Get to Know The New Vancouver Giants
STORY BY: CALEB BASSI-TEMPLETON
Ladner, B.C. – A new era of Vancouver Giants hockey starts on Friday, following an incredibly busy trade deadline week.
The Giants made five trades leading up to Thursday’s deadline, parting ways with six players and bringing in four, plus several draft picks. Vancouver now holds six first-round picks in the next three WHL prospects drafts.
The new faces up front are two high-end 17-year-old talents: Mathis Preston – a projected first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft – and Joe Iginla, the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome and the younger brother of Kelowna Rockets forward Tij. On the blueline, the Giants acquired two d-men to solidify their top-4: Will Sharpe was acquired from Kelowna, a former 1st-round pick who had a career-high 44 points last season, and Kaleb Hartmann was acquired from Seattle, a tough, steady blueliner who played his prep hockey at Delta Hockey Academy with Ryan Lin and Jakob Oreskovic in 2021-22.
| Mathis Preston, F | Joe Iginla, F | Will Sharpe, D | Kaleb Hartmann, D |
| DOB: 2008-07-21 | DOB: 2008-08-13 | DOB: 2007-03-07 | DOB: 2007-07-06 |
| From: Penticton, B.C. | From: Lake Country, B.C. | From: Ladner, B.C. | From: Langley, B.C. |
| HT / WT: 5’11, 177 | HT / WT: 5’10, 175 | HT / WT: 6’1, 198 | HT / WT: 6’1, 200 |
| 25-26′ STATS: 14G-18A-32P | 25-26′ STATS: 10G-11A-21P | 25-26′ STATS: 3G-13A-16P | 25-26′ STATS: 2G-5A-7P |
| GP: 36 | GP: 37 | GP: 31 | GP: 33 |
| PREV: Okanagan HA U-18 Prep | PREV: Rink HA Kelowna U-18 Prep | PREV: Yale Hockey Academy | PREV: Delta Hockey Academy U-18 Prep |
MATHIS PRESTON
The Giants acquired speedy forward Mathis Preston from the Spokane Chiefs, along with a conditional second-round pick in 2029.
Preston is currently ranked 8th on Elite Prospects consensus ranking for the 2026 NHL Draft. He was listed as an ‘A’ skater by NHL Central Scouting, indicating a projected first-round pick.
The forward has notched 32 points this season, on 14 goals and 18 assists in 36 games with Spokane. The Penticton product produced 45 points in 54 games (23G-22A) as a 16-year old rookie last year and went on to score nine goals and 16 points in the playoffs, playing a key role in helping the Chiefs get to the 2025 WHL Championship Series.
Mathis Preston, welcome to the Vancouver Giants 👋😁 pic.twitter.com/V7ikw5vV6U
— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) January 5, 2026
Preston was originally drafted by the Spokane Chiefs with the third overall pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft. Preston also won a Gold Medal with Canada White at the 2024 U-17 World Challenge, where he was named to the All-Star team. Giants defenceman Ryan Lin and Preston are familiar with one another from Hockey Canada events: they were teammates at the 2024 Youth Olympics, the 2024 U-17 World Challenge and the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
JOE IGINLA
The Giants received right-shot forward Joe Iginla from the Edmonton Oil Kings to start off their busy week, as well as a conditional third-round pick in 2028. Iginla was drafted 12th overall by Edmonton in the 2023 WHL Draft. He produced 21 points, on 10 goals and 11 assists, in 37 games for Edmonton this season.
Iginla was listed as a ‘C’ level skater by NHL Central Scouting on their preliminary players to watch list for the 2026 NHL Draft, released in October.
He’s back in BC! Joe Iginla, welcome to the Vancouver Giants! 💪 pic.twitter.com/vWS0EfKDO7
— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) January 5, 2026
The 17-year-old forward also won a Silver Medal with Canada Red at the 2024 U-17 World Challenge.
Iginla is the son of Hockey Hall of Famer Jarome Iginla and the younger brother of Kelowna Rockets forward and Utah Mammoth first-round pick Tij Iginla.
WILL SHARPE
The Giants acquired star defenceman Will Sharpe from the Kelowna Rockets this week.
Sharpe was selected in the seventh round of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft (216th overall) by the Los Angeles Kings, after producing a career-high 44 points in 66 games last season, split between the Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Kelowna Rockets. Sharpe was drafted 11th overall in the first round of the 2022 WHL Draft by Lethbridge. The smooth-skating left-shot defenceman has 16 points, on three goals and 13 assists in 31 games this season.
New kid alert! 🚨😁 welcome to the Giants Will! pic.twitter.com/QgkACvoujE
— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) January 6, 2026
Sharpe won a Gold Medal with Canada White at the U-17 World Challenge.
KALEB HARTMANN
The Giants received local defenceman Kaleb Hartmann, along with five draft picks – including two first round picks – from the Seattle Thunderbirds this week.
Hartmann was selected in the second round, 37th overall, in the 2022 WHL Draft by Seattle.
Welcome to the G-Men Kaleb Hartmann 👏 pic.twitter.com/cd4vaFifgG
— Vancouver Giants (@WHLGiants) January 5, 2026
The tough defenceman has tallied seven points this season, along with 54 penalty minutes in 33 games. Hartmann has 27 points over the last two seasons, playing a total of 154 games during this time span.
Fans have two chances to see the new-look Giants in action this weekend!
Vancouver hosts Tri-City on Friday and Wenatchee on Saturday at Langley Events Centre. Puck drop for both games is scheduled for 7 p.m. CLICK FOR TICKETS.
