Meet Jeff Woywitka

by Joy Kim


Birthdate: 1 September 1983
Birthplace: Vermilion, Alberta
Height: 6'2
Weight: 197 lbs
Sweater Number: 6
Shoots: Left
Position: Left Defense

(26 January 2002) Year in and year out, as the trading deadline approaches, hockey pundits begin listing what they perceive as each team's needs. This contender needs a good scoring winger; that contender needs an upgrade in goal. When these pundits come to the Flyers, they permit themselves a small sarcastic smile before they say (for the umpteenth time), "The Flyers need a sweet-skating, puck-carrying defenseman. Still."

To their credit, the Flyers have long been aware of their need for skill and speed on the blue line. Until recently they haven't been able to do much about it. It's all well and good to attempt to get Ray Bourque or Chris Chelios at the trade deadline, but sometimes the price is impossibly high. Since last summer, however, things are looking better for the Flyers' future in defenseman. They acquired one key piece in the Eric Lindros trade, snatching Kim Johnsson away from the Rangers for the price of a concussion-prone crybaby. They have some developing in the minors as well. Bruno St. Jacques has a limited offensive upside, but he's a mobile skater who's been the Phantoms' most consistent defenseman all season. It's also worth noting that St. Jacques, who was only prevented from making the Flyers out of training camp by numbers, didn't look out of place during his two NHL callups.

Eventually, the key piece in solving this defensive puzzle may prove to be a youngster named Jeff Woywitka. Just eighteen years old, Woywitka was drafted by the Flyers in the first-round of the 2001 entry draft. He attended training camp this past summer, but he was (not surprisingly) returned to his junior team, the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL. Here are Woywitka's amateur stats:

Year Team League GP G A P PIM
01-02* Red Deer WHL 50 9 18 27 77
00-01** Red Deer WHL 4 0 0 0 2
00-01*** Red Deer WHL 22 2 3 5 8
00-01 Red Deer WHL 69 4 13 17 36
99-00*** Red Deer WHL 4 0 3 3 2
99-00 Red Deer WHL 69 2 4 6 34

*--Through Jan. 26, 2002
**--Memorial Cup
***--WHL Playoffs

Coming into the 2001 Entry Draft, the Flyers were hoping to take a defenseman with their first pick. Their ability to determine their own fate was limited at best. At 23rd overall, the Flyers had no way of knowing which players would be available when their turn came. Sure, there's always the Central Scouting Bureau rankings, but most organization have their own private rankings which differ considerably from the CSB's. Back in 1998, the Flyers had rated Gagne as one of the top twelve skaters available, but Gags was still available at #22. In 2001, the Flyers listed Woywitka as the 12th best skater available, while the CSB had him at #17.

Woywitka was still available when the Flyers' turn came, but management decided to take a gamble. They guessed that other teams had not scouted Woywitka as well as they had. Moreover, several other top defensive prospects were still available. The Flyers traded down to #27 and picked up an extra second round pick for 2002. And guess what? Woywitka was still available at #27, and the Flyers got the player that they had wanted all along.

Interviewed at the draft, Woywitka wasn't surprised, saying, "I had a feeling I was maybe going to go there if I was still around." Despite the lack of surprise, he still seemed pleased. He said, "I can't describe it. It's a dream come true, especially with this team. I'm just glad to be a part of this organization. I'm going to make them proud in the future, and I'm going to do whatever I can to help this team win the (Stanley) Cup. "

Woywitka's coach in Red Deer, Brent Sutter, thought that his young defenseman and the Flyers would be a good fit. Sutter should know--his two twin brothers (Rich and Ron) played for the Flyers in the 80s. Sutter said. "I know what the Philadelphia Flyers are about, what their players are about. Jeff will fit right into that."

But why was he still around? Woywitka was a consensus first-round pick coming into the draft, but his first-round status was in danger before the Flyers took him at #27. Why'd he fall so far? For one thing, he hadn't put up numbers comparable to other members of his draft class. Fairly or unfairly, Woywitka will always be compared to Tim Gleason (#23), Mike Komisarek (#7), and Dan Hamhuis (#12). Of course, numbers must always be taken with a grain of salt. Woywitka was born in the second half of 1983, while Komisarek was born in 1982. Komisarek is twenty months older than Woywitka. Those months can make a huge difference in development at the junior level.

Knowing that they had no shot at the likes of Ilya Kovalchuk, the Flyers were very focused on getting Woywitka. According to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News, the Flyers were so interested in Woywitka that they saw him play about 50 times before draft day. Woywitka says he's often compared to Dan McGillis, which suggests that Jeff plays a physical game with some offensive upside. In a prospect report posted at PhiladelphiaFlyers.com, Paul Holmgren summed up the three things that the Flyers like best about Woywitka: "He is a great big guy, he skates very well, he is good with the puck, he is going to be a good player for the Flyers."

Size, skating, skill. You can't complain about that in today's NHL. The Flyers might have also noticed that Woywitka had experience playing for a winner. Woywitka's junior team, the Red Deer Rebels, won the prestigious Memorial Cup in 2001. That's nothing to sniff at folks. And the experience of the playing for and ultimately winning such a prize is (as the Mastercard commercials say)...priceless.

So how has Woywitka done since the draft? Well, he's had some ups and some downs. He attended the Canadian national junior team's summer evaluation camp--but he wasn't great there. He also attended the Flyers' training camp, where he got some attention. Just eighteen years old, however, Woywitka wasn't expected to last long at camp, and he soon returned to Red Deer. There he found himself asked to handle some extra responsibilities. Some of the Rebels' veteran defensemen were gone--Jim Vandemeer, Woywitka's old defense partner, is now patrolling the Phantoms' blueline in the AHL--and Woywitka has done his best to pick up the slack. The director of scouting for Canadian Hockey, Barry Trapp, noted to the Red Deer Advocate, "Jeff didn't have a good summer camp but he's really elevated his game since then. I've scouted him four games and he's been the best player on the ice."

In December, Woywitka was invited to the junior team's final evaluation camp, but he was among the first five cuts. Woywitka didn't complain about the cut, but his junior teammate, Shane Bendera, did. He suggested that Woywitka never had a chance to make the team. Bendera said, "Woy got cut fairly early, and I thought he should have made the team when compared with the people that they picked. You could see that Woywitka was up there and should have been there in the end. The same with Armstrong. He's a great player and he had a great camp as well." (Bendera didn't mention, of course, that the junior team had returned five defenseman from the previous year. It would have been hard to cut a returning player in favor of Woywitka.)

During this past months, things have been looking up for the Rebels and Woywitka. They had a couple of tough months. They fell precipitously in the standings; their coach questioned their production and heart; their captain relinquished the "C". They're currently enjoying an eight game winning streak, however, and climbing back towards the top of their division. (Geez--they sound like the Flyers!) And Woywitka was invited to play for the WHL East All-Stars in the Hershey Cup.

Will we see Woywitka in Philly next year? Sure, for training camp. Beyond that, it's hard to say. It's terribly important to develop defensemen slowly. I believe that Woywitka has one more year of junior eligibility after this season, so he's likely to stay in Red Deer for one more year. And next winter, he'll probably finally get his chance to play in the World Junior Championships for Team Canada--he'll only be 19 and it's an under-20 event.

So he may not be coming soon, but right now there's every reason to believe that Jeff Woywitka could enjoy a long career in orange and black. Okay, okay--the Flyers' track record with defensive prospects isn't too great--see files for Andy Delmore, Mark Eaton, and Jason Beckett. On the other hand, Kim Johnsson and Bruno St. Jacques have blossomed in the Flyer system. And remember Johnsson and St. Jacques weren't supposed to pan out: Johnsson was the last player taken in his draft, and St. Jacques slipped to the very last round of his. At eighteen, Woywitka has a huge upside--and everything on his resume says that he'll live up to it.

Honors and Highlights: Co-winner of Charters Inc. Top Playoff Performers award (with Joel Stepp) in 1999-2000. Played in the under-18 Four Nations Tournament in 2000. Assistant captain for Team Cherry in Top Prospects game. Won the Memorial Cup with Red Deer in 2000-2001. Played for WHL East All-Stars in Hershey Cup.

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If you want to learn more about Jeff Woywitka, here are some useful links.

Here are some of the articles that I used as sources for this profile.

Note from the Webmaster: Back in the spring of 1999, I wrote a prospect profile of Simon Gagne titled "Meet Simon Gagne." At the time, Gagne was still a top prospect playing for the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL. Everyone hoped that he would turn out to be a quality forward for the Orange and Black, but no one knew for certain what Gagne would accomplish. In the two and half year since that profile was written, Gagne has developed into one of the brightest young stars in the NHL. I don't need to go into his accomplishments--three twenty goal season, All-Rookie, All-Star, Team Canada--because every Flyer fan knows them by heart. Meanwhile, "Meet Simon Gagne" has consistently been one of the most popular (and most plagiarized) articles on this site.

I wrote this new prospect profile in honor of that article's enduring popularity. The Flyers have had great success at the draft table during Bob Clarke's second tenure as general manager--Simon Gagne, Justin Williams, and Maxime Ouellet all immediately come to mind--and hopefully Woywitka will prove to be no exception.

If you would like to use this article for your own website, please use the "Contact the Webmaster" form that is linked from this page. I'm usually happy to grant permission.--Joy


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