Graduating Profile: Wilson Battling Adversity A Testament of Strong Character
This week, the Vancouver Giants will look back on the junior careers of their three overage players with a written profile on each one, releasing a story every other day in alphabetical order. On Monday, we began by highlighting defenceman Logen Hammett. On Wednesday, we profiled goaltender Brett Mirwald. Today, we will finish by looking at the junior career of defenceman Wyatt Wilson.
Injuries are a part of sports.
In junior hockey, they can happen often, given the intensity and pace at which today’s game is played.
For fans, injuries are a topic of conversation. Player ‘X’ is not in the lineup, so how will the team manage without them? To them, it’s just talk.
But for the player navigating through a injury, injuries are real and can be incredibly difficult to manage, especially for teenagers.
With only a finite number of years at which you can compete in the WHL, one serious injury can be a major challenge to navigate, particularly mentally. So what about dealing with two serious injuries, both in the same year? Well that can end a career.
Except if you’re Wyatt Wilson, who broke his leg twice in the 2022-23 season, first with Victoria and then in the playoffs with the Winnipeg Ice, but successfully rehabbed both times and just wrapped up his junior career with an injury-free season for the Giants.
“I wasn’t sure what was gonna happen after the second time I broke it. You know?” Wilson said when looking back. “A lot of thinking was done. The doctor said I could come back from it, so I ended up coming back and I’m super happy I did it. I ended up in a great spot here in Vancouver.”
So how did Wilson – a tough, rugged defenceman raised in Swift Current and drafted by the Lethbridge Hurricanes – end up in Vancouver as a member of the Giants?
Well, it’s certainly been quite a ride.
Lethbridge traded Wilson’s rights to his hometown Swift Current Broncos in the summer of 2019 when Wilson had just finished a year playing prep hockey at Yale Hockey Academy. The following season, he had a strong year with the Moose Jaw U18 Warriors in the Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League with 33 points in 44 games, but then had his rights traded to Victoria, where his younger brother Anthony had just been drafted to.
The two Wilson brothers, born only 18 months apart, both signed with the Royals and lined up as teammates during the 2021-22 season. That summer, Wyatt was named to the Winnipeg Jets rookie camp roster for the Young Stars Classic.
The following year, each were reminded that junior hockey is a business, as Anthony got traded to Brandon after 18 games played with Victoria. Wyatt had suffered a broken leg just eight games into the season, but was later dealt to Winnipeg in early December (while still rehabbing), meaning the two went from teammates to Manitoba rivals very quickly.
Wyatt played nine playoff games for the ICE during their 2023 playoff run, but broke his leg for the second time in Game 5 of the second round series against Moose Jaw, ending his WHL season, though he was still named to the Jets Development Camp roster in July. When the ICE relocated from Winnipeg to Wenatchee that summer, Wilson found himself in a battle for one of three 20-year-old spots, and when the Wild decided to part ways with him in the fall, the Giants jumped at the opportunity to improve their blue line, trading for him in October.
“Wyatt will add grit to our lineup and make us harder to play against,” Giants General Manager Barclay Parneta said at the time of the acquisition.
It’s safe to say Wilson’s imposing style of play definitely made Vancovuer a tougher opponent.
“You could see as the season came along, just what a force he was for us,” Giants Head Coach Manny Viveiros said.
Bringing this energy into game 4 🚂#GiantNewEra | #WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingTheFuture pic.twitter.com/7uaKCHAYkc
— X – Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) April 5, 2024
“When he first got him, we definitely needed a little bit of help on the back end,” Giants fellow 20-year-old Logen Hammett added. “He helped us out the whole year. Physical guy, strong guy, makes the right plays. He’s the kind of guy you want on your team: a guy that plays steady on the back end.”
Steady for sure, but a leader off the ice as well.
While Hammett was more of a quiet leader, Wilson had a different personality.
“I think of loud and fun,” said goaltender Brett Mirwald was asked what comes to mind when he hears the name Wyatt Wilson. “He brings a lot of energy and kind of brings the group together, from the 16-year-olds to the 20s.”
That upbeat personality is surely one of the reasons he has been able to overcome the injuries he has faced, which was actually more than just the broken legs.
In his first season with the Royals, he also fractured his face.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of adversity with injuries, but it was always for the better,” Wilson said, reinforcing that positive outlook on things. “It was a lot of training and I had a great support group around me: my friends, my family, my girlfriend back home, so it’s a lot of adversity through junior, but lots and lots of awesome memories.”
“What he’s had to endure, as far as injury wise just to get back and play again – where they weren’t even sure if he would play again – just shows the commitment and the character this young man has,” Viveiros said. “He put in a lot of work just to be able to play again.”
And being able to play a full, competitive season with the Giants in 2023-24 meant his final year of junior was certainly memorable.
“This group was awesome,” he said. “Not only great players, but great character guys, too, in the room. We had a super tight group and the city too was awesome. Nice weather. I’m used to minus-40 winters back home in the cold.”
While Wilson will be able to use his WHL Scholarship to attend a post-secondary institution of his choosing, he made it clear his primary goal is still to try to turn pro.
“I think school is kind of a second option for me,” Wilson said. “Pro has kind of been my dream my whole life and I’d like to pursue that.”