2026 WHL Championship Series – Game 5 Player to Watch: Braeden Cootes, Prince Albert Raiders

Prince Albert, Sask. – If the Prince Albert Raiders are going to fight to see another day, you better believe Vancouver Canucks prospect Braeden Cootes will be at the centre of it.

The 6-foot, 183-pound product of Sherwood Park, Alta., has put up four points (1G-3A) in four games of the WHL Championship and sits tied for fourth in WHL Playoff scoring with 22 points (7G-15A) in 19 games.

The Raiders are up against the wall, down 3-1 in the best-of-seven WHL Championship Series presented by Nutrien. Now, their goal is to do something only one other team has ever done over the course of WHL history – erase the 3-1 deficit to claim the WHL crown.

“We’re just taking it a game at a time, a shift at a time,” Cootes said. “It is what it is. If you would have told us at the start of playoffs that we would be in this position, we would take it. Enjoy the moment and play our game.

“We need to stick to our process and what we’ve been talking about the whole time. The whole playoffs that has made us successful. Play free out there, play our game and have confidence. Take it a shift at a time, a period at a time and hopefully we get the one win and can go back to Everett.”

Only the Victoria Cougars have ever accomplished that feat, coming from behind to knock off the Calgary Wranglers in the 1981 WHL Championship.

With that said, this Raiders team knows about the art of the comeback. In 2024, they erased a 3-1 series deficit – albeit not in the WHL Championship – to knock off the Edmonton Oil Kings in the first round of the 2024 WHL Playoffs.

Selected by the Canucks in the first round (15th overall) of the 2025 NHL Draft, the 19-year-old Cootes was named the WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player for the 2025-26 season after recording 63 points (24G-39A) in 45 games.

Originally selected by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the first round (10th overall) of the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft, Cootes has secured 162 points (64G-98A) in 176 regular season games.

Game 5 of the 2026 WHL Championship Series presented by Nutrien is set Friday, May 15, at 7:30 p.m. MT as the Prince Albert Raiders host the Everett Silvertips. The winner of the best-of-seven series will advance to the 2026 Memorial Cup presented by Kubota in Kelowna, B.C., which is scheduled for Friday, May 22, through Sunday, May 31.

All seven games of the WHL Championship Series are available in Canada on TSN. Viewers can also stream the entire series globally and for FREE on Victory+.