how early the NCAA season normally concludes. He started the year at the University of Wisconsin and expected to be a notable contributor for the Badgers in their search for a BIG 10 championship. But early on, that was not happening.
To sum up Jugnauth’s stint as a Badger, he just wasn’t getting the ice time that he wanted. And with more of an NHL pedigree to his name at this point of his career, he needed a better opportunity to prove himself.
That’s when Winterhawks general manager and head coach Mike Johnston stepped in, as Portland traded for his CHL rights from the Kamloops Blazers. Jugnauth made the rare move of leaving the NCAA for the CHL midseason, and it was evident he immediately meshed with the offensive-oriented D-corps the Winterhawks deployed.
Despite missing two whole months of the WHL season to that point, he quickly caught up by finishing the season as the Winterhawks’ second-leading scorer among defensemen, with seven goals and 34 assists.
He’s taken his offensive game to another level during this playoff run for Portland, having four goals and 11 assists in 14 games thus far, which has him currently tied for second among all WHL defensemen in points.
It’s not just on the front end that the move to the WHL has helped Jugnauth find success, he’s shown his maturity with crucial blocks, such as his shot block on the play before the game-winning goal that sent the Winterhawks to the finals for the first time since 2014-15.
Expectations for this series: If Jugnauth can continue to produce offensively and clog up the Warriors’ scoring chances, expect for him to be one of the more active contributors to the Winterhawks successes.
Finals preview
The Warriors and Winterhawks played just once in the regular season on Feb. 28. Firkus had a goal to help Moose Jaw take a 4-3 win over Portland in the middle of what would wind up being a perfect 6-0-0-0 road trip against U.S. Division teams.
Portland’s most recent loss to Prince George in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals was its first regulation loss on home ice since its meeting with Moose Jaw, having won 11 straight home games beforehand.
Each side is loaded with NHL-bound talent, and 10 prospects will be lacing up during this series, including first-round selections Nate Danielson, Matthew Savoie, the aforementioned Mateychuk, and Brayden Yager.
Portland’s key to the series: Control the possession/shot quality battles
With Portland winning the majority of shot battles during this playoffs run, they’ve been able to keep to puck as far away from goalie Jan Spunar as they can, and control their own shot quality. And even with them controlling possession most nights, Spunar’s been up to the task with a 2.32 goals-against average in 14 games for the Winterhawks this playoffs. Keeping the pressure steady and neutralizing the loaded attack of the Warriors will be crucial for the Winterhawks to come out on top.
Moose Jaw’s key to the series: Keeping all four lines rolling
So far this playoffs, when the Warriors get off to a quick start and get all four forward lines involved, they’ve been one of the toughest teams to beat. All but one forward for the Warriors have at least four points in these playoffs, including six players with 12 or more. If they can get a stable yet more pressured attack going against a Portland defense who can struggle at times to minimize those efforts, the Warriors have a good chance at winning.
Game 1 is set for Friday night at 7 p.m. from Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland.