Young an Up-and-Coming Talent For Wenatchee

WENATCHEE, Wash. – Incoming Wenatchee Wild defenseman Landon Young’s junior hockey career may be young, but there’s no doubting his aims for the 2023-24 season. After getting his feet wet with 11 Western Hockey League games last year, he’s hoping to dive right in this season as his old Winnipeg ICE club makes the move into the “Wolves’ Den” in Wenatchee.

Young first stepped on the ice at the AAA level during the 2019-20 season, playing in the Knights of Columbus program in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta. His season with the KC Squires under-15 team that year was a strong one, with a goal and 11 assists, and he added an assist in his only game on the KC Centennials under-16 roster. He was limited to just three games and a single goal with the Squires in 2020-21, but earned some serious looks from the ICE staff, picking up an eighth-round selection in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft.

“It’s definitely been challenging (balancing hockey with school),” said Young. “I just get my priorities straight and definitely focus on school and then hockey, but they’re both really important to me, so I hope to do well in both.”

He earned a spot on the Maple Leaf Athletic Club’s under-18 roster in 2021-22, and turned up the scoring a notch with 16 points, including five goals. Young signed his first WHL contract early last season, and after posting three goals and 13 assists for the Edmonton Jr. Oilers’ U18 team last year, he quickly settled in with his new team in Winnipeg late in the WHL season.

His first road trip with his new team wasn’t a long one – Young’s WHL debut came in Edmonton on February 28, in front of more than 12,400 young fans during the Oil Kings’ annual “Hockey Hooky” school-day game. He obviously felt right at home on the Rogers Place ice, notching two assists in a 10-1 Winnipeg rout. He finished with only those two assists by season’s end, but stepped on the ice 10 more times before calling it a year.

“I definitely learned a lot from the vets,” said Young. “It was a really good experience, and I’ve gotten to learn so much by being called up. It definitely helped my game a lot, which gave me a lot of confidence.”

As well as entertaining the young fans in Edmonton and Winnipeg, Young was eager to bring along the area’s younger players while developing his own skills, helping to coach U7, U9 and U11 players while attending Edmonton’s St. Francis Xavier High School. Now, he’ll look to bring his experiences to the Wild, with hopes of bringing some hardware to his new home.

“I’m super excited to get there. I know with our group of guys, it’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Young. “We have a lot of talent on the team, so I feel like it’s going to be a great year.”

(Note: this is the 15th in a series of offseason profiles on players set to join the Wild following the relocation of the Winnipeg ICE. Previous profiles are linked below.)