Olen Zellweger during the Anaheim Ducks' morning skate on Jan. 23, 2024. (Photo via Anaheim Ducks)
Former Kamloops Blazers defenceman Olen Zellweger will make his NHL debut tonight.
The 20-year-old was called up by the Anaheim Ducks this morning, and was skating on the Ducks’ top power-play unit alongside during the morning skate.
“This is a dream for me, so it’s pretty special to be called up to play tonight,” Zellweger said Tuesday. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Zellweger has 25 points in 34 AHL games with the San Diego Gulls this season. He co-leads all AHL rookie defenceman in goals (eight) and is second in assists (17) and points.
The reigning CHL defenceman of the year, Zellweger is set to play in the AHL All-Star Game next month.
“I think that he’s a confident kid and I think that if he’s going to make mistakes, he’s going to make mistakes out of aggression – and I like that,” Ducks Head Coach Greg Cronin said of Zellweger.
“You get guys that play defensive because they think too much. You put stress in their game and its not going to be good for a guy who’s a fluid offensive player.”
A native of Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., Zellweger set new personal bests in goals (32) and points (80) to lead all Western Conference defencemen in scoring during the 2022-23 WHL Regular Season. A majority of those goals (22) and points (52) came following the Blazers’ blockbuster Jan. 8 trade with the Everett Silvertips.
He was also tied for second place in WHL playoff scoring last season with 29 points in 14 games and was named to the 2023 Memorial Cup’s All-Star team.
“The NHL is now celebrating speed and creativity, and when you get waves of that from the backend, that just strengthens that, right? We don’t have that on our back end,” Cronin added.
“Cam (Fowler) is the closest thing to it. I think (Zellweger) can bring that. (Pavel Mintyukov) does it, but he’s not playing. (Tristan) Luneau does it, but he’s not playing. And when you have that weaponry on your back end – we saw it with (Adam) Fox – it just gives you another different dimension offensively that you can’t really create with your defensive defenseman.”
He’s just an absolute freak. A unicorn of talent. Hope he takes this opportunity tonight and they can’t send him back. Not sure how they kept him back for so long. #LetZellyCook https://t.co/4MYXCGDfPp
— Jon Keen (@JonKeenNLSports) January 23, 2024
