Pickering, who served as team captain for the Broncos, continues to evolve as a leader and is someone the development staff relies on in that regard. He is rooming with one of Pittsburgh’s 2024 second-round draft picks, Harrison Brunicke. The two defensemen played against each other in the WHL last year, and are pushing each other to be better on the ice.
“He’s obviously been here for a while. He’s kind of leading me along,” Brunicke laughed. “I’m following after him, maybe, a little bit. Having him, he’s a great guy.”
“I feel stronger, more explosive, the more weight I put on,” he said. “That was a struggle during the year when I was playing a lot of minutes. I was trying really, really hard to keep it on. And that’s when I feel weaker on the ice, whether that’s a puck battle or whatnot. So, that’s something I need to work on in terms of going to the pro level.”
While Pickering is preparing to make that jump this year, this won’t be his first taste of pro hockey. He made his AHL debut in the 2022-23 season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he played in eight games. The Manitoba native was only 18 then, and believes the weight he has added will be a big difference-maker going into this season.
“I was a lot skinnier when I played in the [AHL] a couple years ago, and a lot less mature. I feel like I’m more ready for pro hockey now,” said Pickering, who also joined WBS this spring to be around the environment despite not playing.
Pickering is eating 6-7 meals daily, including a morning shot of olive oil to ensure he starts getting calories as early as possible.
“There’s certain tricks according to the dietitian,” Pickering said. “She’s great at it. I talk to her a lot, she helps me. So, I just kind of put it in their hands and they tell me what to do, and I just kind of do it.”
It’s all part of the plan to capitalize on such an important summer of development, with Spezza saying that Pickering is off to a great start.
“We’ll try to use this as a springboard for the rest of the summer, and get him in here and get him up and rolling,” Spezza said.
