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2025 WHL Draft

I'm really interested to see what the Hitmen end up doing with this draft period and if they bottom out or attempt to reload on the fly.

I do wonder if the shadow of the new arena is lurking in their current cycle plans? CSEC, for better or for worse, seems to have the non-Flames teams on auto pilot to varying levels of success (and I could rant for a couple paragraphs about CSEC and the Calgary sports scene) but I wonder if the Hitmen feel like they don't have the cache anymore to be bad for a couple years, not that they did gangbusters being good this year.
 
2Mototik2 said:
I'm really interested to see what the Hitmen end up doing with this draft period and if they bottom out or attempt to reload on the fly.

I do wonder if the shadow of the new arena is lurking in their current cycle plans? CSEC, for better or for worse, seems to have the non-Flames teams on auto pilot to varying levels of success (and I could rant for a couple paragraphs about CSEC and the Calgary sports scene) but I wonder if the Hitmen feel like they don't have the cache anymore to be bad for a couple years, not that they did gangbusters being good this year.
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Edit: Sorry, read your comment as Kelowna, not Calgary for some reason.

I think Calgary may be in for some lean years. I could see Wetsch on the move to recoup assets. They don't pick until the third round this year and next. Does Aiden Park come back next season? Michigan is going to be stacked, can he make that team as an impact player?
 
hockeykid87 said:
Edit: Sorry, read your comment as Kelowna, not Calgary for some reason.

I think Calgary may be in for some lean years. I could see Wetsch on the move to recoup assets. They don't pick until the third round this year and next. Does Aiden Park come back next season? Michigan is going to be stacked, can he make that team as an impact player?
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I could see the Hitmen taking their lumps in this draft and then having Wetsch be part of a deadline deal for the 2026 draft and futures. I don't know if he'll be at his highest value in the off-season.

Park didn't really play all that well when he joined the team, even ending up on the fourth line, but it can be argued about how good he really could have done given the situation. However, with his track record and the Hitmen needing players of his type, I'm sure they would take him back if he and/or Michigan decide he doesn't have a place on the Wolverines next season. Every CHL player and their mother are going to play for Michigan next year according to this site and other places, so maybe there's a chance he's back in Calgary? I also don't know what happened with his signing as the Hitmen deleted all mention of it the day after they announced it but he still played for them.

At this present moment in the off-season,
  • They'll have seven returning non-OA, four potential OA's (potentially three if Birnie leaves for the NCAA early as rumoured on this site) and then the addition of Kale Dach for the forwards. Of all those forwards, there's really only Kindel, Wetsch and Gorzynski of note.
  • On defence, there's the chance that there's only two returners in 07's Aura and Pisarczyk (though he barely played after the Mynio trade). Of the potential overagers, Yakemchuk and Mynio are gone, Williams has committed to Holy Cross as of a couple days ago and could leave early and they'll probably be in-house discussions about what to do with Hurtig. The Hitmen signed an 06 USHL defenceman yesterday noting in the release that "several" d-men are moving on.
  • Goalie is seemingly the only position that's not going to have much turnover as Miller and Tu can both be back.
Obviously, that is before any drafts, WHL and NHL, this summer and then whatever NCAA decisions may be made.
 
Calgary trades Wetsch and a conditional 2028 2nd for Kelowna's 1st in 2027 (will be a high pick) and a 2026 2nd and 4th.

Regina trades their 2026 and 2027 first rounders and a 2025 second rounder for Kelowna's 1st in 2025 and select Liam Pue, huge deal.

Vancouver giants had a good first round picking up center Louis Oscar Holowaychuk and Dman Crosby Mateychuk .

Ben Oliverio dropping to 9th was a huge steal for Tri Cities as pointed out above.

landy92mack29 said:
Massive steal for tri-city with Oliverio at 9, 2nd best player in the draft
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​

 
Sad day to see Wetsch go but that 2027 Kelowna first looks nice.

We'll see if Regina is able to do anything with Shultz and Pue because they couldn't with Bedard. Does anyone have any insight into what's happening with that organization because I have seen some online noise about problems there and they had a handful of players leave under mysterious circumstances last year and not just the Vaughan twins.
 
I've also been watching the graphics from the league and the teams with this rumored/presently unannounced move to Under Armour to see if there's any hints at anything. The only potential thing I've seen is Brandon and the league have been using their retro logo.

Also, not knowing what's going on behind the scenes, interesting to see nothing out of Lethbridge yet given they have a lot of picks to make up and only one pick in the first three rounds until 2029 per Alan Caldwell's spreadsheet.
 
Bocephus said:
Thoughts on last week’s Alberta Cup in Red Deer…
The obviously top players showed well, in no particular order
Jim
Filewich
Fayad
Oliverio
Koch


I thought a couple others stood out and I will keep an eye on. Keep in mind I didn’t get a chance to watch all teams…
Grassick (Blue)
Schrock (Blue)
Kelts (Blue)
Wolitski ( Grey)
MacLellan (Grey)
Ngandu (Gold)

I wish I could have seen all teams play
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Screenshot_20250508_172056_Instagram.png
 
Bocephus said:
Koch, Kelts and Ngandu all to the Rockets just to be dealt to ice a Memorial Cup quality roster? Most likely. I liked all 3 of these players.
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If they sign them they can't be traded unless they ask for trades. I wouldn't expect them to be moved. Kelowna needs SOME players after their purge everything else this year. They still have multiple first round picks to trade.
 
whldraft said:
Many see him as a top 10 in the draft and I agree. He and Cruz Jim are similar so it is a toss up who goes first. My top 10, and my assumption is that the order doesn't change and Edmonton picks first.
  1. Maddox Schultz - Edmonton
  2. Louis-Oscar Holowaychuk - Regina
  3. Liam Pue - Kelowna (or whoever they trade the pick to, possibly PG)
  4. Cruz Jim - Penticton
  5. Thor Liffiton - Everett
  6. Ryker Doka - Vancouver
  7. Ben Oliverio - Red Deer
  8. Nolan Wolitski - Edmonton
  9. Kash Elke - Tri City
  10. Crosby Mateychuk - Wenatchee
WHL Draft watchers know that some players slip to teams due to family preference while others will go anywhere as long as it is 1 spot higher than somewhere else. Read into this what you want to.
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Doka going in the second to Spokane is a long way from this predicted 6th overall.
Did the Chiefs get a steal?
 
SC is putting on a masterclass on getting 1sts for overagers right now, with three added in the past two days.
Not going to lie, figured Lethbridge/Calgary (the Kelowna deal withstanding) would be a lot more aggressive over the few days.
 
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