Sotheran builds on breakout year

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This article was published 28/06/2023 (803 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Carter Sotheran is packing three major milestones into four days this week.

On Monday, while also celebrating his 18th birthday, he graduated from Sanford Collegiate. On Thursday, the 6-3, 197-pound right-shot defenceman is expected to be a mid- to late-round selection at the NHL Draft in Nashville.

How’s that for excitement?

A year ago, Sotheran was a blip on the NHL scouting radar after playing the 2021-22 season with the Pembina Valley U18 AAA Hawks. But those attitudes have changed in a big way after a breakout rookie season with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks.

He’s the 71st-ranked North American skater for this week’s draft.

“I’ve kind of been hearing rounds three to five,” said Sotheran on Tuesday. “I’m hoping for Round 3 or earlier but I mean just getting drafted in general is just going to be an amazing feeling.”

His WHL numbers were encouraging. Sotheran was the only Portland player to suit up for all 68 regular-season games, going on to register four goals and 23 points while playing with high-profile defence partner Luca Cagnoni.

“I think just like even going into training camp, I think the main focus was just making the team to start and then kind of working from there,” said Sotheran, who is staying home to watch the draft rather than attend in person. “I definitely didn’t think they’d be talking about the third or fourth round but I definitely knew I could make an impact and maybe even just get drafted in the later rounds.”

Sotheran made great strides on the ice despite a worrying medical condition first identified in Portland’s training camp.

He was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, a condition that causes the heart to beat abnormally fast for periods of time. It is caused by an extra electrical connection in the heart.

Sotheran would sometimes experience dizziness and a resting heart rate of 225 beats per minute after a workout or game. The condition, which prevented him from participating in the fitness testing at the NHL Combine, is currently controlled by medication. He is scheduled to undergo a procedure to correct the problem next month at the Mayo Clinic.

“There’s a lot of stress and anxiety about whether it’ll happen or won’t happen (but) and I think it’s just another bump on the long road,” said Sotheran. “I think once I get it figured out it will help my game, where I can be more consistent and more physical and have more energy.”

Portland general manager and head coach Mike Johnston said NHL scouts are still trying to get a fix on the young blue-liner’s pro potential.

“They’re trying to determine whether he’s going to be skilled guy, because he’s got really good hands and he skates well, or is he going to have more edge? Because he showed that this year when he started to play with some edge to this game,” said Johnston. “So, they’re really trying to figure him out. I think he’s gonna be a good blend defenceman, because he does have some offence and he carries the puck well and he’s got really good hands for a big guy.”

As his rookie season progressed, Sotheran saw some duty on both the power-play and penalty-killing units. He hopes his special-teams responsibilities will increase in 2023-24.

“I think it kind of depends on how these next few years go,” said Sotheran. “Obviously, I want to play a more offensive role next year, whether it’ll be second-line power play I don’t know. But I think when it comes to the future, I think I will be more of a defensive sort of guy with a little offensive touch, like a Josh Manson.”

Johnston said Sotheran’s performances against the league-champion Seattle Thunderbirds hinted at a bigger physical upside.

“We played them 12 times this year and they’ve got a bigger, heavier team and I thought when we got into some real battles with them, Carter was the guy who stepped up and went after some of their guys and he dug in a little bit harder and in one-on-one play,” said Johnston. “So, I’ve seen it and I think it’ll start to come out as he gets more confident.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14