WHL Championship: Game 1 Player to Watch – Reid Schaefer
For the first time since 2019, the WHL Championship Series is back. Featuring the WHL Eastern Conference Champion Edmonton Oil Kings and the WHL Western Conference Champion Seattle Thunderbirds, Game 1 is set for Friday, June 3 (7 p.m. MT) at Rogers Place in Edmonton.
Visit oilkings.ca for tickets, or catch the action from home via WHL Live.
Reid Schaefer
Spruce Grove, Alta.
2022 NHL Draft eligible (31st, North America)
Right Wing
#24
6-foot-3, 213 pounds
2022 WHL Playoffs
19 GP – 6G-12A–18 points
Reid Schaefer is one of those guys who makes the most of his opportunities.
In an elevated role as a late-2003 born forward, the product of Spruce Grove, Alta., has spent the 2021-22 WHL season forcing his way on to the radar and up the charts of scouts across the hockey community.
Starting the campaign as a ‘C’ ranked prospect on NHL Central Scouting’s preliminary ‘Players to Watch’ list, the 6-foot-3, 213-pound winger pushed his way onward and upward, moving himself into the No. 85 slot among North American skaters by the time NHL Central Scouting issued its midterm rankings back in January.
Fast forward to May, the talented goal scorer had vaulted all the way up to No. 31 among North American skaters when NHL Central Scouting issued its final rankings and appears poised to hear his name called in the first two rounds of the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal come July.
“It’s just taking it day by day,” Schaefer said. “Hard work – success will come with that, so you’ve just got to keep working and good things will happen.
“The further we go in the playoffs the more attention we get. Obviously, having other top-notch draft prospects (on our team), it brings a lot of scouts to the games and it’s just awesome to be a part of the ride with them.”
The 2021-22 season has served as a breakout for the right winger, who once upon a time was an eighth-round pick (164th overall) of Thunderbirds back in the 2018 WHL Prospects Draft. In 66 games during the regular season, Schaefer registered 32 goals and 58 points. In 25 career WHL games prior to, he had managed only three assists.
The quality play has continued in the WHL Playoffs, as Schaefer has made his impact felt across all aspects of the game – five-on-five, shorthanded, power play – you name it, and chances are pretty good Schaefer is involved. With the run the Thunderbirds have been on, including winning two decisive Game 7s on the road (at Portland; at Kamloops), Schaefer’s involvement has been vital to Seattle’s success.
“We’ve had a heck of a ride so far, and it’s been a bit of a rollercoaster, but it’s been awesome,” Schaefer said. “Coming back from a 3-1 series (deficit) and a 3-2 series (deficit), our team has a lot of belief and we’re very resilient. We’re very excited to get a crack at Edmonton here and we think it’s going to be a hard-fought series.”
Prior to joining the Thunderbirds at the onset of the 2020-21 season, Schaefer skated for two seasons with OHA Edmonton of the Canadian Sports School Hockey League.
“It adds a little bit of pressure when your family and friends are coming to watch,” Schaefer said of being close to home for the start of the 2022 WHL Championship Series. “You always want to perform for them. But it’s also really exciting.”
???? Hear from @SeattleTbirds forward Reid Schaefer in advance of Game 1 of the 2022 #WHLChampionship#NHLDraft | #EDMvsSEA pic.twitter.com/7NvH4NfCgG
— The WHL (@TheWHL) June 3, 2022
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