Building Blue: Sawyer Mynio Growing from a Penalty Killer to a Two-Way Defenceman

With 144 WHL games under his belt, Sawyer Mynio is beginning to feel like a grizzled veteran at age 18.

The left-shot defenceman was selected 89th overall in the most recent NHL Entry Draft and was able to celebrate the selection in Nashville before he returned home to Kamloops, where his grandmother may have been the only person more excited than him about the selection. Mynio's grandma has been a big Canucks fan her entire life and was ecstatic when the local BC team selected her grandson in the third round.

Chris Higgins from Canucks Player Development gave praise to the scouting staff for identifying not only the player but the role that Mynio was going to be with Seattle Thunderbirds this season in his draft-plus-one year.

"You have to give credit to the amateur scouting staff we have," said Higgins. "They did a really good job of identifying what situation Sawyer was going to walk into this year and pretty much nailed it with what their forecasts were. I remember sitting at the amateur scout meetings last May and our scouts were really passionate about Sawyer. They thought he was a bit overlooked with a strong defence corps that Seattle had in their 2022-23 championship season."

At the time of his draft, Mynio was looked at as a defensive defenceman who thrives on the penalty kill and plays an intelligent game on the backend. This season, Mynio's role with the Seattle Thunderbirds has evolved and he is now getting time on the power play while playing close to 30 minutes a night in the WHL.

“Playing close to 30 minutes every night keeps you in the game instead of playing 10-15 minutes,” said Mynio of his increased role with the Thunderbirds. “I think it's a lot easier to play 30, especially when you're in shape because you know that you can do it.”

The growth in his role with the team has resulted in greater offensive production. Mynio's 2022-23 season saw him finish with five goals and 26 assists in 68 games -- that's a 0.46 points per game rate. He's only 29 games into the 2023-24 season and has eight goals and 16 assists for 24 points and has nearly doubled his points per game total, now sitting at 0.83 on the year.

Coming into the 2023-24 season, Mynio didn't set up any goals for himself aside from getting a chance to do more for his team.

"I just wanted to get more opportunity,” said Mynio about the 2023-24 season. “Obviously, being on the power play really helps that. That's one thing I wanted to take on and just being on the power play, getting my offensive numbers up -- it really helps me grow my game. To have that confidence and be trusted to be sturdy offensively is something I want to do and I’m getting that opportunity to show it this season.”

Mynio has been doing damage as the right half-wall shooter on the Thunderbirds' top power play unit. He's firing one-timers and moving the puck well in a spot on a power play that is typically occupied by a forward.

Mynio is focused on improving every asset of his game, but skating is his main focus. He talks with former AHLers who are now with the Abbotsford Canucks and gets some good advice for taking steps toward pro hockey from Arshdeep Bains, Quinn Schmiemann, and Chad Nychuk. He was able to learn a lot at Canucks development camp this past summer and took away a lot from the Vancouver Canucks' skills coach Yogi Svejkovsky, who is on the ice for every Canucks practice.

“I knew of Yogi Svejkovsky so it was nice to know him at the camp," said Mynio about his time at Canucks development camp. "He showed us how hard you have to work, how every little detail matters, and how to get the most out of practices. It was also cool seeing older drafted guys and looking up to them to see what they have to bring."

Another big learning experience for young Mynio was being on the powerhouse 2022-23 Thunderbirds team that was able to win the WHL championship and play in the Memorial Cup. That team was stuffed with talent and players who were destined to play pro hockey.

“I learned so many little things,” said Mynio about the Seattle Thunderbirds team from the 2022-23 season. “Over the last two years, I just kept my ears open 24/7 to learn what the leaders had to say in the room, in between periods, and even away from the rink. That's definitely helped my leadership role this year. Every guy on the team last year brought something new into their game, and I think it really helped us get to the Memorial Cup.”

We've seen Mynio take more of a leadership role on this year's Thunderbirds team, and he takes that as an honour and believes the opportunity provides a chance for him to keep growing his leadership abilities.

Special teams have always been a big part of Mynio's game but in his two previous seasons as a younger player in the WHL, he was only contributing on the power play.

Now, as a defenceman who is on both the top power play unit and the first defenceman over the boards to kill penalties, we had to ask him what he enjoys more.

“Both,” he said with a chuckle. “I love being able to kill penalties because it's a huge swing for momentum in every game. The last two years we’ve had the best PK in the league. Then with the power play, I don't think it takes much away from my PK focus. Being on the power play is great and I think I've shown that I can contribute to the power play unit, so it's nice to have gain experience and grow both skills.”

His focus remains on getting wins with the Thunderbirds but there's also a long-term vision for his jump to pro hockey in a couple of years. Mynio has been changing his diet and workout plan to prepare for pro hockey as he is still a couple of years away from making the jump but he wants to be as prepared as possible.

“I've gained a lot of weight as I just get my body ready for in two years when I want to make the jump to pro hockey,” said Mynio. “I’ve still got next year here in Seattle, which is going to help develop my game a lot more. I just want to get everything better and skating is always something that is a focus because it's at such a different level in the pros. My main focus for improvement is skating for sure. When you jump into pro and you're a defenceman, you’re not going to be on the power play, I expect that. That's where the PK comes in. I believe I can play there and just have a good, defensively sturdy game.”

When asked about what he might need to change for the AHL, Mynio felt confident in his abilities but understands that it is going to be a difficult jump from the WHL to pro hockey.

“It's definitely hard,” said Mynio. “I believe I play as a pro-style type of defenceman already. Right now, the focus is to just get my body ready for pro hockey. I still view myself as kind of a smaller guy right now and need to add strength before I’ll be playing against men. I just need to get everything ready with a focus on being bigger, faster, and stronger.”

With a season and a half left in his WHL career, there's still plenty of room to grow for the 18-year-old defenceman. He will continue to work alongside Canucks development staff, Chris Higgins and Mike Komisarek. Mynio said that these two have been very helpful with their video work as well as the fact that they call just to help give him tips on developing into a pro.

"We believe that he has a legitimate chance to be a solid pro," said Higgins. "We're excited, we're passionate and we believe in Sawyer. We believe in his intelligence, and his mobility, and I think we're starting to see more and more offensively with the opportunities he's getting -- especially on the powerplay this year. We think he's got the ability to influence the game in a number of different scenarios. He's got the skill set to play a defensive shutdown role. Still, he's got some nice puck-moving abilities and his mobility allows him to defend well while changing direction and he's able to close well in the corners. He's a very, very smart player, positionally -- always moving around the ice with purpose."

Mynio has evolved his game from a penalty kill specialist defenceman to a two-way minute-muncher in his third WHL season.

There's still a long runway for this youngster to develop his game and the opportunities he is receiving this season have given him a chance to grow confidence in his offensive game while also staying committed to being a trusted defender and a killer while shorthanded.