Carolina Hurricanes Prospects: Josh Wesley is a Very Different Player than His Father
By Brett Finger
Between now and the start of the preseason, Cardiac Cane will preview every Carolina Hurricanes prospect as they enter the 2015-2016 season and what we expect from them in the coming year.
Player: Josh Welsey
Position: Defense
Date of Birth: April 9, 1996 (19)
Birthplace: Hartford, Connecticut (U.S.A.)
Height/Weight: 6’3″/200 lbs.
2015-2016 Team: Carolina Hurricanes (NHL) or Flint Firebirds (OHL)
Scouting Report:
"Wesley, the son of long-time NHL defenseman Glen Wesley, was a forward for most of his youth hockey career before converting to defense three years ago. He has some size and skill but is still in the early stages of development in terms of his technical skills, skating and tactical play. A hard-working defensive defender, he often faced the opposition’s top forwards in his first year of junior hockey in 2013-14 and that will likely continue. He is also willing to come to the defense of his teammates and scrap if necessary. (HOCKEY’S FUTURE)"
It’s not very often that the best defenseman in team history has a son who develops into a decent NHL prospect, then the same team drafts that player, but that is what happened with Glen Wesley, the Carolina Hurricanes, and young blue liner Josh Wesley.
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Carolina drafted Josh Wesley in the 4th round of the 2014 NHL Draft, and while they knew that he likely would not have the overall impact that his father did, they didn’t just draft him for name sake.
There is an interesting back story for Wesley. He was born in Hartford when the then-Hartford Whalers were playing out their final couple seasons in the North East. When the team moved to North Carolina in 1997, the Wesley family went with them and set up shop there. Since then, they have called the area home.
John Wesley wasn’t always the tough defensive defenseman that he is today, as he discussed in a 2014 interview.
"“My dad never really wanted me to play defence,” said the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Wesley. “I had a little bit more of an offensive mind growing up and he wanted me to stay up front. But we were coming up to a big tournament in my U14 year [the U.S. equivalent to minor bantam] and my coach, Colin Muldoon pulled me aside and said, ‘we really need you to play defence for this tournament.’ I agreed with him — I wasn’t happy at first — but we went to the tournament and I started to like the position more and more and just stuck to it.”"
There’s a lot of differences between Josh Wesley and Glen Wesley, but there’s also a few similarities between the two.
"“We kind of skate the same,” Wesley says when the bloodline question comes up. “There’s bits and pieces where we’re the same.”"
Hockey was something that Josh chose to do. It was by no means forced on him by his father, the Hurricanes legend.
"“You can’t ever complain about that [being the son of a long-time NHLer],” Josh Wesley says. “I love my dad to death and he’s always there. He would never force things on me, which now that I look at it, I appreciate it so much. You see these parents these days and they’re yelling at their kids on the ice and they really don’t know what. I think they’re forcing them to play hockey. My dad didn’t force me to play hockey. He took me aside when I was eight years old and said, ‘do you really want to play this sport?’ and I said, ‘absolutely.’ He never came up to me said, ‘do this-this-this.’ “"
Welsey was drafted in the 5th round of the 2012 OHL priority draft by the Plymouth Whalers, and he made his debut in the league in 2013.
He had 2 goals and 9 points in his rookie season with Plymouth and had an assist in the playoffs. As a rookie, he was near the top of the team in ice time and was relied on heavily by the coaching staff. He was paired up against the other team’s top players on most occasions.
Playing against top-level prospects helped develop Wesley’s still very raw talent on the blue line and turned him into a mid-round quality defenseman in the 2014 draft.
His sophomore season was a lot of the same for the young d-man. He continued to be relied on a lot both on the penalty kill and at even strength with Plymouth and fellow Hurricanes prospect Alex Nedeljkovic. He saw his production increase by one point despite his team playing incredibly poorly and finishing near the bottom of the OHL.
Many adjectives can be used to describe Josh Wesley’s game. “Nasty”, “Tough”, “Gritty”, In-your-face”, and “stay-at-home” are all descriptors that have been used in the past by people who analyze his game.
Wesley has a lot of good traits for a young blue-liner, but he is still incredibly raw and doesn’t have a whole lot of experience as a defenseman. He still is a ways away from reaching his full potential, although some have no clue as to what his ceiling could be.
He’s just a tough nut to crack at this point in his career and development. After another year in the OHL with the Flint Firebirds (formerly the Plymouth Whalers), the Canes will likely be able to better gage just how he will pan out.
Related – 2015-2016 Season Preview for Prospect Brock McGinn
The club will hope that Josh Welsey is a diamond in the rough, a homegrown product that can be a testament to how far youth hockey has come in North Carolina. If Wesley can continue to develop his raw talent and keep that tenacity that he has always had, he could prove to be better than his 4th round pick status a year ago.
Wesley attended Carolina Hurricanes prospect development camp in July, and he is set to to return to OHL this season with a team in Flint that is hopefully much better than last season.
Over the next few seasons, Josh Wesley will start to pave his own, unique hockey path. It won’t be the same path that his father took.