For Carter Kingerski getting to the NHL might not be a fantasy. In fact, it might not be too far away, especially after the season he put together last winter as a member of the U15 AAA Winnipeg Wild Red.
Kingerski, a Headingley product, exploded offensively last season to lead the entire Manitoba U15 Hockey League in scoring, both in the regular season and playoffs.
His 54 goals and 107 points in 34 regular season games was significantly more than anyone else, and he was the only member of the 18-team league to record triple digits in points.
Moreover, his additional 12 goals and 29 points in 13 playoff games put an exclamation point on a stellar season that made him the unanimous choice as the Winnipeg AAA Council 2022-2023 Royal Sports Impact Player of the Year.
The award selects one player from the nine U15, three U17 and two U18 Winnipeg-based AAA programs, and Kingerski is only the second U15-age-group player to earn the distinction.
He now shares the honour with forward Adam Brooks, who has played 43 NHL games to date and won the award during the 2010-11 season when he played for the Winnipeg Hawks.
“It was pretty obvious he wanted to become the best player in the league,” mentioned Wild Red head coach Mitch Lockhart. “And you could tell right from tryouts he was on a mission. He’s in pretty good company with that award.”
Lockhart has coached Kingerski for the last two years and noticed a quantum developmental jump in his game between his first year as a 13-year-old and this past season.
Looking at the point production and being the only player in the league to hit the century mark is what easily stands out to most, but his coach feels there were areas of his game where he grew the most and – perhaps – were more important to his improvement as a complete player.
“You can tell he’s a special player,” says Lockhart. “We knew he was going to be good this year, but we had no idea he was going to be that dominant and that big of a force.”
“Having over 100 points is impressive, but he takes just as much pride in the D-zone. And the way he advanced in that area was really fun to watch.”
As the Impact Player of the Year, Kingerski is provided with a new pair of skates from Royal Sports and obviously bestowed the honour of being the best among his peers.
But when the centreman was asked about it, he quickly deflected from himself and wanted to discuss the contributions others on the Wild Red team made in guiding the group to a 29-4-0-1 regular season record and a heartbreaking A-sidefi nal loss to the Brandon Wheat Kings in Game 7of the provincial final.
It’s that type of humility and leadership that earned Kingerski an assistant captain letter on the Wild in each of the last two seasons.
“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates and especially my linemates (Cody Farrell & Wyatt Dyck),” said the Grade 10 student at Westwood Collegiate. “I have high standards and I wasn’t really focused on the points.
“For me, as long as I did the little things right (in the game), that’s what would lead to the points.”
At 5-foot-10 and 165 pounds, Kingerski combines size, tenacity, vision and a superior shot.
He said he worked tirelessly last summer to get better and stronger, which included a daily routine of shooting 250 pucks along with on-ice and off -ice training.
It was that extra drive and off -season regimen that he attributes to his impressive statistical production and the season he put together.
“The little things paid off,” he says. “It felt great because of all the hard work that went into it.”
That attention to detail in cultivating his craft didn’t go unnoticed with the Wild Red coaching staff either.
Lockhart believes the dedication to getting better, along with some natural ability, has aided in fostering Kingerski’s skill set, which he says runs in combination with other attributes like work ethic, edgework and hockey IQ.
“And he has ‘no problems getting to the dirty areas,’” Lockhart added. “I’m not sure sometimes if I was coaching him or he was coaching me. I’m happy to be a small step in his development.”
Kingerski’s magnifi cent season was also noticed outside of Winnipeg AAA hockey, both regionally and provincially.
The Tri-City Americans selected him in the second round (35th overall) of the 2023 Western Hockey League Prospects Draft last May.
It was an exciting day for Kingerski, who also enjoys playing golf and working part-time at Breezy Bend Country Club.
Since then, he has signed a WHL Standard Player Agreement with the Americans and has an eye to commencing his Major Junior career in the next year or two.
In addition, Kingerski also earned a spot on the U16 Team Manitoba squad that will compete in the WHL Cup slated for October 17-22 in Red Deer, Alberta.
It won’t be the first time in his hockey career that he’ll represent the province. In fact, it’s approaching a handful of occasions dating back to when he was 10-years-old and suited up for Team Manitoba at the Brick International tournament.
However, between now and when he’s eligible to be a full-time WHLer, Kingerski’s sights are set on cracking the U18 Winnipeg Wild roster next season – a jump that can be challenging but not uncommon for a 15-year-old player.
It would be an exciting opportunity and the logical next stop in his career, especially since the Wild will be vying for their third straight Manitoba U18 Hockey League (MU18HL) title and are also hosting the 2024 TELUS Cup West Regional U18 Championship at the hockey for all centre, April 4-7.
It’s a step Lockhart says Kingerski should ascend naturally: “I have no doubt he’ll play for the U18 Wild next season. They’re going to get a really good player in Carter.”
As for what the 2022-23 Impact Player of the Year thinks about next season and what the future holds?
“I’ll try to win it again next year.”
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