This is the first full draft for Wenatchee since the 2014 North American Hockey League Entry Draft – the Wild organization’s final season in the NAHL was the 2014-15 season. The British Columbia Hockey League, to which Wenatchee belonged from 2015-23, did not conduct an annual draft.

The Wild did participate in last year’s Canadian Hockey League Import Draft – however, it was the former Winnipeg ICE who participated in the U.S. Priority Draft and the WHL Prospects Draft prior to the organization’s relocation to Wenatchee in mid-June.

The WHL draft sequence takes place in two parts, over two separate days.

The U.S. Priority Draft is first, scheduled for Wednesday, May 8 – this draft is two rounds long, and only United States players are selected in this draft.

The WHL Prospects Draft is scheduled for Thursday, May 9, and players from both the U.S. and Canada are eligible to be selected.

Wenatchee’s allotted draft slot is the 12th pick in each round – depending on the round, previous trades may be in effect that will add or subtract a draft pick for the Wild, and may cause this slot to vary.

This year’s draft is limited to 2009-born players. Eligible players come from roughly the western half of Canada – Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, plus the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut – and the United States west of the Mississippi River.

Import players from outside the U.S. and Canada are not selected in these drafts.

Of course not – teams also sign free agents or make trades to add to their teams. However, the WHL draft sequence is vital to building a roster that will be at or near the top of the WHL standings from one year to the next. For example, of the top 50 scorers in the Western Hockey League this year, 44 were eligible to be drafted in the U.S. Priority Draft or WHL Prospects Draft (thus excluding import players from this count) – of those 44 players, 39 were selected in one of the two drafts, including 26 in the first or second rounds.

Of the 662 players who made at least one appearance in the WHL this past season, only 40 were 2008-born players – this is the age group selected in last year’s WHL Prospects Draft and U.S. Priority Draft, and players are only allowed to play five games with their WHL teams before their prep or AAA seasons end. One of these players – Caelan Joudrey – appeared for the Wild during the 2023-24 season.

16-year-old players are eligible to play a full season in the WHL for the first time, but only 103 WHL players were in their 16-year-old seasons. After that, the likelihood of seeing a player step on the ice for his WHL team increases sharply – 144 WHL players were in their 17-year-old seasons in 2023-24, more than the number of 15- and 16-year-old players combined.

Both drafts begin at 9 a.m. Pacific time on their respective days, with picks to be announced in real time on the WHL website – the Wild will also announce each of their selections individually on their social media, with a summary at the end of each day. On Thursday, the WHL will also host the first round of its Prospects Draft as part of a live draft show – coverage on WHL Live begins with a pre-show at 8:30 a.m. PT.