A handful of first-year pros have played beyond their years for a Toledo Walleye team that has relied on the rookies to contribute in all facets this season.

Four of the Walleye’s top 11 scorers — forwards Mitchell Lewandowski, Chase Gresock, Riley Sawchuk, and Alexandre Doucet — are rookies.

First-year goaltender Jan Bednar has appeared in 22 of the team’s 45 games as the rookie rotates with John Lethemon in net.

Walleye coach Pat Mikesch, who also is in his first season, said roster limitations and the ECHL’s salary cap make it imperative that every player on the roster contributes, including the youngsters.

“The young guys have to earn their way because you can’t put it all on those top [older] guys every night,” Mikesch said.

Mikesch, who was a developer of young talent as the coach of the Green Bay Gamblers junior hockey team, said from the first day of his hiring in July that developing young talent was one of his chief goals. 

“If we truly are developing our players and they’re getting better every day, then our team is getting better,” he said.

The average age of the Walleye players is 25.21, which ranks Toledo as the ninth-youngest team in the ECHL. Teams in the ECHL are limited to carrying just four veterans on the roster. A veteran is defined as any player (besides goaltenders) who has participated in at least 260 regular-season games.

But the Walleye, who have long relied on seasoned players to provide leadership and production, have no veterans at all this season. Toledo’s movement toward a younger roster follows a recent trend in the ECHL.

Overall, the ECHL has become more focused on being a developmental league. Teams in the Double-A league previously valued veterans as a top resource. But now teams are counting on younger players rather than relying on the more experienced veterans, who are also more costly to teams’ payrolls. Of the ECHL’s 28 teams, not one has four veterans on the roster this season.

There have been 744 ECHL players who have gone on to play in the NHL.

Toledo’s rookies have helped the Walleye stay near the top of the ECHL standings all season. Toledo (27-9-9) currently sits in first place in the ECHL Central Division, five points in front of Wheeling.

Doucet, 22, ranks 11th in scoring with 21 points (8 G, 13 A) in 29 games.

“I think all our rookies are good players that had good seasons for their junior teams or in college to show that [they have what it takes to be good pros],” Doucet said. “Even if we’re rookies, we’ve still played a lot of hockey in our lives. We may not be as old as the others, but all the rookies are good players.”

Lewandowski ranks fifth on the Walleye in scoring with 38 points in 41 games. Lewandowski has scored 11 goals to go along with 17 assists. The 25-year-old has scored two game-winning goals.

Eleven of his 38 points have come on special teams, including five power-play goals.

“I’m comfortable and ready to go every night,” Lewandowski said. “The culture here is set in place. So I think all of that translates onto the ice and makes us a heck of a hockey team.”

Gresock, a Bowling Green State University product, has the seventh most points on the team. Gresock has produced 30 points (12 G, 18 A) in 45 games.

The 25-year-old said the team has developed confidence among themselves regardless of their status.

“We have consistency and a belief in the team, just knowing whoever is out there, we have a good team and we’re just gonna find a way to win,” Gresock said.

Mikesch said his top rookies have earned his trust to play in any situation on the ice.

He has paired rookies Doucet, Sawchuk, and Gresock on the same line in recent games.

“I don’t think all rookies are ready to play in this league but that line, it doesn’t matter who we put them out there with or against, you know they are going to have good structure and know what they’re doing,” Mikesch said. “They’ve generated goals. They’ll only get better for us.”

Sawchuk, 24, has the ninth most points on the team with 27 (14 G, 13 A) in 31 games.

Tied for the team lead with four game-winning goals, Sawchuk said he is trying to become a more complete player as a rookie.

“For me, I just try and work as hard as I can,” Sawchuk said. “I’ve just been trying to be a defensive, two-way forward. I think I’ve done my job, but I still need to clean up a lot of things in my game. I’m just happy to contribute to a team.”

Defenseman Thomas Farrell (five points) and forward Darian Pilon (two points), also have contributed as first-year pros.

As recently as 2019-20, the value of veterans seemed to be at a premium in the ECHL. Former Walleye coach Dan Watson had to be extremely selective in picking his foursome of seasoned players. On that team, former NHLers T.J. Hensick and Steve Oleksy provided a veteran presence along with future Toledo hall of famer forward Shane Berschbach and forward Zach Phillips.

Two second-year Walleye forwards, Sam Craggs and Trenton Bliss, have used successful rookie campaigns with Toledo last year as a springboard to success this year. Craggs and Bliss are tied for second on the team in scoring with 44 points apiece.

Sawchuk, who was sent to Toledo from the Walleye’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids on Nov. 17, is a distant relative of former Red Wings and hall of fame goalie Terry Sawchuk.

“Coming from Grand Rapids, I didn’t really know what to expect,” Sawchuk said. “It’s just an unbelievable atmosphere to play in. Some of those games where we’re down three goals, I think a big part of it is coming back is the crowd getting us into it. The team is just coming together as a group. It’s really an honor to play on this team and have that feeling with them.”

Bednar, a 21-year-old native of the Czech Republic, has started his career in Toledo. He has a 12-4-6 record with a 2.97 goals-against average and a .887 save percentage.

Bednar was a fourth-round draft choice (2020) of Toledo’s NHL parent club, the Detroit Red Wings.

“We have a great group of guys who are happy for each other and battling for each other,” Bednar said. “It’s a great group of guys and I can wait for what comes next.”

Lethemon, who won the ECHL goalie of the year last season and is in his fourth pro season, said the rookies have stepped up.

“We need it because we have a pretty young team,” said Lethemon, who is one of just four players on the team who is 27 or older. “They’re doing a great job and they’re good players. They’re here for a reason. Maybe they were figuring it out [early], but they’re doing a great job now.

“It’s scary now to say that I’m one of the older guys on the team,” he said. “But really there’s no rookies at this point in the season.”