NHL Prospect Watch: Minnesota Wild
Ahead of the 2025-26 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. This series will highlight current and former WHLers who are signed to an NHL contract, have recently been drafted by an NHL team, or meet the NHL’s definition of a rookie.
Today, we’re checking in on the state of the State of Hockey.
Caedan Bankier
Power forward Caedan Bankier put up respectable numbers in his sophomore AHL campaign with the Iowa Wild, netting 12 goals (including two game-winners) and 14 assists for 26 points in 68 games. With more than 100 pro games now under his belt, the 6-foot-2, 192-pound centreman has rounded out his two-way game in hopes that stronger offensive numbers will follow. The former Blazers alternate captain iced four seasons in Kamloops, picking up 188 points (76G-112A) in 202 regular-season tilts. The 6-foot-2, 190-pound forward from Surrey, B.C. had a breakout run in 2022-23 with 85 points (37G-48A) in 57 games, a gold-medal performance at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship, WHL B.C. Division Second Team All-Star honours and four points (1G-3A) at the 2023 Memorial Cup. Minnesota selected Bankier with the 86th overall pick in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft and signed him to an entry-level deal in March of 2023.
Caedan Bankier does it all on his own. @IAWild | #IAvsMB pic.twitter.com/3SFroOnhDi
— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) February 8, 2025
Riley Heidt
The Prince George Cougars captain put down a historic campaign in the Northern Capital. Heidt racked up 31 goals and 59 assists for 90 points in 60 games, leading the Cats in points and assists while ranking 11th among all WHLers in overall scoring and 12th in helpers. The 5-foot-11, 177-pound centreman registered 12 outings with three or more points, highlighted by a one-goal, four-assist effort against the Victoria Royals and a hat trick against the Prince Albert Raiders in September. He found the scoresheet in all seven Cougars playoff games in 2025, tallying five goals and four assists- including a hat trick in Game 6 against Portland to keep his team’s season alive. Heidt was invited to Canada’s National Junior Team Camp in December and was also named a Western Conference Finalist for WHL Humanitarian of the Year. With 370 points (116G-254A) in 281 regular-season games over five seasons, Heidt now holds the Cougars franchise record for assists and sits third in all-time points (he’s the top scorer since the team moved to Prince George ahead of the 1994-95 season). Originally selected by the Wild with the 64th overall pick in the second round of the 2023 NHL Draft, Heidt has built an incredible legacy in Prince George as he eyes a jump to the pro ranks in 2025-26.
🎥HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT🎥
Riley Heidt is R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S.@PGCougars | @mnwild | #WHLHoN pic.twitter.com/8HYXpbkn2S
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) November 6, 2024
Justin Kipkie
The Victoria Royals Captain took a roundabout path to the Minnesota Wild after being drafted a second time. Kipkie was selected by Minnesota with the 141st overall pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NHL Draft, having re-entered the Draft after not receiving a contract from the Utah Mammoth (he was originally chosen in the fifth round of the 2023 NHL Draft by the then-Arizona Coyotes). The 6-foot-4, 207-pound defender posted a career-best 62 points (12G-50A) in 64 games in 2024-25, finishing fifth in points and assists among all WHL blueliners. Kipkie helped Victoria clinch the B.C. Division title for just the second time in franchise history, while setting a franchise record for goals by a defenceman (36) and solidifying the Royals as the second-stingiest regular-season team in the Western Conference. The Calgary, Alta. product was named to the WHL Western Conference Second All-Star Team and closed out the season with 13 points (2G-11A) in 11 playoff games.
Captain Justin Kipkie delivers the overtime winner! pic.twitter.com/ZZK3JpKsnT
— Victoria Royals (@victoriaroyals) February 9, 2025
Carter Klippenstein
Hardworking winger Carter Klippenstein put teams on notice when he snagged an invite to the annual NHL Combine and finished in the top 10 in seven of the 13 categories. Minnesota promptly snapped him up with the 123rd overall pick in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft. Klippenstein, who clocks in at 6-foot-3and 181 pounds, potted 14 goals and 14 assists for 28 points in 58 games with the Brandon Wheat Kings this season while playing an important role on the team’s penalty kill. He also ranked fourth on the Wheaties in plus/minus with a +20 rating. The 18-year-old from Lethbridge, Alta. has made life difficult for his opponents at the WHL level and looks to take another step forward with a beefed-up Wheat Kings lineup in 2025-26.
The clips keep coming when it comes to Carter Klippenstein!@bdnwheatkings | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/PfHrA1LXdR
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 20, 2025
Carson Lambos
Sophomore AHL defenceman Carson Lambos saw minor improvement in his offensive totals with five goals and 14 assists for 19 points in 68 regular-season games with the Iowa Wild, but his defensive play is what has Minnesota excited about the 22-year-old. Lambos went from -13 in his rookie pro season to +5 (first among all Iowa defencemen) in 2024-25. He earned a call-up to the NHL in January but has yet to make his NHL debut. However, the NHL club’s blueline could potentially be depleted to start the year, and the door could be open for Lambos to make a statement and earn his first ice time in the show. Selected by the Wild with the 26th overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, Lambos was a star with the Kootenay/Winnipeg ICE franchise, wearing an ‘A’ for two years before captaining the squad to the 2023 WHL Championship Series in his final year. The 6-foot-1, 193-pound rearguard piled up 22 goals and 73 assists for 95 points in his final two seasons, culminating in WHL East Division First Team All-Star honours in 2022.
Lambos first of the season, and Soppers first AHL point!
LOVE TO SEE IT#ItStartsInDSM pic.twitter.com/Y3HNveaylS— Iowa Wild (@IAWild) December 8, 2024
Kyle Masters
Masters saw his second season in the pro ranks split between the AHL Wild, where he buried one goal and two assists in 16 tilts, and the ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders, where he added another five goals and eight helpers in 27 matches to finish second among all defencemen in points-per-game (.48). The 6-foot, 190-pound rearguard had another two assists in seven games in the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Playoffs after ending his regular season in the AHL. Masters, from Edmonton, Alta., had his name called 118th overall in the fourth round of the 2021 NHL Draft. He played the bulk of his WHL career with the Red Deer Rebels but joined the Kamloops Blazers for his final WHL season in a blockbuster trade in 2022-23. Masters, now 22, closed his junior career with 92 points (16G-76A) in 175 regular-season games and nine playoff points (1G-8A). He was named a B.C. Division Second Team All-Star in 2023.
Landers win it in OT!!!!!
🚨#49 Kyle Masters
🍏#27 Ryan Miotto
🍏#53 T.J. Walsh.#GoLanders🦌 #DefendTheForest pic.twitter.com/i4WwOZGdrb— Iowa Heartlanders (@GoHeartlanders) February 22, 2025
Michael Milne
Twenty-two-year-old forward Michael Milne registered three hits in his NHL debut in a narrow 2-1 loss against the Dallas Stars on November 16, 2024. It was a well-earned promotion after snagging four goals and four assists in the first 10 games of the AHL season, having missed Minnesota’s rookie and training camps with an injury. The 5-foot-10, 187-pound forward scored 15 goals (including two game-winners) and 11 assists for 26 points in 60 contests in his third season with Iowa, finishing fourth on the team in goals and 10th in points. A third-round selection (89th overall) in the 2022 NHL Draft, the Abbotsford, B.C. native amassed 60 goals and 73 assists in 133 games over four seasons with the Kootenay/Winnipeg ICE, including a head-turning 81-point (38G-43) campaign in 2021-22. Milne has inked a one-year, two-way contract with the Wild for the upcoming season.
Welcome to the League, Michael Milne! 🟢🔴 pic.twitter.com/gGQfJlgt6w
— NHL (@NHL) November 17, 2024
Ryder Ritchie
Put a ring on it! The 2023 WHL Rookie of the Year played a critical role as a veteran sniper as the Medicine Hat Tigers lifted the Ed Chynoweth Cup for the sixth time in franchise history this spring. Despite missing a chunk of the season after taking a skate blade to the face in early October, Ritchie returned to put up 29 goals and 32 assists for 61 points in 53 regular-season games- including a monster five-point (3G-2A) night against the Red Deer Rebels (for the record, fellow Wild prospect Chase Wutzke was not in net that game). The 6-foot-1, 185-pound winger added nine goals and nine assists for 18 points in 18 playoff games to help punch Medicine Hat’s ticket to the Memorial Cup. Ritchie dazzled on the CHL’s highest stage with four goals and one assist in four games, highlighted by a two-goal, one-assist outburst in a 3-1 win over the QMJHL Champion Moncton Wildcats. Ritchie was drafted by the Wild with the 45th overall pick in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft.
The first goal of the 2025 Memorial Cup goes to Ryder Ritchie and the @tigershockey!@mnwild | #MemorialCup pic.twitter.com/toQWsUTjch
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) May 23, 2025
Chase Wutzke
The 2024 fifth-round pick (142nd overall) faced a ton of rubber with the injury-riddled Red Deer Rebels in 2025-26 but still turned in plenty of standout performances. The 6-foot-2, 161-pound netminder went 17-25-4-1 with a 3.38 goals-against average, a .895 save percentage, and one shutout. Notably, Wutzke was 4-1-1-0 when facing 40 or more shots, highlighted by a 46-save effort in a 6-3 win over the 2025 WHL Champion Medicine Hat Tigers. The 19-year-old faced the fifth-most shots of any WHL netminder (1,531) while making the fifth-most saves (1,371). While the youngster has yet to make his pro debut, he did earn valuable time with the Iowa Wild after signing an ATO upon the conclusion of the Rebels’ regular season. The Debden, Sask. product will be expected to carry another heavy load as Red Deer aims for a bounce-back season in 2025-26.
The Wutzke wall ⬇️#RDREBELS | #WHL pic.twitter.com/Mxcmkbjx9I
— Red Deer Rebels (@Rebelshockey) January 18, 2025
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