Thunderbirds Complete 2026 WHL Draft
KENT, Wash. – The Seattle Thunderbirds have added nine new players to their prospect pool after the conclusion of the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft earlier this week. The group of new draftees includes four forwards, four defensemen and one goaltender.
The draft began Wednesday night with first round selections. Seattle’s top pick was Wyatt Jolleys out of Calgary. The Thunderbirds took Jolleys with the seventh overall pick they acquired in a draft day trade with the Victoria Royals. T-Birds Assistant General Manager Craig Goebel described Jolleys as a solid two way center who competes hard at both ends of the ice.
“The offensive skills Wyatt possesses, however, is what drew us to him,” explained Goebel of their top choice. “He has excellent vision and passing skills, sees the ice so well and makes all the other players out there with him better.”
With their own first round pick at eleventh overall, the T-Birds selected Jax Bubnick, a left shot defenseman from Saskatoon. Goebel called Bubnick a big, solid defender who can play a shutdown role with his size, great stick and skating ability.
“And then when needed he can rush or pass the puck with accuracy out of his own zone,” he added. “He just has a great presence out there.”
Day Two began with the Thunderbirds taking Strathmore, Alberta native Jett Evans, a forward, in round two, 34th overall. In the third round the T-Birds reached into East Grand Forks, Minnesota to select forward Jace Magner and followed that by picking defenseman Braeden Gilbertson of Lorette, Manitoba in the fourth round.
In the fifth round Seattle opted for goalie Easton LaBarbera. The netminder is the son of former WHL and NHL goalie Jason LaBarbera. Without a pick in round six, the T-Birds waited until the seventh round to grab Hardisty, Alberta forward Easton Holte.
The Thunderbirds rounded out their draft by choosing a pair of defensemen. In round eight they went with Malone Mann out of Victoria. The T-Birds final selection of the draft came in round nine when they chose Calgarian Beckam Brodeur.
Goebel said the organization is extremely pleased with their 2026 group. “We’ve added a lot of skill with Jolleys, Evans, Magner and Holte. We added some size and mobility on the back end with Bubnick, Gilbertson, Mann and Brodeur. Then, to top off the day we added a solid goaltender in LaBarbera who we think, in time has tremendous upside.”
