GRADUATING PROFILE: Undrafted Pyne Looks Back Fondly on WHL Career
This week, the Vancouver Giants will look back on the junior careers of their three overage players with a written profile on each one. On Wednesday, we begun with defenceman Ethan Mittelsteadt. Today, we look back on the WHL career of goaltender Kelton Pyne.
Langley, B.C. – When the 2020 WHL Draft came around, goaltender Kelton Pyne figures he was about 5-foot-9 and ‘soaking wet, probably about 120 lbs.’
Like it or not, that just wasn’t big enough.
So the native of White City, Saskatchewan – which is just outside Regina – did not get selected.
But getting passed over did do something else: it motivated the hell out of him.
“I think that kind of sparked a fire in my belly,” the now 20-year-old veteran of nearly 150 WHL appearances said. “I went into camp as a 16-year-old, just a listed kid. I don’t think anyone thought too much of me at the time, but I had a pretty good camp as I remember. The last couple days of camp, they said they were going to sign me. I was kind of in disbelief. Just a kid that went undrafted and came in and earned it.”
He didn’t just earn it with any team: he earned it with his hometown WHL club, the Regina Pats. From 2021-25, Pyne played in 104 career regular season games for the Pats.
And that, the 6-foot-1 netminder now says, was the biggest honour of his WHL career.
“As a kid, it’s always a dream to play for your local WHL team when you’re older,” he said. “Lucky enough for me, I got to live out that dream for four years.”
Pyne in his rookie season with his hometown Pats (Keith Hershmiller Photography)
Pyne had an incredibly unique start to his WHL career, one that he described at the time as ‘the greatest experience ever.’
Injuries with the Pats during his 16-year-old season forced a call-up in February of 2022, and eventually, a start. It was the tail end of an Alberta road trip for Regina, who tapped Pyne on the shoulder for the very first time against the reigning WHL champions: the Edmonton Oil Kings.
Easy peasy, right?
Well, not really. The Pats allowed 42 shots on goal and lost the game 6-3.
It was what came next that was so incredible for the young goaltender and his teammates, which included future NHL draft picks Connor Bedard, Ryker Evans, Tanner Howe and Stanislav Svozil.
Pyne started the team’s next game in front of family and friends at the Brandt Centre, on February 11, 2022 against the Calgary Hitmen.
He didn’t allow a single goal in a 5-0 win, becoming the youngest Pats goaltender (16 years, 5 months, 8 days) to record a shutout in nearly 20 years.
His next start came at home 11 days later against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
Yet again, he was flawless, picking up a 2-0 win this time to record back-to-back shutouts on home ice as a 16-year-old rookie.
“That was probably the two coolest moments in my whole hockey career so far,” Pyne said. “The boys played in front of me for sure. It wasn’t much work those two nights. The shots were in the 20s. It was so cool having a bunch of family and a bunch of friends in attendance for those two games.”
Pyne shows off his ‘1st WHL Win’ puck on Feb. 11, 2022.
After bursting onto the scene in the 2021-22 season, Pyne only played in 11 games the following year, but it’s still a season he’ll never forget because it was teammate Connor Bedard’s draft year.
“Obviously there’s hype around him like no other,” Pyne recalled. “When I was 17, after Christmas, every game we were at, home or away, was sold out. We sold out the Saddledome. It was unreal. Incredible.”
Pyne believes having a teammate who can shoot the puck like Bedard helped his game.
“I practiced a lot as a young guy – so taking those shots from the Bedards, the Suzdalevs, the Howes, the Svozils, those kind of guys, I think that helps you in practice,” he said. “Once I got older, I kind of settled down my game a bit. Kind of got more calm and comfortable in the net. Not kind of flopping around as much as I used to be. I think that’s probably one of the biggest things I’ve improved on.”
Over the years with the Pats, he also improved his mobility and his conditioning, as he became the go-to guy in the 2023-24 season with 38 games played and then played 44 times in the 2024-25 season, when he was named the Pats Player of the Year.
Kelton Pyne shows us the best way to start a period!@WHLPats pic.twitter.com/V80G6V7aQC
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) January 6, 2024
That season, Regina allowed the third-most scoring chances against, yet Pyne’s save percentage was nearly .890. He also started every single game of the team’s B.C. Division road trip, which included a first star performance against the Vancouver Giants on Dec. 4: a 5-3 road win where he stole the game with 38 saves on 41 shots.
The following season, with the Pats still in rebuild mode and Pyne now 20-years-old, it was time for a new opportunity. He was traded to the Giants on October 16, 2025, leaving home for the first time.
“Didn’t really know where to, but I was expecting it,” Pyne admitted. “I think it was a great experience for me. Obviously as an older guy, I think it was easier for me and my family for me to move away now than if I were 16. Living in a big city and getting to make a whole bunch of new relationships was great.”
From the minute Pyne walked into the Giants dressing room, it was clear there was a humorous side to him.
Fellow 20-year-old Ethan Mittelsteadt described him in a few different ways: hilarious, loved, hard worker and leader.
“Goofy guy off the ice, but so competitive on the ice,” added teammate Misha Volotovskii when asked to describe Pyne. “He wants to win so bad. Very well loved in the room. Knows how to keep it light. Awesome guy to play with.”
Kelton Pyne (left) poses with former 20-year-old teammate Ty Halaburda (middle) and fellow 20-year-old Ethan Mittelsteadt (right).
Head Coach Parker Burgess immediately recognized the passion that helped Pyne earn his place in the league.
“He was athletic and he was so competitive. And he was a great teammate. The guys loved him,” Burgess said. “I think he kept it light in the locker room. He and Burke [Hood] had a really good relationship. He was really good with all the younger guys. But also a level of competitiveness when it was game time or time to practice…[which] I think really rubbed off on a lot of guys. There were nights when he was our best player.”
Pyne himself hopes his laidback demeanour has rubbed off on other Giants.
“I like to chop it up with the boys. Kind of a goofy guy,” Pyne said. “I hope [the younger guys] take that from me. On the leadership side, I feel like I’m a pretty nice older guy, so I hope them younger guys, when they’re in my shoes, they’re good to the younger guys like I’ve been to them.”
The next stop for Pyne in his hockey journey hasn’t yet been determined, but he’s keeping his options open, including potentially using his WHL Scholarship to attend a Canadian University.
But for now, he’s back home in Saskatchewan, likely ‘chopping it up’ with his friends as the off-season gets underway.
