The Blades get a big boost to their lineup when they welcome Tanner Molendyk and Brandon Lisowsky back to Saskatoon this week.
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Big help is on the way.
The Saskatoon Blades will get a big boost to their lineup when they welcome a pair of key veterans and alternate captains, defenceman Tanner Molendyk and forward Brandon Lisowsky, back to Saskatoon this week.
Both players have been reassigned to the Blades after stints at National Hockey League training camps.
They are expected to be back in the lineup when the Blades (4-1-1-0) return to action Friday at home to the Spokane Chiefs. Game-time is 7 p.m. at SaskTel Centre.
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The NHL’s Nashville Predators reassigned Molendyk back to the junior ranks Sunday morning when he was part of the final round of cuts after dressing in several pre-season games for Nashville.
Molendyk, 19, was taken 24th overall in the first round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft by Nashville. The McBride, B.C., product set a career high in goals (10), assists (46) and points (56) in 50 games last season.
He added three goals and seven assists for 10 points in 16 playoff games as the Blades once again reached the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Conference final.
Molendyk was named to Team Canada for the IIHF world junior hockey championship last December alongside former Blades teammate Fraser Minten, but an upper-body injury kept him from playing in the tournament.
Lisowsky, 20, is back after he was invited to Toronto Maple Leafs training camp and spent time with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies last week.
Lisowsky — who won the Blades’ Unsung Hero Award last season — is coming off a career-high season in which he racked up 42 goals and 38 assists for 80 points in 68 games. He finished second on the Blades in goals, power-play goals (13), and game-winning goals (8) behind only Anaheim Ducks prospect Egor Sidorov. The Port Coquitlam, B.C. native netted three overtime goals during the regular season, the most by any Blade.
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During the club’s deep playoff run, Lisowsky recorded seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points in 16 games while also being effective defensively.
His 29 goals last season are the most of any returning player in the WHL this season.
BLADES RELEASE GOALIE ELLIOTT
In other news Monday, the Blades released 20-year-old netminder Austin Elliott to get the team down to WHL overage limit of three following the arrival of Lisowsky.
Captain Ben Saunderson, fellow defenceman Grayden Siepmann, and forward Lisowsky are the remaining 20-year-old players on the roster.
Elliott was drafted by the Blades in the 12th round (261st overall) of the 2019 WHL Prospects Draft. The 6-foot-1 goalie appeared in 85 career WHL games, going 58-14-5-1 with a .906 save-percentage and 2.37 goals-against average. He was named to the 2022-23 CHL all-rookie team and ranks No. 8 in Blades franchise history for wins and fourth for the most shutouts in franchise history with six.
The third-year Blades netminder went 3-0-0-0 to start the 2024-25 season.
Also with Lisowsky’s arrival, the Blades sent 2008-born forward Kohen Lodge to the Alberta Elite Hockey League’s Red Deer Chiefs U18 AAA squad.
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