Bruins Prospect Reid Dyck Has Taken the Next Step

When the Boston Bruins selected Swift Current Broncos goaltender Reid Dyck in the 6^th round, 183^rd overall at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, there was plenty of intrigue from this scribe. Many fans who aren’t invested in the Draft quickly turn to Elite Prospects or Hockey DB once a name is called. In respect to Dyck, those fans saw statistics that were not very flattering.

But context is everything.

Dyck was coming off a 2021-2022 season in which he was the backup for the Broncos, which finished in 10^th place in the WHL Eastern Conference standings. They had the second worst defence and offence in the conference and that explains his 6-12-1 record.

That doesn’t explain his 4.26 goals against average or .884 save percentage completely. The fact is, that if you didn’t watch him play, you would never know he was making saves for the Broncos he shouldn’t have been making. As a goaltender your job is to stop pucks and give your team a chance every night. Unfortunately for Dyck, his team wasn’t built to win.

Don’t take my word for it, just look at the 2022 CHL/NHL Top Prospects game. NHL Central Scouting in conjunction with NHL General Managers saw enough of Dyck to feel he deserved a shot at the Canadian Hockey League’s showcase of the top players eligible for the draft. All Dyck did was steal the show in the 29:56 time in the crease stopping all 23 shots he faced, some in spectacular fashion.

The following season wasn’t much better for the Broncos as they finished 7 points better than the previous year and in 9^th place in the Eastern Conference. They had the third worst defence and the 4^th worst offence. Again, the 3.62 goals against average and .887 save percentage didn’t tell the whole story. With little run support and facing a barrage of shots on a nightly basis, wins did not come easily.

Fast forward to this season. A lower body injury prevented him from participating in both Bruins development camp and rookie camp. He also missed the first six games of the WHL season. But since his return, Dyck has been red hot and has been the Broncos most valuable player. Simply put, with him in the crease the Broncos have a chance to win every night. That’s what the eye test tells me.

But the stats back up that eye test.

With Dyck, the Broncos are 7-2-0 and without him are 2-5-1. With Dyck in the net, the Broncos allow 2.68 goals against per game while with his partner Joey Rocha they allow 4.07 goals against per game. And it’s not that the Broncos play differently depending on which goaltender is starting. They average 30.0 shots per game when Rocha starts and 29.6 when Dyck starts. On the flip side, they allow 31.5 shots against when Rocha starts versus 30.4 shots against when Dyck starts.

What I like about the WHL versus the OHL is that travel doesn’t allow Swift current to play 3 games in 3 days often as happens in the OHL frequently. And to date, they’ve only played in 4 back-to-backs meaning more rest, more starts and better development for Dyck. At his point, I would say he is a little ahead of target and he is trending in the right direction.

As a 2022 draft pick, the Bruins must sign Dyck to his entry level contract by June 1, 2024. If the Bruins sign him and he continues on his upwards trajectory, there will be some interesting decisions for the Bruins looming.

We know that Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark are under contract for this season and one more for Ullmark. And then there is Brandon Bussi waiting in the AHL who will need to clear waivers after this season. The decision lies ahead in the very near future. But let’s look ahead even further. If Swayman and Bussi are the future, what happens if Dyck continues on this path? And I haven’t even mentioned Philip Svedeback yet.

One thing looks for certain as of today: General Manager Don Sweeney and his scouting staff have the Bruins goaltending future looking very promising for years to come.

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