The 2024-25 season is just hours away, and when it begins the Brandon Wheat Kings are going to be a team in a lot of other teams’ crosshairs. It will be an adjustment, but the team is ready for the change.
As a team many consider to be on the rise and even a favorite in the East Division, the Wheat Kings will get everyone’s best every night. Teams will start their number one goalies, play their best possible lineups, and bring their best efforts. For the Wheat Kings part, they intend to give those teams no choice.
“This is always a really fun time of year,” said head coach and GM Marty Murray. “I know the guys put in a really hard summer of work and we’re pleased with the fitness test results and the preseason, winning all four games. It’ll be good to get going for real.”
Ahead of the season opener against the Moose Jaw Warriors, we go through the Wheat Kings at each position and see what the strengths of this club will be.
Forward Thinking
Whether you talk to Murray, the players, or those who follow the team, the forward group is the source of much of the excitement around the Wheat Kings this season. The team expects to be able to roll four lines consistently, each of which can score.
“It’s a really deep group,” Murray said. “We can have impactful positions in the game night to night with one through four lines. I’m even hesitant to call them line one or line two because I think all four can do damage at different times of the game.”
How the lines actually end up will depend somewhat on the answer to the 20-year-old question (more on that later) but for the early preseason and part of camp the team has rolled a line that Murray teased in the offseason: Roger McQueen centering Caleb Hadland and Marcus Nguyen.
McQueen is up for the NHL draft this year, and a top-ten prospect on many lists. He’s also the team’s leading goal scorer from the playoffs, so naturally he attracts a lot of attention. So does Nguyen, with his speedy, high-tempo and high-skill game, and Hadland with his complete 200-foot game and always-on compete level. But they’re far from the only notable forwards.
Nicholas Johnson, Matteo Michels, Carter Klippenstein, Nolan Flamand, Rylen Roersma, Joby Baumuller, and Dominik Petr are all back from last season. And the incoming rookie class will have a simpler transition than most. Not only did Jaxon Jacobson, Easton Odut, and Brady Turko play together (and light it up) in the Manitoba AAA ranks, they also got into several games each with the Wheat Kings.
The lone forward that could make his WHL debut would be Ben Binder Nord, and his style requires very little translation. The in-your-face, agitating rookie mixed it up and scored a goal in the preseason, looking like an ideal player for when the games get physical and the play goes into the trenches. He’s got company on that front; Klippenstein and Johnson both showed well in those scenarios as well.
Whether it’s will or skill, or both, the Wheat Kings have plenty of players up front who can beat you any way they need to. And they have plenty of experience. On the back end, there’s a little less experience, but no less competitiveness.
The Defense Rests
The defense starts the year not only younger in general (there are five rookies on the back end) but without one of the more experienced players as Charlie Elick is away with the Columbus Blue Jackets. That’s no reason to push the panic button, however. Not after the way the young players performed in the preseason.
“We have three 16-year-olds still in Brandon and they’ve played mature beyond their years,” said Murray. “Guys like (Dylan) Ronald have come in and given us a spark. Our veterans are a year older too. It’s something we’re going to have to work on and have commitment from not only our defensemen but the five guys on the ice to be in unison and play strong defensively.”
One thing to note with this blueline: they’ll be no fun to play against. Quinn Mantei, recently named captain, started off the hit parade in his very first preseason game, but it was two of the 16-year-olds, Gio Pantelas and Nigel Boehm, who threw some of the most devastating checks from the back end. In that department, every defenseman on the team had their moments in the preseason.
“One thing we’ve talked about is getting the puck back and we’ve talked about checking more than defending,” said Murray. “We want to get the puck back, and part of that is being physical and being hard on our opponents. Our guys have done a pretty good job of that through four preseason games.”
A combination of growth spurts and impressive development curves have seen the three 2008-born players, Pantelas, Boehm, and Cameron Allard, play well above the usual expectations for their age. Since the remaining two rookies, Ronald and import Adam Belusko, have junior experience elsewhere, they won’t be as susceptible to rookie hiccups as a younger player might be.
While Elick is gone, the veteran presence comes from Mantei, 20-year-old Luke Shipley, and returning 19-year-old Rhett Ravndahl. Mantei is the Swiss Army Knife of the back end, capable in any and all roles, while Shipley is a reliable puck mover with an edge who led the team in goals and points by a defenseman last season. Ravndahl fills a stay-at-home role, blocking shots, throwing his weight around and calming the game down, in many ways filling the role vacated by Jackson DeSouza’s graduation.
But any defense, no matter how talented, will inevitably give up chances. When that happens, you turn to the men between the pipes.
The Last Line of Defense
Here’s an area where the Wheat Kings have an abundance of confidence, and more stability than the overwhelming majority of teams across the league. Even with starter Carson Bjarnason gone to Philadelphia for camp with the Flyers, the team has faith in their tandem.
Ethan Eskit will be the starter in Bjarnason’s absence, and his lone appearance of the preseason, coupled with the impressive showing he had filling in during the playoffs, gives confidence there. And Dylan McFadyen, despite being just 16, won three straight preseason games, capped by a 3-1 win over Regina in which he stopped 23 of 24 shots.
“That should be one of the stronger points of our roster,” Murray said. “Carson, I understand, is having a great camp in Philadelphia and it’s great for him to get that confidence and experience. We’re confident that Eskit and McFadyen can hold down the fort. McFadyen hadn’t played a minute in the league until preseason and he stood very tall in his games. He won three games against veteran goaltenders.”
The 20-year-Old Question
The team is thrilled to have Nguyen back from the Florida Panthers, but his return puts another decision on Murray’s plate: which of the four 20-year-olds will be his final three?
Roersma is the longest serving Wheat King of the group, and the leading returning scorer on the team. Both he and Flamand broke the 20-goal barrier for the first time last season. While Roersma had more points last season, Flamand led the team in goals during the preseason. Each has made their case to remain and will continue to make it.
Nguyen was acquired in the offseason for the price of prospect Reed Brown, and would’ve led the 2004-born Wheat Kings in goals last year. He plays with pace, edge, and defensive responsibility, and is a wizard on the penalty kill with six shorthanded goals last season.
Shipley, meanwhile, is the team’s lone 20-year-old on the back end, and the returning leader in goals and points by a defenseman. He’s an anchor on both the power play and penalty kill, as befits a veteran, so his value to the team has been on full display as well.
“They’re mostly players we’re familiar with on our team and they all bring different things to the table,” Murray said. “It’s a really tough decision. They’re all really good people to begin with. It makes it that much more difficult. We’re monitoring it, and we know what they bring to the table from the past, but there are a lot of things that go into it other than hockey too. It’s their leadership qualities and how they bring the young players along.”
The Wheat Kings will only be able to dress three of them on opening night when they host the Moose Jaw Warriors. Puck drop is 7:00.
