By Russ Cohen
Lukas Sawchyn is an interesting player. He plays for the Edmonton Oil Kings with his brother, Gracyn, who was drafted by the Florida Panthers in 2023. Playing with his brother has been a thrill, but he is a younger brother who is eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft and has the mentality to be better than his older brother. It’s a healthy competition.
“I would say. Yes and no. I mean, my brother’s paved the way for me for a while now,” said Sawchyn. “I’m not saying it’s been the easiest, but he’s shown me what works and what doesn’t work. And yeah, there’s been a little bit of a chip on my shoulder, but I think that’s just a competitive side of, you know, having an older brother.
“You want to out-compete them and all that kind of thing. But I mean, I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for him. So, I mean, being able to play with him was awesome.”
Lukas Sawchyn grew up in Alberta. Instead of messing up his parents’ garage or basement, they found a different place to shoot.
“To avoid putting holes in the wall, we would just put a net up outside and go in the forest and search for pucks. If you hit the crossbar it was going in the bush and you had to go and look for it,” he laughed. “Sawchyn saw some playing time at the U18s but he’s hungry for more tournaments for sure.
“I mean, obviously, we got the job done and came home with the gold. And it was, for me, it was a learning experience,” Sawchyn remarked. ”I didn’t play as much as I wanted to, but I mean. Just being there for the ride and, you know, realizing that I had a certain role on my team that I wasn’t expecting. I think it was really valuable for me.”
Sawchyn has a good two-way game. According to InStat, he had 31% defensive zone starts. For a 5’10” player, this forward competes and plays in all situations.
“Yeah, I felt like I needed to improve on it since the start of the season, but I think after a lot of videos with my coaches and kind of just watching film on, you know, how NHL guys go about it, I think, yeah, I’m starting to really develop that side of my game.”
Sawchyn wasn’t invited to the combine, but teams are contacting him. That’s encouraging. His summer workouts have already begun.
“I’m working on a lot of a lot of speed, quickness kind of things,” Sawchyn revealed. “Also, upper body strength, I need, I think, if I want to excel to the next level, I got to be stronger, you know, with bigger bodies, you face heavier, defenseman who know, to protect the puck.”
As a former defenseman, he knows how to beat them to spots on the ice, and using the net as a natural pick is one of them. Then you can see who gets open.
“I was a defenseman for a couple of years before I came into juniors, and I think the hardest thing about defending a forward is when they use the net or change sides in the o-zone. You know, you’re scrambling. I think, just learning that side of it. And taking it to my offensive side of my game.”
He averaged 3.8 shots per game and believes he can increase his shooting next year. If I were a team, I would draft him in the middle to late rounds of the draft. He is driven to be his best.
