It’s the hottest day of the year, with temperature records breaking all over Manitoba, and Grayson Burzynski, fresh off a shift working in that heat for a lawn care and landscaping company, is thinking about hockey.
The Winnipeg native came to the Brandon Wheat Kings in a blockbuster trade with the Swift Current Broncos on May 7, the night of the WHL Prospects Draft, along with fellow Bronco and fellow Manitoban Luke Mistelbacher. The season is four months away yet, but Burzynski is already eager to get started.
“It’s almost too bad I got traded now,” Burzynski said with a laugh. “I want to come and play right now, there’s so much excitement building up. I want to get to Brandon now.”
The anticipation of a trade had been building in Burzynski for some time before he was actually moved, and his premonition proved correct as he was one of five 2005-born players the Broncos shipped out in trade over a 24-hour period. When he found out the destination was Brandon, he was thrilled.
“Swift Current and Brandon are kind of going in different directions, which also makes it exciting,” Burzynski said. “I think the team this year is going to be really good, which is another reason I’d want to come. And being closer to family is always super nice too.”
Burzynski was at work when good buddy and fellow former Bronco Rylan Gould (who, as fate would have it, would also be traded by the Broncos a day later) gave him the news. A phone call from his general manager confirmed it just moments later. And that was when Burzynski learned just how big the trade really was, and that another close friend, Luke Mistelbacher, was coming along with him.
“We were hanging out the other day and we thought it was so nice that we were going together,” Burzynski said. “I’m sure the team is great but it’s also just so nice and so much more comfortable going with someone, especially when he is 20 too. We’ll be there together, ending our careers together, which is super nice. He’s been a good buddy of mine for the last couple of years.”
The excitement Burzynski feels is mutual, as the Wheat Kings are happy to have him on board. And why wouldn’t they be? Burzynski is a 6-foot-4 defenseman who put up career numbers across the board last year with 11 goals and 47 points, the sort of piece any contending team would be ecstatic to add. And he’s coming in determined to make the Wheat Kings look good for making the move.
“Before last year I didn’t really have a huge role with the Broncos, but last year I stepped into what I can be as a player,” he said. “I bring offense, but not only that I bring defense too. I defend well, I have a good stick, I’m big. I don’t use my body a ton, but I do sometimes and this year I’m going to try and use it a bit more. I’m a big guy and I bring a two-way game, and I make a good first pass.”
The Wheat Kings might be excited to get Burzynski on board if only so they don’t have to play against him ever again. In five games against the Wheat Kings last season, Burzynski had four goals and eight points, and he’s been a Wheat King killer his entire career.
“My whole career, I think I’m almost a point per game against Brandon,” said Burzynski. “When I got traded to Brandon it wasn’t a huge surprise just because of how well I’ve played against Brandon. The rink in Brandon, I’ve played there my whole life so it’s so comfortable for me. And for me, it’s the best ice in the league so I’m excited to have that as a home base and do some damage to other teams instead of Brandon.”
If Burzynski aims to go on an offensive tear in his final WHL season, he picked a good year to do it and a good team to do it with. Two seasons ago, Burzynski was part of a Swift Current Broncos team that loaded up at the deadline and made a push for a championship, and he sees some similarities between this year’s Wheat Kings’ squad and the division champion 2023-24 Broncos.
“Eskit is a great goalie, and that’s where it starts,” he said. “Coming from the back end, there were quite a few rookies last year (in Brandon) on the blueline and everyone is now going to be older, there won’t be too many rookies on that blue line. Our team (in Swift Current) had a really old blue line, I was the second-youngest defenseman on the team behind Peyton Kettles. We’re going to have a veteran team, and we’ll be able to score a ton of goals like we did in Swift Current. We had one of the highest-goals for in the second half in the league that year.”
This time, instead of being one of the youngest players on the roster, Burzynski will himself be the voice of experience. He credits former Bronco Tyson Galloway with teaching him a lot about leadership, and he might learn even more over the offseason. Burzynski is ranked 191st among North American skaters ahead of the coming NHL draft, and even if he doesn’t hear his name called, he’s hopeful to get a look at an NHL development camp.
“I am a double overager (2005-born player) so it’s tough,” Burzynski said. “But an NHL camp would be an unbelievable experience. It hasn’t happened yet in my career, but it’s what I’m aiming for.”
Burzynski added several of the Wheat Kings have already reached out to welcome him to the team, which has only added to his excitement and his desire to get to Brandon to kick off the season as soon as possible.
