WHL Alumni Spotlight: Fan-favourites from the Western League embrace major roles in tournament and postseason play
With over 100 graduates currently featured on NHL rosters, the Western Hockey League prides itself as one of the finest development leagues in the World.
By way of the WHL Alumni Spotlight, we aim to highlight notable achievements set by our alumni at the highest level of professional hockey on a week-to-week basis.
This is what our WHL Alumni were up to over the last week.
WHL graduate Bedard taking over the 2024 World Championship
No matter the stage, Connor Bedard aims to dominate.
Just ask his competitors at the 2024 IIHF World Championship in Prague and Ostrava, Czechia.
Wasting no time in his World Championship debut, the Canadian forward quickly rifled off five points (four goals–one assist) through his first two games at the tournament. The immediate outburst from the 18-year-old places him tied for third in points, only behind Switzerland’s Roman Josi and Germany’s Leonhard Pfoderl and Yasin Ehliz.
Connor Bedard, welcome to the #MensWorlds.🤗 #GBRCAN @hockeycanada @NHLBlackhawks pic.twitter.com/jonrpqEq3k
— IIHF (@IIHFHockey) May 11, 2024
Recording back-to-back, multi-goal games against Great Britain then Denmark then another tally against Austria, Bedard is one of two players in the tournament to boast five or more goals. And despite being the youngest player on the Canadian roster, the NHL rookie leads his team in points too.
CONNOR BEDARD STRIKES AGAIN!
He is on hat trick watch for the second game in a row👀#MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/daJfiT1rAP
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) May 12, 2024
Already off to a blistering hot start at the World Championship, you don’t have to look far to find past achievements set by the generational talent at the international level. Bedard’s time representing Canada can be summed up with one word. Golden.
The WHL alumnus won gold with Canada at the 2021 IIHF U18 World Championship in Frisco, Texas, and is a two-time gold medal winner at the IIHF World Junior Championship (2022 and 2023). At the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship held in Halifax and Moncton, N.S., Bedard was also named the tournament’s Best Forward and MVP.
In a three-season stint with the Regina Pats of the WHL, individual success was commonplace for the North Vancouver, B.C. product. Bedard was the recipient of the Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Rookie of the Year for the 2020-21 season, compiling an impressive 28 points (12 goals–16 assists) in 15 games. Two seasons later, the sharpshooter would pair his Rookie of the Year award with the WHL and CHL’s Player of the Year award along with the WHL’s Top Scorer award. Prior to being selected first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2023 NHL Draft, Bedard totalled 71 goals and 72 assists for 143 points in his farewell season with the Pats.
Stars find Game 3 success through Stankoven’s first career playoff goal
Logan Stankoven can’t help but turn heads.
So, it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that the former Kamloops Blazers captain continues to be a common talking point across the Lone Star State of Texas. Especially when you consider his latest Stanley Cup Playoffs performance.
Making the steep hike up to Denver, Col. for Game 3 against the Colorado Avalanche, Stankoven helped the Stars sigh a breath of relief by scoring two goals to help secure their second win of the series.
An impressive feat by any player, the two-goal performance was even more special for the forward hailing from Kamloops, B.C. His first goal of the night, a quick snapshot from the slot in the first period, went down as his first career goal at the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Stankoven would add to his fortune by netting his second of the night, a cash-in on an empty net in the third period.
First career playoff goal for Logan Stankoven! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/eP0h8t1hZW
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 12, 2024
While clearly visible in Game 3 of the second-round series between the Stars and the Avalanche, Stankoven has been a shining star for Dallas since he made his professional debut with the club on February 24. The sprouting rookie recorded 14 points (six goals–eight assists) in the 24 regular season appearances with the Stars. Not to mention his six points (three goals–three assists) through his first 12 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
STANKOVEN 🤩
We're RIGHT BACK to a one goal game 😳 pic.twitter.com/UBCD5ZNAPW
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 16, 2024
Stankoven joined the Stars’ franchise following his fifth and final season with the Blazers. In total, the hometown star skated in 180 career games with Kamloops, recording 260 points (115 goals–145 assists). The 21-year-old graduated from the League as the recipient of the 2021-22 Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy and the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the winner of the WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player and the WHL Player of the Year, respectively.
Stankoven’s junior hockey chapter came to a close at the 2023 Memorial Cup held in his hometown of Kamloops. The Blazers legend led the tournament in points with two goals and seven assists in four games played.
WHL Champion Draisaitl earns podium place on Stanley Cup Playoffs record
Germany’s Leon Draisaitl has been playing fiercely through the first two rounds of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Like, record-setting fierce.
Since entering the postseason, the WHL alumnus hasn’t stopped being an offensive catalyst for the Edmonton Oilers, topping all NHL players with 18 points (seven goals–11 assists) through eight games played. Of his eight appearances at this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, Draisaitl has recorded multi-point outings seven different times – including a four-point night that was featured in Game 2 of the second round against the Vancouver Canucks on May 10.
Leon Draisaitl in his office is such a cheat code… #StanleyCup
🇺🇸: @NHL_On_TNT (TBS, truTV) & @SportsonMax ➡️ https://t.co/W9mpYG1lMO
🇨🇦: @Sportsnet or stream on Sportsnet+ ➡️ https://t.co/sEijvXhbA1 pic.twitter.com/i3cZtVeIKN— NHL (@NHL) May 13, 2024
His recent scoring stint hasn’t gone unnoticed either. Drasaitl was named the NHL’s Playoff Performer of the Week for his efforts.
Extending his #StanleyCup Playoff-opening point streak to 10 games, Leon Draisaitl led all scorers with 9 points, averaged 25:04 in ice time and played a key role in two @EdmontonOilers wins amid a tight Second Round battle as our NHLPA Playoff Performer of the Week. pic.twitter.com/iJIWtOaWgI
— NHLPA (@NHLPA) May 17, 2024
And, while his current postseason campaign has been impressive enough, it’s his career-long playoff history that is really worth the brag.
Following his four points against Canucks in Game 2, Draisaitl scaled up the NHL rankings, becoming the third-fastest player in National League history to reach 90 career playoff points. With 93 points in just 56 career playoff games with the Oilers, the German forward surged past pages of NHL greats until he found himself on the third-place podium. Draisaitl sits behind only Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, who both hit 90 career points at the playoffs in just 43 and 45 games, respectively.
It isn’t just the Stanley Cup Playoffs where Draisaitl thrives either. The former Prince Albert Raiders and Kelowna Rockets forward was also elite during his three-season stint in the Western Hockey League – and, of course, the WHL Playoffs. In 28 postseason appearances between the Raiders and the Rockets, Draisaitl earned 11 goals and 26 assists for 37 points. And that was only the beginning. Acquired by Kelowna via Prince Albert in January 2015, Draisaitl went on to win the 2015 WHL Championship with the Rockets. Recording 28 points (10 goals–18 assists) in 19 games, the import skater hoisted the Ed Chynoweth Cup as a WHL Champion and as the WHL Playoffs Most Valuable Player.
Draisaitl wouldn’t stop there either, as the German went on to be named the recipient of the Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy as the Most Valuable Player at the 2015 Memorial Cup.
Draisaitl was selected third overall by the Edmonton Oilers at the 2014 NHL Draft.
NHL Bracket Buzz
Edmonton’s Calvin Pickard collected his first career win at the Stanley Cup Playoffs in his first career postseason start. The netminder made 19 saves during the Oilers’ Game 4 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Pickard spent four seasons in the Western Hockey League, as a member of the Seattle Thunderbirds. In 241 career starts with the Thunderbirds, Pickard owned a record of 91-120-27 and a save percentage of .909%.
In his first ever start in the #StanleyCup Playoffs, Calvin Pickard gets the win in a massive Game 4 victory for the @EdmontonOilers! 👏 pic.twitter.com/MZlodQQuK8
— NHL (@NHL) May 15, 2024
