WHL Stars of Tomorrow: Caelan Joudrey, Wenatchee Wild

There’s a flurry of activity that comes with relocating a club in time for the start of a new season- something the Wenatchee Wild can tell you all about.

In July of 2023, just weeks after it was announced the Winnipeg ICE would be moving to Wenatchee, Wash., one of the most important jobs for Wild Director of Scouting Leigh Mendelson was checking out the talent pool the team was taking on- including 2023 WHL Prospects Draft third-round pick Caelan Joudrey.

The longtime scout and coach drove to Red Deer to watch Joudrey at Team Alberta’s Male U16 Summer Camp and quickly discovered that when it comes to inheritance, the Wenatchee Wild had scored big.

“One hundred percent, all day long,” Mendelson said when asked if Joudrey is the type of player he would have drafted. “I had a chance to see him a couple months prior to camp, and right away he was exactly the kind of guy we want here, in terms of a guy with some size, a guy that plays hard, a guy with some skill.

The one thing I really like is he can both play both in the middle and on the wall. I think he’s got great speed for a big kid to get up and down the rink, but he’s also a pretty good centerman in terms of winning draws and supporting pucks on the breakout, etc. So I think there’s a lot of versatility there.”

Joudrey cuts an intimidating figure with his six-foot-three, 175-pound frame at just 16 years old, but he believes his internal drive and determination are what’s helped set him apart.

“My U15 second year, we had a great team, a bunch of great kids, supported everyone out there,” Joudrey said. “That really taught me to be harder on myself and also be better… I’ve just been pushing myself as hard as I can go and just always try to be better than the person next to me.”

Joudrey’s first trip to a WHL camp in the fall of 2023 motivated him as he made the jump to U18 and represented Alberta at the 2023 WHL Cup.

The Airdrie, Alta. product erupted at the tournament with eight points (four goals, four assists) in five games, including a hat trick to eliminate Saskatchewan in the semifinals and a goal and three assists in the final, where Manitoba toppled Alberta 6-5 in a shootout.

He potted 18 goals and 26 assists for 44 points in 34 regular-season games with the Airdrie CFR Bisons and made the Alberta Elite Hockey League (AEHL) Second All-Star Team.

So when the call to the Wild came, he was ready.

Joudrey made his WHL debut against the Medicine Hat Tigers in a one-game call-up in November 2023, with his parents making the drive down to Co-op Place to share the moment.

There was even more family and friends in the crowd when Joudrey re-joined the Wild for a Central Division road trip in February, where he scored his first WHL goal against Calgary and his second the following night in Red Deer.

“I couldn’t even count how many people I had that I knew there that would come to support me,” Joudrey recalled. “It was such a great experience. I felt so supported by everyone- I had friends, family, my parents, co-workers and teachers that I had in grade eight…It felt great being in my hometown, being able to do that.”

All told, Joudrey netted two goals and an assist in seven regular-season games.

But in terms of experience, Mendelson believes playoff games are worth twice as much as a regular-season tilt- so it says a lot that Wenatchee played Joudrey in five games in their first-round match against the Kelowna Rockets in the 2024 WHL Playoffs.

While the Wild would bow out against the Rockets, Mendelson praised Joudrey’s ability to use his instincts and play at a high pace without an in-depth knowledge of the squad’s systems and tactics.

“Nothing like playoff hockey, that’s for sure,” Joudrey said. “It’s a different type of game. It’s louder, it’s more intense. Every game means something to everyone, and it’s just it’s a fun experience being able to play hockey. Nothing like Wenatchee fans, they go crazy out there.”

A busy summer also saw Joudrey invited to Hockey Canada’s Under-17 National Development Camp in July- another good omen of what’s to come for the talented forward.

He currently has a goal and an assist in four preseason games with the Wild and hopes to make it a season to remember in Washington.