Newly acquired Hamilton to dress in CHL USA Prospects Challenge
Photo by: Mark Peterson/Prince Albert Raiders
Regina, Sask. – Reese Hamilton will be one of 10 WHL players representing Team CHL at the 2024 at the 2024 CHL USA Prospects Challenge.
It’s been a week to remember for Hamilton. Before flying out to London for this weeks action, the smooth skating defenceman was dealt to Regina on Thursday from the Calgary Hitmen along with teammate Keets Fawcett and two draft picks for longtime Pats captain Tanner Howe. Today, he gears up for an important showcase ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft.
“I’m supper excited,” Hamilton explained. “It’s an honour to be able to attend this event and to be able to play with my Hlinka teammates that I had in the summer. It’s nice going in there knowing everyone so I think it’s going to be a good experience.”
Selected with the fourth overall pick of the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft, Hamilton already has an impressive resume. Hamilton has represented Canada at three tournaments, dressing for Team Canada Red at the U17’s in 2023 before winning two gold medals with Canada at two U18 tournaments. First, Hamilton won gold as an underager at the World U18 Championships in April before winning gold at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in August.
In the 2022-23 season, Hamilton helped the Saskatoon Blazers U18 AAA club to a Tellus Cup bronze medal where he played alongside current Pats players Brayden Smith, Dayton Deschamps and Tyson Buczkowski.
“I’d say that was one of the most special years that I’ve played in my life,” Hamilton said. “That was a pretty cool year. Getting to go to Westerns and then Nationals. We had a really good team. They’re [Saskatoon Blazers] are able to recruit the best players because of the staff they have. They’ve been a good team for the last couple years now, winning the league again last year. They have a pretty good organization.”
Even with two gold medals and several championships with the Blazers, Hamilton says his favourite year of hockey actually came with he played for the Saskatchewan Jr. Pats in the 2017 Brick Invitational.
“That’s probably one of my best hockey experiences of my life,” he added. “I had Tristan Frei as my coach, and played alongside Brayden Smith. That was a pretty cool experience.”
The 6-foot, 170 lb. left-shot defenceman is currently ranked a B level prospect by NHL Central Scouting ahead of the 2025 NHL Draft, which means he’s projected to be drafted in the second or third round. Last season with the Calgary Hitmen, Hamilton led all 2007-born defenceman in the WHL with 31 points (8G-23A) in 42 games, where 21 of Hamilton’s 31 points (3G-18A) came in the second half of the season, including a five-point game on March 23.
“It was a pretty successful rookie season,” said the 17-year-old defenceman. “We had a really young team so I got lots of opportunity. Same with Keets [Fawcett], he had 19-goals last year as a first year, so it was a great year.”
The Whitewood, Sask. product made his Pats debut on Friday, and has played two games with the Regiment. But coming into the Pats locker room was fairly easy for Hamilton who grew up with Connor Bear and had a connection with Aleksey Chichkin and several other players on the roster.
“That’s what has made it so easy,” Hamilton said. “Like playing with the Blazers, the Brick Team and even Connor Bear, he’s been a close friend of mine since I was in kindergarten. I’ve gone to school with him since I was in grade-8 so I got close with him and his family. Same with other guys in the locker room as well.”
The Canadian Hockey League announced the 22-player roster on October 22. The 2024 CHL USA Prospects Challenge is take place on Tuesday, November 26 and Wednesday, November 27 in London and Oshawa, Ontario.
The CHL USA Prospects Challenge will see the top first-year NHL Draft-eligible prospects from the CHL faceoff against USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program (NTDP) Under-18 Team.
Both games can be seen LIVE on TSN with Game 1 available on TSN 4/5 while Game 2 can be seen on TSN 1/4. Additionally, RDS2 will broadcast both contests in French.
Team CHL – WHL Players
| Last Name | First Name | Team | Hometown | Ht | Wt | Pos |
| Bear | Carter | Everett Silvertips | West St. Paul, Man. | 6’0” | 177 | C |
| Cootes | Braeden | Seattle Thunderbirds | Sherwood Park, Alta. | 6’0” | 183 | C |
| Kindel | Benjamin | Calgary Hitmen | Coquitlam, B.C. | 5’10” | 175 | C |
| Lakovic | Lynden | Moose Jaw Warriors | West Kelowna, B.C. | 6’4” | 190 | LW |
| Reschny | Cole | Victoria Royals | Macklin, Sask. | 5’10” | 187 | C |
| Schmidt | Cameron | Vancouver Giants | Prince George, B.C. | 5’7” | 156 | RW |
| Fiddler | Blake | Edmonton Oil Kings | Frisco, Texas | 6’4” | 210 | D |
| Hamilton | Reese | Calgary Hitmen | Whitewood, Sask. | 6’1” | 169 | D |
| Smith | Jackson | Tri-City Americans | Calgary, Alta. | 6’3” | 190 | D |
| Ravensbergen | Joshua | Prince George Cougars | North Vancouver, B.C. | 6’5” | 192 | G |
In addition to the 10 WHL players named to the roster, Brandon Wheat Kings forward Roger McQueen was also selected but will be unable to participate due to a long-term injury.
The 10 WHL players named to Team CHL include six forwards, three defencemen, and one goaltender.
The 22 players on Team CHL were selected from a list of the top 2025 NHL Draft prospects as generated by a survey conducted with all 32 NHL Clubs. Using that list of players, the CHL coaching staff comprised of Head Coach Kris Mallette (Kelowna Rockets), assistant coaches Gordie Dwyer (Acadie-Bathurst Titan, QMJHL) and Ryan Oulahen (North Bay Battalion, OHL) along with General Manager Dave Brown (Erie Otters, OHL) worked to identify the final 13 forwards, seven defencemen, and two goaltenders.
