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| Connor Bedard went first overall in the NHL Entry Draft. |
Of course, the 33 players who were selected from the WHL in the NHL Entry Draft on Wednesday and Thursday in Nashville, Tennessee, still have to skate out careers in hockey’s top professional league. With that said, it wouldn’t be a surprise to look back on this year’s NHL Entry Draft a couple of decades from now, and one would reflect on it being a great one for the WHL.
No matter what happens in the future, this NHL Entry Draft will be known as the one where Regina Pats phenom centre Connor Bedard, who will turn 18-years-old on July 17, was selected first overall by the Chicago Blackhawks. The North Vancouver, B.C., product might have been the most watched junior aged player ever over the three campaigns he played with the Pats.
In his three seasons with the Pats, Bedard, who stands 5-foot-10 and weighs 185 pounds, appeared in 134 career regular season games posting 134 goals and 137 assists for 271 points to go with a plus-48 rating in the plus-minus department. That included recording 71 goals and 72 assists for 143 points to go with a plus-39 rating for this past regular season. His goal and point totals were tops in the WHL and his assist total equaled Prince George Cougars star centre and Saskatoon area product Riley Heidt for the league lead.
Bedard proceeded to have a monster post-season series posting 10 goals, 10 assists and a plus-eight rating in the WHL Playoffs as the Pats fell in seven games in a best-of-seven first round series to the Saskatoon Blades. The Blades claimed a 4-1 victory in a series deciding Game 7 on April 10 at the SaskTel Centre before a sellout crowd of 14,768 spectators.
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| Connor Bedard had 271 points in 134 WHL career regular season games. |
Bedard was named the most valuable player at world juniors along with picking up accolades being named the event’s best forward and a tournament all-star.
His tallies for assists (14) and points (23) were new Canadian records for a single world juniors along with setting a new record for points in a tournament by any player aged 18 or younger. In 16 career games played at world juniors, Bedard set new Canadian career records at the event for goals (16) and points (36).
Upon returning to the Pats, Bedard usually played in front of sold out rinks or record crowds wherever he was during the final four months he played in the WHL. There were public appearances in Regina where he would spend six hours signing autographs. Bedard experienced characteristics of fandom that were unheard of for junior hockey and often things you only saw in the NHL in Canadian cities for players like Oilers phenom centre Connor McDavid in Edmonton.
Bedard handled the fandom that came his way in humble and spectacular fashion, which is something most his age wouldn’t be able to do.
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| Brayden Yager is a first round selection of the Pittsburgh Penguins. |
Yager, who turned 18-years-old in early January, piled up 28 goals and 50 assists in 67 regular season games for the Moose Jaw Warriors in 2022-23 to go with a plus-six rating. He went in the first round and 14th overall to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Yager just might be one of those star players that leads the Penguins in an era after Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
Heidt appeared in all 68 regular season games with the Prince George Cougars in 2022-23, and he had 25 goals to go with his 72 assists for 97 points. He was selected in the second round and 64th overall by the Minnesota Wild.
Due to the fact it is not easy to travel to Prince George, Heidt, who turned 18-years-old in March, wasn’t seen by scouts as much as the other players taken in the NHL Entry Draft. Had he been seen more playing on a team located on the Trans-Canada Highway, he likely would have been selected earlier in the draft.
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| Tanner Molendyk is a first round draft pick of the Nashville Predators. |
He is one of the smoothest skaters among those in the 17-year-old age group this past season, and he has steadily improved as his WHL career has progressed. In the 18 games the Blades played in the 2023 WHL Playoffs, Molendyk posted three goals, five assists and a plus-two rating.
Where Molendyk really turned heads was in the Blades seven game first round series win over the Pats. Molendyk and defensive partner and Blades captain Aidan De La Gorgendiere, who turned 21-years-old in February, were matched up against Bedard every time the Blades coaching staff could get them out against the Pats captain.
While Bedard put up impressive point totals, Molendyk handed that challenge better than anyone could in junior hockey, and he came out of that series with just a minus-one rating despite the offensive numbers put up by Bedard. For anyone that saw Molendyk play in those games, they had to believe he was someone they needed to draft.
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| The Anaheim Ducks drafted Egor Sidorov in the third round. |
During the 2022-23 campaign, Sidorov appeared in 53 regular season games with the Blades recording 40 goals, 36 assists and a plus-25 rating. He posted nine goals, 10 assists and a plus-three rating appearing in 16 games in the 2023 WHL Playoffs for the Blades.
Sidorov, who turned 19-years-old on June 18, was selected in the third round and 85th overall by the Anaheim Ducks.
On the more gritty front, Prince Albert Raiders defenceman Terrell Goldsmith was taken in the fourth round and 102nd overall by the Arizona Coyotes. Goldsmith, who turned 18-years-old in May, appeared in 58 regular season games with the Raiders in 2022-23 recording three goals, six assists, a minus-six rating and 102 penalty minutes.
Goldsmith is a defensive-defenceman that brings an imposing physical game that is aided by the fact he stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 220 pounds. NHL teams are looking for players to make life miserable in front of their net for opposing players, and Goldsmith can certainly do that.
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| Terrell Goldsmith was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes. |
Other astute selections included the Predators selecting centre Kalan Lind of the Red Deer Rebels in the second round and 46th overall, the Seattle Kraken picking defenceman Caden Price of the Kelowna Rockets in the fourth round and 84th overall, the San Jose Sharks nabbing defenceman Luca Cagnoni of the Portland Winterhawks in the fourth round and 123rd overall, the Wild getting defenceman Kalem Parker of the Victoria Royals in the sixth round and 181st overall and the Washington Capitals selecting left-winger Brett Hyland of the Brandon Wheat Kings in the seventh round and 200th overall.
One of the coolest moments was seeing the Winnipeg Jets take netminder Thomas Milic of the Seattle Thunderbirds in the fifth round and 151st overall. Milic, who turned 20-years-old in April, was overlooked due to his lack of size as he stands 6-feet and weighs 179 pounds. NHL clubs often look for a goaltender who stands usually about 6-foot-3 minimum and will pass up smaller goalies including ones that can stop the puck.
Milic backstopped the Thunderbirds to the WHL Championship Series in each of the past two seasons. The Thunderbirds captured the WHL title this past season downing the Ice in five games in a best-of-seven championship series.
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| Zach Benson was a first round pick of the Buffalo Sabres. |
On top of his post-season success with the Thunderbirds, Milic backstopped Canada to its gold medal win at this past world juniors.
During the 2022-23 regular season, Milic, who is from Coquitlam, B.C., appeared in 33 games for the Thunderbirds posting a 27-3-2 record, a 2.08 goals against average, a .928 save percentage and four shutouts. He appeared in all of the Thunderbirds 19 games in the WHL Playoffs posting a 16-3 record, a 1.95 goals against average, a .933 save percentage and one shutout.
At the Memorial Cup tournament, Milic played in all the Thunderbirds five games at that event posting a 3-2 record, a 2.41 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.
In Canada’s run to winning gold at this past world juniors, Milic appeared in six games posting a 5-0 record, a 1.76 goals against average and a .932 save percentage. Voted the WHL’s Top Goaltender and a first team CHL all-star, Milic has pretty much done almost all you can do at the junior level and more than most will ever do.
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| Thomas Milic was selected by the Jets in the NHL Entry Draft. |
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