A 'giraffe' at times, Pickering brings plenty of upside to NHL draft

Owen Pickering started the season as a C-level prospect on NHL Central Scouting's list of players to watch, which means he was considered a candidate to be selected in the fourth round or later. He heads to Montreal this week as a projected first-round pick. 

"Looking back even a year ago, if anybody would've told me I'd be in this position and getting this type of attention I probably would’ve told you [that] you were crazy," the Swift Current Broncos defenceman admits. "To be getting this type of recognition, it's pretty surreal."

Pickering came in No. 23 on TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie's final ranking of prospects. TSN director of scouting Craig Button has the native of St. Adolphe, Man. going to the Vancouver Canucks at No. 15 in his final mock draft.  

Pickering has grown in size and stature over the years.

"Three years ago, I was 5-foot-7 and hadn't really developed at all," he said. "I had a growth spurt and my body caught up to itself a little bit. My skating stride lengthened out. I know a lot of guys say when they grow their skating maybe gets a little more awkward, but I feel like mine improved."

Pickering, who now stands 6-foot-4, is still working to maximize his size. In a conversation with TSN, the 18-year-old opened up about that process and explained why Dallas Stars' defenceman Miro Heiskanen is his favourite player to watch. Pickering also shared how he managed to finish first in the VO2 max bike test at the NHL Scouting Combine. 

The following is an edited transcript of the interview. 

TSN: Where are you at when it comes to using your size? 

Pickering: "There's different aspects within a game of how you use your size. One of my best attributes is how I use my stick when I'm defending. But I'm not really good at open-ice hitting. I kind of feel like a giraffe a little bit. I'm 6'4, 180, so still a lot of room to fill out. I try to play physical. I want to kill plays, pin guys and stuff like that, and that's the part of my game that can grow the most over the next little while once I put more weight on. People ask me what my biggest weakness is, and I'd say physical strength and explosiveness. So, obviously using my size that way is a work in progress, but I definitely don't lack the competitiveness."

TSN: Who are your NHL role models? 

Pickering: "I watch Miro Heiskanen a lot. He's my favourite player. Travis Sanheim is another big one. We were picked in the exact same spot in the WHL draft. 'First overall in the ninth round,' is what I like to tell people, '177th overall.' So, I've looked up to him for a while."

TSN: Sanheim also emerged as a first-round pick in the NHL draft. What do you take from him?

Pickering: "He's a good skater. He's big with good offensive upside, but he's also good on defence. He's got a really good stick and is very good in transition as well."

TSN: What about Heiskanen?

Pickering: "He just looks like he's never trying. He makes the game look easy. He's very good at killing plays before they even start. He's very confident with his gap. On the offensive side of things, it's just the confidence he plays with. You watch the moves he makes at the blueline, and the shimmies are just so good, so I try to emulate that. He's one of the best defencemen if not the best defenceman in the world, so I watch him a lot." 

TSN: What do you remember most about your Western Hockey League draft day? 

Pickering: "I didn't know if I would get drafted and I was sitting in French class with a couple of friends. We had to hide the phone under a backpack because you couldn't have a phone in class. We were watching it and then I got picked and we stood up and we were like, 'I got picked!' My teacher was like, 'Give me the phone!' I was [explaining], 'I got picked in the WHL draft!' And my teacher was like, 'Good for you. Give me the phone.' It was a huge honour. Swift believed in me and gave me an opportunity. I owe a lot of my success to that organization and the people there. So, it definitely meant a lot." 

TSN: Do you think you'll hear from that French teacher after you get picked in the NHL draft? 

Pickering: "She's a great person, but she definitely was hard on the no-phone rule. I don't think it registered. But hopefully I do." 

TSN: How did you manage to elevate your game amid some adversity, including a coaching change, in Swift Current this season? 

Pickering: "We grew together. Even our coach, [Devan Praught], because it was his first head coaching job in the WHL. So, I think we all, as an organization, grew together. We have a got a lot of good, young talent and a good, young core. Honestly, it's been special being able to build a bond with those guys ... In terms of my game, I just had to stick to my process. You come to the rink every day and do the same things. I was playing about 30 minutes a night and got a lot of opportunity in all situations and that definitely helped me." 

TSN: You were named one of Team Canada's top three players at the under-18 World Championship. What did you take from that experience? 

Pickering: "It's tough to not look at that tournament through the lens of losing in the quarter-finals. It's not the expectation when you play for Team Canada. But it was a super cool experience, regardless. I had never been to Europe before, so going to Germany, it was kind of a different world over there. It's something I'll never forget. Growing up people tell you it's surreal to put on that Team Canada jersey and they're not lying. You see that jersey and it says, 'Pickering 27' on the back and you're just kind of like, 'Woah.'"

TSN: Growing up as a Winnipeg Jets fan, what was your favourite moment? 

Pickering: "When [Patrik] Laine scored the playoff goal against Minnesota [in 2018] in Winnipeg with the white out. I remember watching that. I was at a family gathering. I was 10 minutes from the city and probably 30 minutes from the downtown, but I swear I heard it just erupt. The whole city was behind the team, so that goal sticks out. He did the [I want noise gesture] to the fans. That was pretty cool."

TSN: The Jets have two picks in the first round. What would it mean to be selected by your hometown team? 

Pickering: "That'd be super special, obviously. It's the NHL, so I wouldn't complain going anywhere, but to be considered to go to Winnipeg would be super special for me and my family." 

TSN: What have the conversations with the Jets been like? 

Pickering: "Good. You don't really know what teams are interested and which are just doing their due diligence. It's really hard to tell who has more interest. But it's been good with them. Our combine interview went well and just looking forward to draft day." 

TSN: At the scouting combine, you finished first in the VO2 max bike test, which measures the maximum amount of oxygen your body can utilize during exercise. How'd you pull that off? 

Pickering: "I'll sound like a bit of a loser here and say I've always worked pretty hard and always been able to push myself to the max – even in cross-country races as a kid. I feel like that's always been there for me. You can talk to my trainer and he'll probably echo that statement. That test is basically go until you can't go any more and I didn't want to quit."

TSN: You went 15 minutes and 30 seconds, which is 29 seconds longer than anyone else. How did you feel afterwards? 

Pickering: "They give you a minute when you're sitting on the bike to gather yourself. I had a couple people around me just holding me up because I was swaying a little bit ... It's on the floor of a hockey rink, the concrete, so you have to step up onto the bench to leave and that step, probably six inches, was the hardest thing I've ever done. They took me to the dressing room, and I lay on the ground by the toilet for 20 minutes. I'd sit up to throw up and then lay back down. I went to my hotel room and threw up again. It took a day to recover from that. But it's an opportunity to showcase yourself and your work ethic and your oxygen levels, I guess. I'm glad I did well, but it wasn't fun." 

TSN: You came in one spot ahead of your cousin, Denton Mateychuk, of the Moose Jaw Warriors on McKenzie's final rankings. Any bragging rights on the line between you guys at the draft? 

Pickering: "I get that question a lot. People ask if there's a wager and the answer is no. We talked a little bit about it and the draft but, honestly, he's a great player and person and I just hope he goes to a team that's a good fit. Obviously, we're competitive, but if we both go to teams that are a good fit, we'll both be happy. I'm looking forward to sharing the experience with him."

TSN: What was it like partnering with him at the CHL Top Prospects Game? 

Pickering: "Really cool. He's fun to play with and easy to play with. I was paired with him for our entire peewee year. I played with him in spring hockey and then again in bantam. So, to go into a game like that and be paired with a familiar face was fun and we enjoyed it. We both had good games and that's all you can ask for."  

TSN: What do you appreciate about his game? 

Pickering: "His motor. He just goes, goes, goes, goes. Very good hockey sense and he's a really good passer, which is why he had all those assists."

TSN: I understand you play the violin. How did that start? 

Pickering: "I was six or seven and I was air violining while watching an orchestra on TV. My parents saw that, and they believe in music and how important it is and the next thing I knew I was in violin lessons." 

TSN: What do you like about it? 

Pickering: "It's just a release. I don't do any competitions or anything now, but I play probably once or twice a week. Sometimes I go a couple weeks without playing. It's a leisure thing. It's something totally different from hockey. You're just focused on the music and that's it."