By this point in the day, Lesley Winterton had not heard from her son. She was trying to connect with him but had no success. That is when she decided to check the location on her son’s phone and discovered he was at a hospital.

Lesley thought one of two things. Either her son and his Hamilton Bulldogs teammates were volunteering at the hospital. Or her youngest son was a patient.

It did not take long before she received a phone call from Bulldogs general manager Steve Staios who told Lesley that her child was a patient because his right shoulder was hanging out of its socket.

“I lost my breath for a minute but he assured me all was good,” Lesley recalled. “Ryan had come out of putting his shoulder back in, and I could hear him in the background. Ryan told Steve he was not allowed to call us. But we wanted to get the call that he was all good and he was fine.”

Months have passed since the day the 18-year-old right winger injured his shoulder. Ryan has since recovered. But everything about the event itself became a convergence point. Before the injury, it appeared as if momentum was starting to build in Winterton’s favor. The COVID-19 pandemic meant his draft year was challenging. The OHL did not have a regular season and if not for the U18 World Championships, evaluators would not have seen the growth Winterton made from the the 2019-20 season. His performances along with how he projects as a prospect led the Seattle Kraken to draft him in the third round.

Then came the separated shoulder. It happened in Bulldogs preseason camp which was days away from Winterton flying to Seattle for the Kraken’s training camp. It led to him spending time in Seattle working with the Kraken’s athletic training staff instead of being on the ice like he planned. He returned to Hamilton where he concentrated on recovering his injured shoulder at a gradual pace.

Winterton returned to the ice in January. He scored five points in his return, a sign that he was at least comfortable on the ice. More signs continued to appear in the form of Winterton constantly being on the scoresheet. By the end of the Bulldogs’ regular season, Winterton had 20 goals and 46 points in 37 games. The OHL’s Eastern Conference finals start Friday and Winterton has 11 points in eight games.

Every aspect of his return has the Kraken believing they may have found something. But that is the thing about attempting to project prospects. Every franchise can make an argument for why they believe a player has a chance. Yet the way the Kraken talk about Winterton suggests they firmly believe it to be true. They have remained cautiously optimistic because they understand Winterton is still just 18. But the potential he has shown as a creative, two-way player packed inside a still-growing 6-foot-2 physique is why they are intrigued by what comes next.

“His progress has been outstanding,” Kraken general manager Ron Francis said. “I’ve watched a lot of junior games on film where I’m scouting other guys in this year’s draft and I tend to watch them against Hamilton and he keeps popping up on my screen as making a good defensive play or a good offensive play. For me, when I see that, I like that. I think he’s certainly a prospect that has the possibility to play for us which is exciting.”

The @BulldogsOHL strike first courtesy of the @SeattleKraken prospect 👀

Ryan Winterton (@ryanwinterton22) deflects the shot from Gavin White to tally his 19th of the season, as he opens the scoring in a road matchup in Oshawa 📽️ pic.twitter.com/Z3hqVLVd3O

The Bulldogs were a couple days into training camp when Winterton got hurt. They were doing a drill when Winterton was trying to pry possession away from one of his teammates. He missed, tripped, tried to brace himself and placed his shoulder in what he called “an awkward spot.”

“It just came out. I kinda knew right away,” Winterton said. “It was dislocated. It was out of its socket for two hours. We went to the hospital. I don’t think I’ve told anyone this before. Steve drove me to our team doctor’s office because they thought they could put it back in the five-minute window they had. He couldn’t do it. Steve and I drove 20 minutes to the local hospital. We sat there for an hour, was told it was a dislocation, then they put me out and got it back in. It was a crazy day of having your shoulder hanging off.”

Winterton said he did his best to not think about the pain or the fact his arm was dangling in an unnatural position. He said the pain eventually started hitting and it became a bit more difficult to handle. He remembers waking up after the procedure and said it felt like nothing happened. He jokes that it could have been because of the drugs he was given to help ease the situation.

The challenges are the kind one would expect. He had to make adjustments with how he ate, brushed his teeth and other every day tasks. He even struggled putting pants on because he had to work around his arm being in a sling. Winterton’s recovery story was straightforward. The Bulldogs and Kraken worked together. They gave him a plan and it was followed. They wanted him to get better. But none of them wanted to rush him back unnecessarily. They took their time and Winterton’s performances prove that their collectively measured approach has results.

Staios, who is also the team president, said the potential has always been there. The Bulldogs scouted Winterton when he played Triple A back in Whitby where he scored 38 goals and 72 points in 36 games. Winterton was taken with the eighth pick of OHL Priority Selection Draft. Staios said the team knew the offensive upside was there because they saw how Winterton distributed the puck, had a strong release when shooting the puck and was adept at operating in tight spaces.

“It was a part of his game he did not have to use much at the U16 level but his ability to play a 10-foot game has been terrific,” Staios said. “The other thing about when Ryan played in the U18s for Canada is that here is this highly-gifted offensive player who went and was used in a checking role. He sank his teeth into that role. For him, it really is ‘I’ll do whatever you want me to do for the team to win.'”

Operating in a checking role is something Staios, who played more than 1,000 NHL games, said more high-end players could experience. His argument is evaluators know those players can distribute and score. But a way to get a true feel for how those players perform would be seeing how they fare in a checking role that forces them to work toward becoming a more complete player.

Being asked to serve in a two-way role was not a hard sell for Winterton. In fact, he said it is something he always took pride in for a while now. He viewed showing off that part of his game as another way to entice teams into picking him ahead of the draft. Plus, he grew up watching Boston Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron make a career as one of the game’s elite two-way forwards.

“Everyone needs to play a 200-foot game,” Winterton said. “That was brought up to me by my dad when I was a kid. You love getting points and all that stuff. But you have to take care of your own end first. You obviously enjoy offense a bit more but you must accept you gotta play defense or else your team is not very good. If you are playing in a competitive game, you will play a 200-foot game no matter the circumstances. Maybe that’s just me.”

Winterton said he had a Zoom call with the Kraken before the draft. But it was not like there was a ton of contact. Lesley said their family had a feeling he could get drafted but they just did not know when. Initially, she said the family made plans to be busy so they would not be distracted by the draft. Lesley then amended that statement to say she was the one who was busy while her husband and two sons watched.

Lesley profusely cleaned their house on Day 2. Ryan’s girlfriend and a few of their friends came over to watch. The moment he found out he was taken by the Kraken was unforgettable. Ryan’s agent called, smoking a cigar to tell him he was drafted in the third round. Then, the broadcast announced it and their entire house was in bedlam. From there, everyone who knew Ryan immediately went to his house.

His dad celebrated for 10 minutes, grabbed his car keys, drove to the local Pro Hockey Life store and cleared the shelves of the store’s Kraken apparel. Lesley joked there was not a lot of Kraken gear in stock. Still, her husband returned home and everyone couldn’t get their hands on it fast enough.

“We are very appreciative of Seattle,” Lesley said. “It’s a new organization that is starting out. They have to fill out an NHL team as well as an AHL team. The opportunity is there for Ryan to take hold. … Who doesn’t want to be on the West Coast along with that organization and everything they stand for? Ron Francis, we know of him and we know people know him and they all say he is a top-notch guy. You look at the name they have for the arena, what they are doing for the community, the environment. It’s all very inspiring.”

Winterton turns 19 in September which means he will spend next year in the OHL. Francis said the team will monitor his progress with the expectation they could sign him to an entry-level contract at a later time. One thing Francis did point out his how the next several months have a chance to be instrumental for Winterton. He explained how the Bulldogs have a legitimate a shot of playing in the Memorial Cup which he felt would be a good experience for Winterton toward his development.

Playing in the Memorial Cup and continuing his progress could also lead to Hockey Canada looking at Winterton for the U20 World Junior Championships, Francis said.

First #SeaKraken prospect Ryan Winterton sets up #GoHabsGo prospect Jan Mysak

Then, 16 seconds later, Winterton does it on his own.@SeattleKraken | @CanadiensMTL | @BulldogsOHL pic.twitter.com/8VdMvIBryx

— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) January 30, 2022

This is another reason why the Kraken believe their future is trending upward. Matty Beniers went from University of Michigan sophomore center to scoring nine points in 10 games and showing he can potentially handle the NHL’s demands. Ryker Evans used his final season with the Regina Pats to produce the sort of results that made Francis say the defensemen could either start the season in the NHL or in the AHL with the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Defenseman Ville Ottavainen will remain in Finland for another year before a decision is made about him potentially coming to North America. There is also the growth made by prospects Jacob Melanson, Semyon Vyazovoy and Justin Janicke.

How their first draft class is faring. The notion they have the No. 4 pick in this year’s draft, five picks in the first two rounds and 12 in this year’s draft. The fact they have a total of 34 picks over the next three drafts. All of these details are items the Kraken believe they can use toward becoming the sort of franchise that uses its development model and translates it into potential playoff appearances.

And to know Winterton is part of that future explains why he continues to draw attention.

“The attention is great, but you have to handle your expectations,” Winterton said. “I don’t think too much of it. I just go in and do my thing. I don’t think of doing anything I normally wouldn’t do to prove myself. I just go and play my game. I think Seattle saw that when they picked me and they wanted me to play my game. They wanted me to work on things that both Seattle and Hamilton want me to get better at. But overall, I hope I can become NHL ready and make the Kraken in a couple years.”

(Photo: Chris Tanouye / Getty Images)