2025 WHL Draft Week next on docket for young Blades
The 2024-25 season was one of optimism and excitement for the Saskatoon Blades. The Bridge City Bunch defied outside expectations set at the start of the season, finishing one win away from an East Division banner with a 37-23-4-4 record. Not only did the Blades earn 82 points and secure their sixth consecutive postseason berth, they did it with seven full-time rookies on the roster. The Blades entered the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien as the second youngest team to qualify with an average age of 17.9, losing in four games in Round 1 against the powerhouse Calgary Hitmen.
“Massive credit to the job that Dan (DaSilva) and Andrew (Sarauer) did as a coaching staff to empower those kids and give them all significant roles on the team,” said Blades director of scouting, Dan Tencer.
“It was tremendously exciting to see all of them, you know, absolutely take off when given that opportunity this year,”
A busy trade deadline saw the Blades say goodbye to veteran players from their consecutive Eastern Conference Final runs in 2023 and 2024. Forwards Brandon Lisowsky, Lukas Hansen, Ben Riche (acquired by the Blades in May 2024), and Misha Volotovskii, along with Nashville Predators prospect Tanner Molendyk, were traded for ten WHL Prospect Draft Picks across the next four years and several young roster players like Hayden Harsanyi, Jack Kachkowski, and Calgary Flames draft pick Hunter Laing.
| BLADES ACQUIRE | BLADES TRADE AWAY |
| F Tanner Scott (’04)
F Frantisek Dej (’05) F Hunter Laing (’06) F Hayden Harsanyi (’07) D Jack Kachkowski (’07) F Kazden Mathies (’07) F Adam Halat (’09) D Luke Dumas (’09) 2025 1st Round Pick (MH) 2025 2nd Round Pick (MH) 2025 2nd Round Pick (VIC) 2026 1st Round Pick (PG) 2026 2nd Round Pick (VIC) 2026 3rd Round Pick (MH) 2026 4th Round Pick (MH) 2026 10th Round Pick (POR) 2028 5th Round Pick (MH) 2028 5th Round Pick (PG) |
F Brandon Lisowsky (’04)
D Tanner Molendyk (’05) F Misha Volotovskii (’05) F Lukas Hansen (’05) F Lochlan Tetarenko (’07) 2027 5th Round Pick (SAS) 2028 5th Round Pick (SAS) |
“It’s super exciting because we have those guys for a chunk of years here, and we expect to be able to build off of that,” said Tencer, “The excitement for the future is really significant.”
The Blades’ focus shifts to the 2025 WHL Expansion Draft for the Penticton Vees, the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft, and the 2025 WHL U.S. Priority Draft.
The league awarded Penticton, BC an expansion franchise on March 24, along with the initiation of a franchise application process for the City of Chilliwack, to begin play in the 2026-27 WHL season. The 2025 WHL Expansion Draft is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7, followed by the first round of the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft at 5:00pm. Live coverage for both events can be found for free on Victory+. The next day kicks off with the U.S. Priority Draft at 8:00pm CT, followed by the remaining rounds of the WHL Prospects Draft.
The Blades hold the following picks for the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft:
WHL Prospects Draft
| ROUND | PICK | ORIGINAL TEAM |
| 1 | 22 | Medicine Hat Tigers |
| 2 | 31 | Portland Winterhawks |
| 2 | 35 | Seattle Thunderbirds |
| 4 | 72 | Regina Pats |
| 6 | 118 | Regina Pats |
| 6 | 129 | Saskatoon Blades |
| 8 | 170 | Tri-City Americans |
| 9 | 198 | Saskatoon Blades |
| 10 | 221 | Saskatoon Blades |
”I would say this year, especially on defence, very strong year,” said Tencer, “Having said that, at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter because in junior hockey you need five to six guys from every draft year to turn out. Everybody’s picking from the same crop, so the goal is to have the best draft possible given the available players and the picks that we have. I feel pretty confident that our guys have done the work and are ready to do that again.”
| ROUND | PICK |
| 1 | 7 |
| 2 | 41 |
“ It was talked about that the (NCAA Eligibly) rules were going change and then early in the season they finally did,” said Tencer, “As soon as they did, we allocated a pretty significant chunk of resources to make sure that we were on top of it. Colin (Priestner) was down south at one point. I was down south. We had a couple of regional guys sent down there as well. Obviously, a lot of these teams have traveled up north as well. So I think we have a pretty good handle on the available crop.”
Players eligible for the 2025 WHL U.S. Priority Draft are 2010-born players who have resided in the United States for two or more consecutive hockey seasons immediately preceding the WHL U.S. Priority Draft. Should a player’s family have moved from WHL territory in Canada to the U.S. for at least one complete season, the player will be eligible for the WHL U.S. Priority Draft. To be eligible for the 2025 WHL U.S. Priority Draft, a player must reside in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming.
Players not selected in the 2025 WHL U.S. Priority Draft will remain eligible to be selected in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft, beginning in the second round.
For complete coverage of the 2025 WHL Playoffs presented by Nutrien and the 2025 WHL Drafts, visit WHL.ca.
