In terms of draft strategy, the Brandon Wheat Kings managed to have their cake and eat it too. That’s what can happen when you are as well-stocked as the Wheat Kings were with top-end picks.
Entering the draft, head coach and GM Marty Murray told me in an ideal world they would both add some quality players for the present using those picks as bargaining chips, and add promising prospects for the future. Partly by some skilled maneuvering in trade, partly by a little bit of luck in who other teams selected, they accomplished both goals.
There were so many external factors working on the trade market at this year’s draft. Kelowna’s Memorial Cup host status (and their bevy of draft picks, which only grew thanks to a trade with Regina), the looming threat of players leaving for the NCAA in the new hockey landscape, a possible influx of American-born players thanks to that same landscape, and, for the first time ever, a 23rd team in the mix in the Penticton Vees, mean this was the most complicated environment for a trade in the WHL’s history. And the Wheat Kings still got something done, and still got to make their choices in the first and second round. Not too shabby.
So, what did the Wheat Kings actually get? Well, in some cases it could be years before we truly know, but I can share some of what we do know right now. It’s going to be all the harder to wait for training camp for the next three and a half months.
- They didn’t come cheaply, but boy did the Wheat Kings add two excellent veterans in Luke Mistelbacher and Grayson Burzynski. Let’s start with Mistelbacher, whose sniping ability might be the best the Wheat Kings have had in my time covering the WHL. He has what I would describe as almost casual speed, the kind of effortless ability to pull away from defensemen that leaves him frequent breakaway opportunities that he has the hands in tight to finish off. His shot, however, is a huge selling point. When you score 42 goals (fourth in the WHL last season in that department) it’s assumed you can shoot, but going through Mistelbacher’s goals it’s incredible just how many of them are clean snipes, beating a goaltender to the top corner with a bullet of a shot. Over the last couple of seasons, Marty has told me that’s one thing the team has often lacked: a pure sniper who can be relied on to score goals in bunches and be a threat every time they’re on the ice. In that regard, Mistelbacher is their guy. While his linemates are still obviously to be determined, I can’t help but be excited thinking of what he could accomplish with some of the premier puck distributors the Wheat Kings have. A set-up man like Jaxon Jacobson or Jordan Gavin could make music with this guy.
- Ironically, the Wheat Kings saw more sniping ability from Burzynski than from Mistelbacher this season. The Wheat Kings keyed on Mistelbacher every time they played the Broncos (for obvious reasons), but they couldn’t keep Burzynski off the board. The 6-foot-4 defenseman picked up four goals and four assists in five games this season against the Wheat Kings. Marty joked that he was so tired of Burzynski scoring on the Black and Gold that he decided he’d better go out and get him (hey, that strategy worked out pretty well with Matteo Michels) but, to be totally fair, it wasn’t just the Wheat Kings on the receiving end of Burzynski’s career season. He posted 11 goals and 47 points (which would lead all returning Wheat Kings’ defensemen) and throw in the fact that he’s 6-foot-4 and a Winnipeg native, and you can see why the Wheat Kings jumped at the opportunity to land him. Rolling through his goals, by the way (not just the four I saw in person) you don’t see a lot of what you’d call “lucky” goals. This guy can pick corners.
- There will be a lot of notes about overagers in this edition of the blog, and unfortunately one of those notes is a really tough pill to swallow. Wheat Kings captain Quinn Mantei, their longest-serving player and three-time defenseman of the year, is leaving the team a year early to go to the NCAA. On the ice, the loss here is obvious. Mantei did absolutely everything for the Black and Gold, from quarterbacking the power play to shutting down the other team’s best players. Skating, intelligence, physicality, skill, “Q” had it all and he’ll go down as one of the best Wheat Kings of his time period. Off the ice, he was a leader, and one of my personal favorite players to work with. Perry Bergson used to joke it was unfair that Q was both better at hockey AND smarter than either of us. He was right. Quinn will be missed by everyone in and around the Wheat Kings organization. But this was something every team knew could happen when the NCAA rule change came down, and it’s hard not to want the best for a guy who’s given his all to the Wheat Kings for 250 games. His departure turned the acquisition of Burzynski from a nice pickup to a downright necessity, so good on the Wheat Kings for jumping on that.
- Even with Mantei’s departure, the Wheat Kings still had a logjam of overagers, which they partially cleared by trading Dominik Petr to the Saskatoon Blades. This is another young many I’m really sorry to see leave. Dom had such a good sense of humor and was so quick-witted that it was easy to forget he was making jokes in a second language. That intelligence translated onto the ice, where Roger McQueen called him “the smartest player I’ve ever played with”. The Wheat Kings didn’t get as much for him as they gave up to land Mistelbacher or Burzynski, but that owes to the fact that Dom is “two-spotter” and fills both a European and 20-year-old spot. As an amusing side note, for some reason Dom absolutely loves playing at the Art Hauser Centre, where he always seems to score. Some Prince Albert Raiders’ observers pointed out to me that he’s now going to get to see the Raiders ten times a season. He’ll enjoy that, no doubt. We’ll miss him in Brandon as well.
- Some people felt the Wheat Kings paid a steep price for two players who can’t remain with the team beyond this season. I do have a couple of things to keep in mind on that front. First of all, if the Wheat Kings had moved that bevy of draft picks for elite 06s, they would run that very same risk. If a 2006-born player is signed, he’ll likely be in the American Hockey League for the 2026-27 season, so the Wheat Kings only get one season out of them anyway. And in this brave new world of NCAA commitments, there’s the risk of players leaving early even if they aren’t drafted or signed (see Mantei, Quinn; see also, Tulk, Oliver). The other thing to note is that, frankly, this is the market for overage players this season. After this traded was completed, the Broncos also moved Rylan Gould out west to the Everett Silvertips, and that netted them a first-round pick. And at the expansion draft, the Broncos picked up two first-round picks (one conditional) and a second-rounder in a deal that sent two overagers the other way in Brady Birnie and Nolan Stevenson. The gauntlet has been thrown early on this one. If you want to improve your 2005-born players, it’s going to cost you. This might end up helping the Wheat Kings when they inevitably have to move a 20-year-old of their own, but it’s far too early for my taste to go speculating on which guy will move.
- Oddly enough we’re about 1300 words into these post-draft musings and I’m only just now getting to the actual draft. You’ll hear some variation of the words “we had him ranked much higher” from just about every team that picks after the top-five but it’s not just a cliche, in many cases it’s actually true. Teams evaluate players differently, plain and simple, especially at an age where a player’s ceiling is far more open to interpretation. When the Wheat Kings tell you they had Cruz Jim much higher on their list, they’re not just blowing smoke. One Wheat Kings’ scout told me he was consistently in the projected top-five all season long. This led, according to Marty, to some tense but comical moments in the Wheat Kings’ war room. Apparently, their scouts were so superstitious they didn’t even want to speak Cruz Jim’s name aloud until they got their chance to pick him. Needless to say, they didn’t dither very long on the pick. Jim (whose name practically begs for Shoresy references on the broadcast, but it’s hard to find any that are radio appropriate) set a CSSHL record for assists by a defenseman and finished second all-time in points. That alone should give you an idea of his skill level, but what Director of Hockey Operations Chris Moulton kept coming back to was his leadership and competitiveness. The Wheat Kings are very excited about this player.
- A quick side note about Jim (You ready? Yeah. Good cause you’re goin’!): he actually billeted with Ahmad Fayad’s family this season at NAX. And wouldn’t you know it, Fayad was the Wheat Kings’ second-round pick. You could reasonably say he fell to the Wheat Kings considering he posted 81 points in 36 games this season, good for second in the entire CSSHL. You can see why the Wheat Kings are so happy with how the draft went.
- One more quick note on the Prospects Draft, just a matter of interest: in 2024 the Wheat Kings took only one player from the prep school ranks, and just one player from Alberta. The majority of their picks were concentrated in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. This season, their top three picks were CSSHLers from Alberta. They threw a Minnesotan in there for good measure. You can find good players all over the place, and the Wheat Kings tend to do so. Look at their roster, filled with players from Texas to Wilcox to Victoria to Brandon itself and you can see that.
- Speaking of American players, the Wheat Kings have actually never had one of their U.S. draft picks sign with the team. Expect that to change with Levi Ellingsen. Marty described himself as extremely optimistic they could sign this player, and very happy to be doing so. Ellingsen played at STAR Hockey Academy in the Pacific Northwest, and because he played a lot against CSSHL competition (posting 54 points in 34 games) he’s more of a known commodity than many of his fellow American-born prospects. And the points, while impressive, are just one ingredient in the mixture with this young man. When I talked to both Marty and Chris, they told me Ellingsen sees himself as playing like Sam Bennett. Now that’s a name to make you sit a little further forward in your chair. Ellingsen may become the first U.S. draft pick to sign with the Wheat Kings, and thanks to the new NCAA rules, he may very well be the first of many. Last season, the Wheat Kings didn’t have even one of their U.S. picks at training camp following the trade of Reed Brown for Marcus Nguyen. I expect that to change this fall.
Ironically, this might end up being my longest Wheat Kings’ blog of the season and it’s not even the season! That will happen when you go from no hockey to talk about to a flurry of news. You can see why so many pundits and fans love the draft. The draft itself is optimism personified, with every team adding pieces for the future. And then there are the trades. Wheat Kings fans have told me since this blog began they want to see the team really commit, push all their chips in, and go for it. I consider this week a major step in that direction, without having set the team too far back for the future.
They had their cake and ate it too. And it was delicious.
