Denton Mateychuk has made a quick transition to the AHL. And as he has become more familiar with the pro game, he’s delved into fishing as a pastime
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Fishing For Compliments - Jan. 27, 2025 - Dillon Collins
ELITE BLUELINE PROSPECTS don’t grow on trees, but they just might in rural Manitoba. Drafted 12th overall by Columbus in 2022, Denton Mateychuk is a dynamic skater with a high hockey IQ, lightning-quick release and superb on-ice vision.
As advertised, he’s paid dividends for AHL Cleveland this season. The left-shot defender put up five goals and 17 points in 13 games in November, leading the Monsters to the best single-month record in club history (12-1-0) while earning AHL top-rookie honors – and even an NHL call-up in late December. Through the first two months of the season, Mateychuk led AHL rookies and defenders in points, and, at just 20, he’s only scratching the surface of his potential.
Mateychuk made the jump from Moose Jaw, where he captained the Warriors to a WHL title in 2023-24 and had 30 points in 20 playoff appearances. He has adapted on the fly transitioning from junior to pro. “It’s just the details,” Mateychuk said. “You can’t overlook anything. There’s definitely more risk management that comes with it. Sometimes, you can get away with a bit more in junior, jumping into the rush and maybe holding onto the puck for a little longer. Here, there are guys on every team that are going to punish you for those mistakes.”
Making his pro debut during Cleveland’s 2024 playoff run, Mateychuk jumped right in to the rigors of post-season hockey, collecting three points in four games before the Monsters fell to the eventual Calder Cup-champion Hershey Bears. But long before his ascent through the junior and pro ranks, Mateychuk was just one of many hockey-obsessed kids growing up in Dominion City, Man.
With a population of just over 300 people, the town just north of the U.S. border banded around winter sports, with hockey serving as the community’s crown jewel. “It was what you got excited for when the snow started falling,” he said. “They didn’t have (indoor) ice all year. It only got put in when it was cold enough. It was like a holiday for me and my brothers when the rink would finally open. We were champing at the bit to get out there.”
Enamoured with skating at an early age, Mateychuk was buoyed by his mother, a noted figure skater and coach in her own right. “She’s always been a figure skater and power-skating coach, and I learned a lot from her growing up,” Mateychuk said. “She’s awesome. I couldn’t have done it without her.”
Mateychuk is a cousin to fellow 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering, who’s another Manitoba native. The extended family flocked to the Bell Centre in Montreal in July 2022 to see the pair of promising defenders land with NHL clubs. Pickering went 21st overall to Pittsburgh, nine picks after Mateychuk. “We played hockey together as kids growing up,” Mateychuk said. “Just to have moments like that to share with him, it’s truly special. To see the success he’s having, it’s awesome.”
As a junior, Mateychuk thrived in the WHL with Moose Jaw, captaining the club to the Ed Chynoweth Cup while locking down playoff MVP and top-defenseman honors. “You learn so much through those years from when you’re 16 to 19 playing in big games, playoffs, Game 7s,” Mateychuk said. “I couldn’t have had a better time in Moose Jaw. They were great to me.”
And while the future seems bright for the blueliner, Mateychuk is staying humble and grounded, surrounding himself with the game he loves, while finding time to indulge in outside interests such as fishing, which has become a passion. “I’ve been watching hockey my whole life,” he said. “Fishing is something most people wouldn’t know about me that I love in the summer. Here (in Ohio), I hear there are good fishing opportunities. That’s what I like to do.”
Up Next: Blue Jackets' Zach Werenski and Team USA as well as Elvis Merzlikins and Team Latvia start their respective tournaments next week in Milan.
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