A bit of a rare situation presented itself to the Diamond Energy Female Midget AAA Wildcats heading into 2018 fall camp over the weekend at the Innovation Credit Union iPlex.

After a high-calibre spring camp showed the talent pool available to the team, head coach Terry Pavely was able to sign players early enough in the offseason so that just one roster spot was up for grabs at fall camp.

Last year's roster also sees 15 players carried over, providing the 2018-19 Wildcats roster with a healthy dose of experience.

"It means we're a very veteran group, and we like the skill-set we have with our veteran group. We think we have a good mix of kids who can play different roles," said Pavely. "We've got some really highly offensive skilled kids, we've got some kids who play more of a checking role, and that's all through our lineup. Even on the back end we have some kids who are a little more offensive and a little more defensive. I think when you have a veteran group, that gives you a good basis to build around."

The Wildcats return ten forwards, three defencemen and both of their goaltenders from last year's 12-11-1-4 season, when they finished fifth in the SFMAAAHL.

On top of that, six players are headed into their final Midget season, meaning the bulk of the Wildcats roster has two - and in some cases three - full seasons left.

Their head coach believes that familiarity with each others' games and experience at the Midget AAA level should put his team in a good position.

"We're in a good spot for the next few years, but our expectation this year is we're going to be in the mix at the end of the year," Pavely shared. "We've got some highly skilled players that can put the puck in the net, I think we're solid on D, and we're really happy with our goaltending. Come February and March, we expect that we're going to be in the mix. That's not saying we're going to win the league, but we're going to be there. At the end of the day, we're going to be a really tough out - whoever we play in playoffs."

Aside from the un-signed players fighting for the final roster spot, fall camp provided more of a look at how returning players improved over the offseason, as well as how the depth chart could look to start the 2018-19 campaign.

"The play without the puck and the attention to the defensive responsibilities by our veteran kids is a little bit better - that's what you want," Pavely noted. "The biggest thing for us, when we have a camp like this when we had a pretty veteran group and we're kind of set in most positions, now we're kind of trying to piece together where they're going to fit, what lines they need to be on, and maybe early on what type of role we're going to ask them to play."

"Even though there might not be competition for, per se, a spot, there's competition for ice time early and where you're going to start on the depth chart. Again, we've been really happy with our veteran kids, and what they've done this weekend."

The full roster will be released at a later date.

Meanwhile, with the Wildcats' schedule released, the team can now look ahead to an opening-weekend match up against the defending league champs from 'The Bridge City'.

Swift Current hosts the Saskatoon Stars September 29-30 at Fairview West Arena.

The full interview with Wildcats head coach Terry Pavely can be found below.