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Stanley Cup champion Lucic retires after 17 NHL seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Power forward Milan Lucic, who won a WHL Championship and Memorial Cup title as a member of the Vancouver Giants prior to hoisting the Stanley Cup as a member of the Boston Bruins, announced his retirement from pro hockey on Sunday.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Lucic, 38, made the announcement via the NHL Players Association.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">\u201cLooking back on my career, I feel truly grateful to have fulfilled my dream of playing professional hockey, culminating with a Stanley Cup win in 2011 with the Boston Bruins,\u201d Lucic said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">\u201cI want to especially thank the Bruins for giving me my start in professional hockey and for instilling the confidence to reach new heights as a player.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">The 6-foot-3, 231-pound Lucic, who hails from Vancouver, B.C., spent two seasons as a member of the WHL\u2019s Vancouver Giants. During his rookie season in 2005-06, he emerged as an impact player during the playoffs, registering seven points (3G-4A) in 18 games as the Giants claimed the Ed Chynoweth Cup as WHL Champions. At the 2006 NHL Draft, the Bruins called Lucic\u2019s name during the second round (50th overall). He broke out during the 2006-07 WHL campaign, recording 68 points (30G-38A) in 70 games, adding another 19 points (7G-12A) in 22 WHL Playoff games.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Though the Giants fell in Game 7 of the WHL Championship, they went on to win the Memorial Cup as tournament hosts. Lucic tallied seven points (2G-5A) in five games and was presented with the Stafford Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the 2007 Memorial Cup. Part of Lucic\u2019s championship performance included \u201cThe Shift\u201d \u2013 where he laid out three heavy hits before taking on Jordan Bendfeld in a spirited heavyweight tilt.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Upon finishing his days with the Giants, Lucic made the immediate jump to the NHL, dressing in 77 games with the Bruins as an NHL rookie in 2007-08.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">He spent the first eight seasons of his NHL career with the Bruins, helping Boston win the Stanley Cup in 2011. The 2010-11 season goes into the books as the best of Lucic\u2019s career \u2013 he logged 62 points (30G-32A) in 79 regular season games and added another 12 points (5G-7A) during post-season play.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Lucic was once again impactful as the Bruins advanced to the Stanley Cup in 2013. The bruising winger posted 19 points (7G-12A) in 22 games, though Boston ultimately fell in six games to the Chicago Blackhawks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Over the course of 17 NHL seasons, Lucic posted five 20-goal campaigns. Following his time with the Bruins, he made stops with the Los Angeles Kings (2015-16), Edmonton Oilers (2016-17 to 2018-19) and Calgary Flames (2019-20 to 2022-23), before returning to Boston in 2023-24.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">\u201cLater in my career, I had the privilege of playing with some exceptional organizations in Los Angeles, Edmonton, and Calgary,\u201d Lucic said. \u201cI look back with fondness at the time I spent with each organization and for the remarkable teammates I had the pleasure of playing alongside.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">\u201cI want to extend my heartfelt appreciation to all the coaches, staff and fans from each team I was apart of. I also want to thank my agent, Gerry Johannson, for his guidance during my playing days.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">After a five-game American Hockey League tryout with the Springfield Thunderbirds this past season, Lucic wrapped up his professional career by playing 26 games with the Fife Flyers of the Elite Ice Hockey League in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">At the end of the road, Lucic\u2019s ledger includes 1,177 career NHL regular season games, having scored 586 points (233G-353A), along with another 136 Stanley Cup playoff games and 77 points (29G-48A).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Lucic was the first player in Vancouver Giants history to reach 1,000 NHL games played, accomplishing the feat April 13, 2021. Prior to winning the Stanley Cup in 2011, he was named to the Vancouver Giants ring of honour.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">In 2023, he represented Canada at the IIHF World Championship and helped his nation to a gold medal finish.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Milan Lucic is officially announcing his retirement following 1,177 career NHL games played \u2013 wishing all the best to the 2010-11 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/StanleyCup?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#StanleyCup<\/a> champ\ud83d\udc4f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/X4QF1dWqt3\">pic.twitter.com\/X4QF1dWqt3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NHLPA (@NHLPA) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NHLPA\/status\/2063607120436556150?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 7, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Milan Lucic has announced his retirement from professional hockey.<\/p>\n<p>From Vancouver, British Columbia, Milan played junior hockey with his hometown Vancouver Giants of the WHL beginning in the 2004-05 season. Milan was selected by the Boston Bruins in the second round of the 2006\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4F62rLtPEE\">pic.twitter.com\/4F62rLtPEE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NHL Alumni (@NHLAlumni) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/NHLAlumni\/status\/2064045571514478918?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Power forward Milan Lucic, who won a WHL Championship and Memorial Cup title as a member of the Vancouver Giants prior to hoisting the Stanley Cup as a member of the Boston Bruins, announced his retirement from pro hockey on Sunday. Lucic, 38, made the announcement via the NHL Players Association. \u201cLooking back on my&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":2382,"name":"Milan Lucic","slug":"milan-lucic","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2382,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1"},{"term_id":1528,"name":"WHL to NHL","slug":"whl-to-nhl","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1528,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":119,"filter":"raw","term_order":"806"},{"term_id":29,"name":"vancouver giants","slug":"vancouver-giants","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":295,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1071,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2072"}],"class_list":["post-268187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-milan-lucic","tag-whl-to-nhl","tag-vancouver-giants","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/08145443\/Lucic_Generic_1920.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268200,"date":"2026-06-08T14:43:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:43:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268200"},"modified":"2026-06-08T14:43:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:43:58","slug":"red-deer-rebels-regina-pats-swap-2026-chl-import-draft-selections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/red-deer-rebels-regina-pats-swap-2026-chl-import-draft-selections","title":{"rendered":"Red Deer Rebels, Regina Pats swap 2026 CHL Import Draft selections"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Red Deer, Alta. \u2013 <\/strong>The Red Deer Rebels have completed a trade today with the Regina Pats.<\/p>\n<p>The Rebels and Pats have swapped first-round picks at the 2026 CHL Import Draft. The Rebels also received a third-round pick in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft (via Everett) from the Pats.<\/p>\n<p>The 2026 CHL Import Draft takes place on June 30 starting at 9 a.m. MT. The selection order for the draft has not yet been finalized.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RED DEER \u2013 The Red Deer Rebels have completed a trade today with the Regina Pats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":268202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":359,"name":"chl import draft","slug":"chl-import-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":384,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":75,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1340"},{"term_id":24,"name":"red deer rebels","slug":"red-deer-rebels","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":293,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1029,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1893"},{"term_id":42,"name":"regina pats","slug":"regina-pats","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":186,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1243,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1898"}],"class_list":["post-268200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-chl-import-draft","tag-red-deer-rebels","tag-regina-pats","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/08144350\/RD_REG-Trade_1920.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268186,"date":"2026-06-08T14:34:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268186"},"modified":"2026-06-08T14:34:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T20:34:39","slug":"whl-developed-stars-showcase-talents-at-2026-nhl-scouting-combine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/whl-developed-stars-showcase-talents-at-2026-nhl-scouting-combine","title":{"rendered":"WHL developed stars showcase talents at 2026 NHL Scouting Combine"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Calgary, Alta. \u2013<\/strong> The 2026 NHL Scouting Combine concluded this past weekend, with 90 draft-eligible players from North America and Europe participating.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Vancouver Giants forward Mathis Preston found his way into the top 10 across a number of different categories, including isokinetic squat (second), anaerobic fitness \u2013 peak power output (T-2nd), 10m sprint (T-3rd), pro agility right (T-3rd), bench press (fourth), pull-ups (T-6th), and pro agility left (T-8th).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman Ethan MacKenzie also enjoyed a quality showing at the 2026 NHL Scouting Combine, including impressive efforts in anaerobic fitness \u2013 peak power output (T-2nd), bench press (third), pro agility right (T-3rd), pro agility left (T-4th), right-hand grip (T-6th), pull-ups (T-6th), and force plate \u2013 vertical jump (eighth).<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Results below reflect the top 25 finishers in each respective combine test. The 2026 NHL Scouting Combine allowed NHL teams an opportunity to conduct interviews and receive physical and medical assessments of the top prospects eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">The 2026 NHL Draft is scheduled for Friday, June 26, and Saturday, June 27, in Buffalo, N.Y.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Horizontal Jump (Inches)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">3. Runtso, Timofei (Victoria Royals) \u2013 116.0<br \/>\n9. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 113.3<br \/>\n12. Gustafson, Jake (Portland Winterhawks) \u2013 109.5<br \/>\nT13. Lin, Ryan (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 109.0<br \/>\nT21. MacKenzie, Ethan (Edmonton Oil Kings) \u2013 108.3<br \/>\nT23. McKenna, Gavin (Medicine Hat Tigers*) \u2013 108.0<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Aerobic Fitness (VO2max \u2013 ml\/kg\/min)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">1. McKenna, Gavin (Medicine Hat Tigers*) \u2013 65.0<br \/>\n8. Vanhanen, Matias (Everett Silvertips) \u2013 58.0<br \/>\n9. Verhoeff, Keaton (Victoria Royals*) \u2013 57.8<br \/>\nT20. Preston, Mathis (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 54.2<br \/>\nT21. Ruck, Liam (Medicine Hat Tigers) \u2013 54.1<br \/>\nT22. Harrington, Chase (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 54.0<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Pro Agility (Left \u2013 seconds)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">T4. MacKenzie, Ethan (Edmonton Oil Kings) \u2013 4.3<br \/>\nT4. Runtso, Timofei (Victoria Royals) \u2013 4.3<br \/>\nT8. Preston Mathis (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 4.4<br \/>\nT8. Verhoeff, Keaton (Victoria Royals*) \u2013 4.4<br \/>\nT8. Gustafson, Jake (Portland Winterhawks) \u2013 4.4<br \/>\nT8. Sparks, Tyus (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 4.4<br \/>\nT8. McKenna, Gavin (Medicine Hat Tigers*) \u2013 4.4<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Pro Agility (Right \u2013 seconds)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">T3. MacKenzie, Ethan (Edmonton Oil Kings) \u2013 4.3<br \/>\nT3. Verhoeff, Keaton (Victoria Royals*) \u2013 4.3<br \/>\nT3. Preston, Mathis (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 4.3<br \/>\nT3. Runtso, Timofei (Victoria Royals) \u2013 4.3<br \/>\nT14. Harrington, Chase (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 4.5<br \/>\nT14. Gustafson, Jake (Portland Winterhawks) \u2013 4.5<br \/>\nT14. Olsen, Zach (Saskatoon Blades) \u2013 4.5<br \/>\nT14. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 4.5<br \/>\nT14. McKenna, Gavin (Medicine Hat Tigers*) \u2013 4.5<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Isokinetic Squat (lb\/lb BW)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">2. Preston, Mathis (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 3.57<br \/>\n4. McKenna, Gavin (Medicine Hat Tigers*) \u2013 3.40<br \/>\n13. Lin, Ryan (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 3.05<br \/>\n20. MacBeath, Ben (Calgary Hitmen) \u2013 2.92<br \/>\n21. Runtso, Timofei (Victoria Royals) \u2013 2.91<br \/>\n24. Vanhanen, Matias (Everett Silvertips) \u2013 2.88<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>10M Sprint (seconds)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">T3. Preston, Mathis (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 2.04<br \/>\nT7. Sparks, Tyus (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 2.05<br \/>\nT9. Lin, Ryan (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 2.06<br \/>\nT15. Olsen, Zach (Saskatoon Blades) \u2013 2.11<br \/>\nT22. Gustafson, Jake (Portland Winterhawks) \u2013 2.13<br \/>\nT22. Harrington, Chase (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 2.13<br \/>\nT22. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 2.13<br \/>\nT22. Vanhanen, Matias (Everett Silvertips) \u2013 2.13<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Anaerobic Fitness \u2013 Peak Power Output (watts\/kg)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">T2. MacKenzie, Ethan (Edmonton Oil Kings) \u2013 17.2<br \/>\nT2. Preston, Mathis (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 17.2<br \/>\n5. Olsen, Zach (Saskatoon Blades) \u2013 16.8<br \/>\nT11. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 16.5<br \/>\n14. Runtso, Timofei (Victoria Royals) \u2013 16.2<br \/>\nT18. McKenna, Gavin (Medicine Hat Tigers*) \u2013 15.8<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Wingspan (inches)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">T6. Orsulak, Michal (Prince Albert Raiders) \u2013 78.8<br \/>\nT15. Amrhein, Landon (Calgary Hitmen) \u2013 77.8<br \/>\n18. Verhoeff, Keaton (Victoria Royals*) \u2013 77.5<br \/>\nT22. Runtso, Timofei (Victoria Royals) \u2013 77.0<br \/>\nT22. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 77.0<br \/>\nT24. Rudolph, Daxon (Prince Albert Raiders) \u2013 76.8<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Anaerobic Fitness \u2013 Fatigue Index (% drop from peak)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">T6. Sivertson, Jonah (Prince Albert Raiders) \u2013 42.3<br \/>\nT6. Williams, Cooper (Saskatoon Blades) \u2013 42.3<br \/>\nT11. Pantelas, Giorgos (Brandon Wheat Kings) \u2013 45.0<br \/>\nT11. Hurlbert, JP (Kamloops Blazers) \u2013 45.0<br \/>\nT14. Rudolph, Daxon (Prince Albert Raiders) \u2013 45.5<br \/>\n16. Vanhanen, Matias (Everett Silvertips) \u2013 45.9<br \/>\nT17. Ruck, Liam (Medicine Hat Tigers) \u2013 46.3<br \/>\n19. Sparks, Tyus (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 46.4<br \/>\n20. MacBeath, Benjamin (Calgary Hitmen) \u2013 47.0<br \/>\nT24. Lin, Ryan (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 48.2<br \/>\nT24. Harrington, Chase (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 48.2<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Force Plate \u2013 No Arm Jump (inches)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">6. Lin, Ryan (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 20.0<br \/>\n8. McKenna, Gavin (Medicine Hat Tigers*) \u2013 19.5<br \/>\n9. Vanhanen, Matias (Everett Silvertips) \u2013 19.4<br \/>\nT11. Harrington, Chase (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 18.9<br \/>\nT11. MacKenzie, Ethan (Edmonton Oil Kings) \u2013 18.9<br \/>\n13. Olsen, Zach (Saskatoon Blades) \u2013 18.8<br \/>\nT15. Gustafson, Jake (Portland Winterhawks) \u2013 18.5<br \/>\nT19. Sparks, Tyus (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 18.3<br \/>\nT21. Williams, Cooper (Saskatoon Blades) \u2013 18.2<br \/>\nT24. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 17.8<br \/>\nT24. Runtso, Timofei (Victoria Royals) \u2013 17.8<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Force Plate \u2013 Vertical Jump (inches)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">3. Vanhanen, Matias (Everett Silvertips) \u2013 24.2<br \/>\nT5. Lin, Ryan (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 22.8<br \/>\n8. MacKenzie, Ethan (Edmonton Oil Kings) \u2013 22.4<br \/>\nT12. Williams, Cooper (Saskatoon Blades) \u2013 21.7<br \/>\n16. Sparks, Tyus (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 21.5<br \/>\nT17. Olsen, Zach (Saskatoon Blades) \u2013 21.3<br \/>\n19. Runtso, Timofei (Victoria Royals) \u2013 21.1<br \/>\n22. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 20.8<br \/>\n24. Gustafson, Jake (Portland Winterhawks) \u2013 20.5<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Bench Press Power (watts\/kg)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">3. MacKenzie, Ethan (Edmonton Oil Kings) \u2013 6.9<br \/>\n4. Preston, Mathis (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 6.8<br \/>\nT7. Lin, Ryan (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 6.6<br \/>\nT10. Ruck, Liam (Medicine Hat Tigers) \u2013 6.4<br \/>\nT14. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 6.2<br \/>\n17. Harrington, Chase (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 6.1<br \/>\nT18. MacBeath, Benjamin (Calgary Hitmen) \u2013 6.0<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Right-Hand Grip (lbs)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">T6. MacKenzie, Ethan (Edmonton Oil Kings) \u2013 175<br \/>\nT6. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 175<br \/>\nT8. Pantelas, Giorgos (Brandon Wheat Kings) \u2013 173<br \/>\nT13. Gustafson, Jake (Portland Winterhawks) \u2013 165<br \/>\n17. Harrington, Chase (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 163<br \/>\n22. Sparks, Tyus (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 160<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>Left-Hand Grip (lbs)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">2. Pantelas, Giorgos (Brandon Wheat Kings) \u2013 183<br \/>\nT9. Verhoeff, Keaton (Victoria Royals*) \u2013 168<br \/>\n12. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 166<br \/>\nT13. Sparks, Tyus (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 165<br \/>\nT15. Sivertson, Jonah (Prince Albert Raiders) \u2013 164<br \/>\n17. Harrington, Chase (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 161<br \/>\nT20. Gustafson, Jake (Portland Winterhawks) \u2013 160<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">P<strong>ull-Ups (consecutive reps)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">T3. Vanecek, Jakub (Tri-City Americans) \u2013 16<br \/>\nT6. MacKenzie, Ethan (Edmonton Oil Kings) \u2013 14<br \/>\nT6. McKenna, Gavin (Medicine Hat Tigers*) \u2013 14<br \/>\nT6. Preston, Mathis (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 14<br \/>\nT11. Lin, Ryan (Vancouver Giants) \u2013 13<br \/>\nT15. Runtso, Timofei (Victoria Royals) \u2013 12<br \/>\nT15. Sparks, Tyus (Spokane Chiefs) \u2013 12<br \/>\nT15. Verhoeff, Keaton (Victoria Royals*) \u2013 12<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong><em>* = 2024-25 WHL Club<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\"><strong>About the Western Hockey League<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;text-align: justify\">Regarded as the world\u2019s finest development league for junior hockey players, the Western Hockey League (WHL) head office is based in Calgary, Alberta. The WHL consists of 23 member Clubs with 17 located in Western Canada and six in the U.S. Pacific Northwest. A member of the Canadian Hockey League, the WHL has been a leading supplier of talent for the National Hockey League for over 50 years. The WHL is also the leading provider of hockey scholarships with over 375 graduates each year receiving WHL Scholarships to pursue a post-secondary education of their choice. Each season, WHL players also form the nucleus of Canada\u2019s National Junior Hockey Team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Calgary, Alta. \u2013 The 2026 NHL Scouting Combine concluded this past weekend, with 90 draft-eligible players from North America and Europe participating. Vancouver Giants forward Mathis Preston found his way into the top 10 across a number of different categories, including isokinetic squat (second), anaerobic fitness \u2013 peak power output (T-2nd), 10m sprint (T-3rd), pro&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268199,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":2019,"name":"Ethan MacKenzie","slug":"ethan-mackenzie","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2019,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":7,"filter":"raw","term_order":"325"},{"term_id":1522,"name":"Mathis Preston","slug":"mathis-preston","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1522,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":42,"filter":"raw","term_order":"812"},{"term_id":1301,"name":"2026 NHL Draft","slug":"2026-nhl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1301,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":35,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1003"}],"class_list":["post-268186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-ethan-mackenzie","tag-mathis-preston","tag-2026-nhl-draft","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/08143430\/1920.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268195,"date":"2026-06-08T12:44:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:44:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268195"},"modified":"2026-06-08T12:44:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:44:17","slug":"broncos-acquire-2007-born-defenceman-ruedig-from-silvertips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/broncos-acquire-2007-born-defenceman-ruedig-from-silvertips","title":{"rendered":"Broncos acquire 2007-born defenceman Ruedig from Silvertips"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-body\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"a_GcMg font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\"><strong>Swift Current, Sask.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"a_GcMg font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">\u2013 The Swift Current Broncos have acquired 2007-born defenceman Kayd Ruedig from the Everett Silvertips in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2026 CHL Import Draft.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-body\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"a_GcMg font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Ruedig joins the Broncos after a strong 2025-26 season that saw him suit up for three WHL clubs. The 6-foot defenceman began the campaign with the Portland Winterhawks before being traded to the Kamloops Blazers and later the Everett Silvertips, where he finished the season.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-body\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"a_GcMg font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">Across 66 regular season games this past season, Ruedig recorded 16 goals and 20 assists for 36 points. He added two goals and four assists in 17 playoff games, helping Everett capture the WHL Championship. Ruedig also contributed one goal and two assists in five games at the Memorial Cup.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-body\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"a_GcMg font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">The Humboldt, Sask., product is no stranger to Swift Current, having previously played for the Swift Current Legionnaires AAA program during the 2023-24 season, where he served as an alternate captain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-body\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"a_GcMg font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">\u201cAs a former Legionnaire, we are super excited to welcome Kayd back to Swift Current,&#8221; said Travis Crickard, General Manager and Head Coach of the Broncos. &#8220;Kayd brings welcomed mobility and transition offense to our blue line. He also packs 34 games of WHL playoff experience, five Memorial Cup games, and a league championship ring. That experience will be super valuable in our room as we continue to improve everyday.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"cvGsUA direction-ltr align-start para-style-body\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"a_GcMg font-feature-liga-off font-feature-clig-off font-feature-calt-off text-decoration-none text-strikethrough-none\">The Broncos welcome Kayd and his family to the organization.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Swift Current, Sask.\u00a0\u2013 The Swift Current Broncos have acquired 2007-born defenceman Kayd Ruedig from the Everett Silvertips in exchange for a first-round pick in the 2026 CHL Import Draft. Ruedig joins the Broncos after a strong 2025-26 season that saw him suit up for three WHL clubs. The 6-foot defenceman began the campaign with the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268191,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":1849,"name":"Kayd Ruedig","slug":"kayd-ruedig","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1849,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":6,"filter":"raw","term_order":"489"},{"term_id":36,"name":"everett silvertips","slug":"everett-silvertips","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":180,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1255,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1484"},{"term_id":31,"name":"swift current broncos","slug":"swift-current-broncos","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":209,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1029,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1990"},{"term_id":100,"name":"whl transactions","slug":"whl-transactions","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":103,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":587,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2197"}],"class_list":["post-268195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-kayd-ruedig","tag-everett-silvertips","tag-swift-current-broncos","tag-whl-transactions","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/08122054\/Ruedig-Trade_1920.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268192,"date":"2026-06-08T12:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268192"},"modified":"2026-06-08T12:41:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:41:34","slug":"broncos-acquire-first-round-import-selection-from-wild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/broncos-acquire-first-round-import-selection-from-wild","title":{"rendered":"Broncos acquire first-round import selection from Wild"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify\"><strong>Swift Current, Sask.<\/strong> \u2013 The Swift Current Broncos have acquired a first-round pick in the 2026 CHL Import Draft from the Wenatchee Wild in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2030 WHL Prospects Draft. The pick acquired by Swift Current originally belonged to the Tri-City Americans.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">\u201cAcquiring this Wenatchee first round pick will give us some flexibility to acquire additional assets as we continue to improve our team while still giving us a quality chance of getting the guys we want in the import draft,\u201d said Travis Crickard, General Manager and Head Coach of the Broncos.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The 2026 CHL Import Draft is scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, at 9 a.m. MT.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The Wild anticipate all three import players the 2025-26 roster will return to Wenatchee for 2026-27 \u2013 this includes goaltender <a href=\"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/players\/30226\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tobias Tvrznik<\/a>, and defencemen <a href=\"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/players\/30305\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Darian Rolsing<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/players\/30304\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Michal Capos<\/a>. Both Tvrznik (eighth) and Rolsing (138th) are ranked by NHL Central Scouting for the 2026 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">The 6-foot-5 Rolsing, who originates from Germany, dressed in 62 games, recording nine points (1G-8A), while the 6-foot-4 Tvrznik \u2013 a product of Slovakia \u2013 went 16-18-2-2 with a 3.10 goals-against average, .910 save percentage, and one shutout. The 6-foot-5 Capos, who hails from Slovakia, saw action in 27 games and tallied eight points (1G-7A).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">For the Broncos, they finished the 2025-26 campaign with two import players \u2013 2008-born Russian forward <a href=\"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/players\/30310\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stepan Kuryachenkov<\/a> is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft, ranked 221st among North American skaters, while Czech defenceman <a href=\"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/players\/29322\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marek Rocak<\/a> has now aged out following four seasons in the WHL.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify\">Kuryachenkov logged 28 points (12G-16A) in 47 games after being a first-round pick (59th overall) of the Broncos in the 2025 CHL Import Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Swift Current, Sask. \u2013 The Swift Current Broncos have acquired a first-round pick in the 2026 CHL Import Draft from the Wenatchee Wild in exchange for a second-round pick in the 2027 WHL Prospects Draft and a sixth-round pick in the 2030 WHL Prospects Draft. The pick acquired by Swift Current originally belonged to the&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":268190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":359,"name":"chl import draft","slug":"chl-import-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":384,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":75,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1340"},{"term_id":31,"name":"swift current broncos","slug":"swift-current-broncos","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":209,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1029,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1990"},{"term_id":1114,"name":"wenatchee wild","slug":"wenatchee-wild","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1157,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":313,"filter":"raw","term_order":"2084"},{"term_id":100,"name":"whl 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NHL Draft Highlight Reels \u2013 Cooper Williams"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":130,"featured_media":268188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"video","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1113],"tags":[{"term_id":1631,"name":"Cooper Williams","slug":"cooper-williams","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1631,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":11,"filter":"raw","term_order":"705"},{"term_id":1301,"name":"2026 NHL Draft","slug":"2026-nhl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1301,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":35,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1003"},{"term_id":38,"name":"saskatoon blades","slug":"saskatoon-blades","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":300,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":1128,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1948"}],"class_list":["post-268194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-video","tag-cooper-williams","tag-2026-nhl-draft","tag-saskatoon-blades","video-channels-2026-nhl-draft","video-channels-saskatoon-blades","category-1113","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/08122032\/HR-1920.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":{"video_id":"2652130","partner_id":"31014","player_id":"47902","width":"16","height":"9","360p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31014\/sd\/2652130.mp4","240p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31014\/ld\/2652130.mp4","480p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31014\/hsd\/2652130.mp4","1080p":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31014\/fhd\/2652130.mp4","hls":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31014\/streaming\/2652130\/2652130.m3u8","webp":"https:\/\/cdn.target-video.com\/live\/partners\/31014\/webp\/2652130.webp"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268194","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268194"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268194\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268194"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268194"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268194"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":268184,"date":"2026-06-08T12:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/?p=268184"},"modified":"2026-06-08T12:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T18:24:08","slug":"2026-nhl-draft-profile-carson-carels-prince-george-cougars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/article\/2026-nhl-draft-profile-carson-carels-prince-george-cougars","title":{"rendered":"2026 NHL Draft Profile | Carson Carels, Prince George Cougars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/players\/29468\/game_by_game\/289\/\">Carson Carels<\/a> is a man of two worlds.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, June 9, the Prince George Cougars alternate captain will be one of six top 2026 NHL Draft prospects in attendance for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, one person amidst a roiling crowd of more than 17,500 ravenous fans enjoying the chilly reprieve of the Golden Knights&#8217; T-Mobile Arena in a swath of Nevada heat.<\/p>\n<p>The solid left-shot defender will be right at home among that contingent of projected first-round picks, but part of his heart will always be on the sprawling family farm near Cypress River, Man., where the cows outnumber the people and he&#8217;s a short quad ride away from almost pure isolation.<\/p>\n<p>Carels says his goal is to make a name for himself in hockey before, one day long down the road, returning to the place that built him- the place he takes the most pride in.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have 500 head of cattle that we calve out, so when it&#8217;s all said and done, we have about 1000 (animals) on the farm,&#8221; Carels said. &#8220;We just do cattle and a lot of hay, and besides that, we have a few goats as well. It keeps it interesting.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t like sitting still, so I mean, when you can do what you want and have a sense of pride when you take care of the animals and get your job done, I think that&#8217;s what I&#8217;m passionate about.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;He&#39;s going to make $10 million playing in the NHL.&quot;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PGCougars?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PGCougars<\/a> defenceman and highly-touted prospect Carson Carels has seen his draft stock rise as we step closer to the 2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/NHLDraft?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NHLDraft<\/a> in June. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gv4gHiiFpt\">pic.twitter.com\/gv4gHiiFpt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheWHL\/status\/2025997944542118394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 23, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>That determination to get the job done is a huge part of why the Prince George Cougars selected Carels with the 16th overall pick in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft.<\/p>\n<p>Cougars Associate Coach Jim Playfair remembers the stark impression the youngster made on him during the veteran coach&#8217;s first camp with the WHL club.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At the end of that, we had a meeting with the staff, the scouts and the ownership to kind of evaluate who was going to be on the team that year, what type of camp the players had, and I didn&#8217;t know anybody, so I didn&#8217;t say nothing until Mark (Lamb) came around to Carson Carels,&#8221; Playfair recalled. &#8220;Mark had asked me, &#8216;Jimmy, what do you think?&#8221; And I just said, &#8220;Well, he&#8217;s gonna make $10 million a year playing in the NHL&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Adjusted for inflation and an increased salary cap, the Cougars coaching staff has jokingly adjusted that number to $12 million.<\/p>\n<p>One thing they aren&#8217;t kidding about is Carels&#8217; dedication to building his game from the defensive zone out and allowing the offensive side of his game to blossom from that.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He could have come in and just rattled up a bunch of points and then not paid attention to the defending details, and so it was like an upfront contract, and he agreed to do it,&#8221; Playfair added. &#8220;And to his credit, he was excellent in his first year. He was a double-digit plus player, was a solid player. Now this year, he&#8217;s come back with confidence on how to defend.<\/p>\n<p>What he&#8217;s going to provide to an NHL team is he&#8217;s going to be a real solid player, he&#8217;s going to be able to play last minute of periods, he&#8217;s going to be able to play last minute of games, he&#8217;s going to be able to penalty kill, and on top of that, his offense is going to come from good first passes. It&#8217;s going to come from good vision at the offensive blue line. So, I think his base of play is defending, and I think that gives him a chance to be a good pro.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Carels, who will turn 18 on June 23, reaped the benefits of that training with 20 goals (including three game-winners and a trio of shorthanded strikes), 53 assists, 73 points, and a +23 rating in 58 games in 2025-26.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">CARSON CARELS!!<\/p>\n<p>A HIGHLIGHT REEL GOAL TO WIN IT IN OT!!! \ud83c\udf9e\ufe0f<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PGCougars?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PGCougars<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/NHLDraft?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#NHLDraft<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Rf91ZDA0fE\">pic.twitter.com\/Rf91ZDA0fE<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheWHL\/status\/2012749179123068967?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 18, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He really sits me down, and we go over a lot of details with obviously video, and then on the ice, he&#8217;s always trying to try to help me with just the little things,&#8221; Carels said. &#8220;When Jim takes you under his wing, like he has to me, he shows me so much on and off the ice, and it&#8217;s just truly developed me into who I am as a person, and I can&#8217;t get that anywhere else.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He finished third in points-per-game among all defencemen, was one of just six blueliners to hit the 20-goal mark in the regular season, cracked the WHL Western Conference First All-Star Team and was named a finalist for the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy for WHL Defenceman of the Year.<\/p>\n<p>Carels tore up an East Division road trip with 11 points (3G-8A) on a six-game East Division swing through Saskatchewan and Manitoba and even got to take his Cougars teammates for a tour of the farm.<\/p>\n<p>Much will be made of the hardworking nature that farm life has instilled in Carels as the draft and- potentially- his NHL debut draw closer, but the competitive youngster is always quick to throw in a joke.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s definitely work ethic,&#8221; Carels said. &#8220;But yeah, when you&#8217;re sorting cows, you&#8217;ve got to have a good angle on them, or else they might get by you or run you over.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sunday to Remember! \ud83d\ude9c\ud83c\udf3e<\/p>\n<p>So grateful to the Carels family for welcoming us to their beautiful farm and hosting an unforgettable afternoon. What a special day! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/mSFjd3qGzL\">pic.twitter.com\/mSFjd3qGzL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Prince George Cougars (@PGCougars) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PGCougars\/status\/2025990007169953930?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 23, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In the postseason, Carels netted another 10 points (1G-9A) in 10 games to help the Cats reach Game 6 of the second round despite playing through injury.<\/p>\n<p>The 6-foot-1, 198-pound rearguard was also the second-youngest player (he&#8217;s four days older than former Victoria Royals star Keaton Verhoeff) named to Team Canada for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he netted an assist and a bronze medal- plus invaluable time learning from fellow CHL graduates with professional experience.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think just confidence,&#8221; Carels said of lessons learned from the tournament. &#8220;That was a great experience, just learning from Zayne (Parekh, Calgary Flames) and Harrison (Brunicke, Pittsburgh Penguins\/Kamloops Blazers) there.<\/p>\n<p>I think just the way they move around the ice, on the blue line, and how they see plays. When you&#8217;re following up a player like that, you can always jump in and be an option. So I think just getting more open and going to the good ice.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In a draft season that has seen much of the focus locked on a talented crop of defencemen, NHL Central Scouting has ranked Carels third among all North American skaters.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s gotten to flex his game at the 2025 CHL USA Prospects Challenge and the 2026 WHL Prospects Game, where he nabbed four assists while captaining Team West.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Obviously, you want to compare yourself, but you can&#8217;t, because everyone in this draft is a little different,&#8221; Carels mused. &#8220;I think just my game is a little different than everyone else&#8217;s, and I&#8217;m happy with how I play and happy with how I carry myself.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With a game forged on the farm and molded in the WHL, Carels is ready to bring his two worlds to the big stage- and the draft is no exception.<\/p>\n<p>Round One of the 2026 NHL Draft is set for Friday, June 26, at 5:00 p.m. MT at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., but Carels will take in the action surrounded by family, friends, and the nearly 1,000 animals at the farm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Carson Carels is a man of two worlds. On Tuesday, June 9, the Prince George Cougars alternate captain will be one of six top 2026 NHL Draft prospects in attendance for Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, one person amidst a roiling crowd of more than 17,500 ravenous fans enjoying the chilly reprieve of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":268189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"article","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1110],"tags":[{"term_id":1510,"name":"Carson Carels","slug":"carson-carels","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1510,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":32,"filter":"raw","term_order":"822"},{"term_id":1301,"name":"2026 NHL Draft","slug":"2026-nhl-draft","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1301,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":35,"filter":"raw","term_order":"1003"}],"class_list":["post-268184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","tag-carson-carels","tag-2026-nhl-draft","category-1110","description-off"],"acf":[],"featured_image":["https:\/\/media.chl.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/06\/08122041\/Profiles-1920.png",1920,1080,false],"hide_from_app_feed":false,"video":false,"gallery":null,"ht_game_id":0,"target_video":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268184","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/487"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=268184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/268184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/268189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=268184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=268184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chl.ca\/whl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=268184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}]