D Keaton Verhoeff - Victoria Royals, WHL (2026 Draft)

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GermanSpitfire

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Jul 20, 2020
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Massive defender already at 15 (6’3”, 190lbs) - Verhoeff is a man amongst boys on the ice. Verhoeff is a very good two way defender already at his age. He is a kid that has good instincts that has surprising good puck skills and uses his size very well positioning himself well to win loose puck battles. There is always the chance that he is a kid that may be dominating because he is more physically developed than his peers at this stage, but nonetheless he is a guy to watch moving forward.

 

GermanSpitfire

EU Video Scout for McKeen’s | Rest Easy #13
Jul 20, 2020
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Interesting that PuckPreps has Verhoeff ranked #1 for the 2023 WHL Draft early on this season.

I think that’s a little optimistic - I love the player and he would be my #1 ranked defender for the WHL draft but #1 overall is real optimistic from the guys at PuckPreps.
 

LeProspector

AINEC
Feb 14, 2017
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this kid is 15!!? Yeah, definitely a kid that hit physical maturity earlier than his peers.
 

Pavel Buchnevich

"Pavel Buchnevich The Fake"
Dec 8, 2013
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He's very raw. He's very tall, can skate well, plays good defense, but his puck game is hit or miss. He can make clean plays, but he also makes too many that he needs to improve on.
 

landy92mack29

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May 5, 2014
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He scored the GWG later in the 3rd period as well.
was in OT on a nice net drive feed from Reschny. He looked really good all game moving the puck and playing well in his zone. With Misskey+Kipkie gone to NHL camp he was the #1 dman tonight and didn't look out of place. Hopefully still gets good minutes when they come back.

 

wetcoast

Registered User
Nov 20, 2018
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was in OT on a nice net drive feed from Reschny. He looked really good all game moving the puck and playing well in his zone. With Misskey+Kipkie gone to NHL camp he was the #1 dman tonight and didn't look out of place. Hopefully still gets good minutes when they come back.
Thanks, I read the boxscore wrong I guess.

Good outing and hopefully part of a good core for Victoria going forward.
 
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macbowes

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Aug 1, 2022
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Victoria
Verhoeff looked absolutely fantastic in both games. Firstly, he's enormous, and skates very well. He's got decent hands, and a great release. Has really good offensive instincts, reading the play well, and activates at good times. Very exciting prospect.
 
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Bubbles

Die Hard for Bedard 2023
Apr 16, 2004
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So I just caught my first viewing of Keaton live. Wow, this kid is impressive. He is huge out there, and loves to initiate contact. He is not afraid to hit people. He had all kinds of ice time on PP and PK because all of the missing Dmen, but handled it fine. I could see him going Top 10 in 2026.

Right handed D, great size and skates well. That's catnip to NHL teams.
 
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landy92mack29

Registered User
May 5, 2014
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3,412
saskatchewan


So I just caught my first viewing of Keaton live. Wow, this kid is impressive. He is huge out there, and loves to initiate contact. He is not afraid to hit people. He had all kinds of ice time on PP and PK because all of the missing Dmen, but handled it fine. I could see him going Top 10 in 2026.

Right handed D, great size and skates well. That's catnip to NHL teams.

There's some Ekblad to his game. Early but the 26 WHL class is looking darn good
 

hockeykid87

Registered User
Apr 7, 2008
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This kid was an absolute freak show against Tri-City on the weekend. Already a top-pairing defenseman with like 15 games of WHL experience under his belt. Great shot, great skating, huge reach, huge in general. He is a monster. Write his name in ink for the top half of the 1st round in 2026.
 

Bubbles

Die Hard for Bedard 2023
Apr 16, 2004
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8,304
BC Teams:Nucks,Juve
This kid was an absolute freak show against Tri-City on the weekend. Already a top-pairing defenseman with like 15 games of WHL experience under his belt. Great shot, great skating, huge reach, huge in general. He is a monster. Write his name in ink for the top half of the 1st round in 2026.

Yeah looked good all weekend. I wonder if they should trade one of Kipkie or Misskey to get some forward help. I was keeping my eye on Reschny too and he looked like he was all alone offensively all game.
 

hockeykid87

Registered User
Apr 7, 2008
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Yeah looked good all weekend. I wonder if they should trade one of Kipkie or Misskey to get some forward help. I was keeping my eye on Reschny too and he looked like he was all alone offensively all game.
I was not overly impressed with Reschny over the weekend. Didn't have a ton of help with a lot of Victoria's top offensive guys at camps, but Reschny seemed to hurt his team more than help them in the two games. Very undisciplined.
 

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