The last time there were four Wheat Kings taken in a single NHL Entry Draft was 2020, and it’s only happened twice in the last 25 years. With the NHL Entry Draft set for this weekend, the Wheat Kings could see another strong crop of young players take their first steps into the professional ranks.
Five Wheat Kings have been ranked by NHL Central Scouting throughout the season, and four made the final rankings, with all four having jumped up from their previous ranking. It makes for a potential moment of pride for the organization, who have seen at least one player drafted in each of the past three drafts and seem certain to make it four.
“It’s tempered excitement,” said Wheat Kings director of hockey operations Chris Moulton. “It’s one of those things where you have to go in with an even keel and hope the kids get rewarded for their play. I’m excited. I’m happy when the kids are mentioned in these types of conversations and the fact that some of them are going to go, or maybe all of them will go, that would be great. I’m super proud of our group.”
Of all the players ranked by NHL Central Scouting, perhaps none is a bigger wildcard than goaltender Filip Ruzicka. Officially listed 6-foot-8, he steadily rose up the rankings all season and ended strong with a .936 save percentage in the playoffs. And goalies can be hard to predict on draft day, meaning he could go at almost any time.
“He’s the craziest of them all when you think of where he’s come from,” Moulton said. “Going into the import draft, we had a plan. Part of that plan was to select a goalie but that wasn’t locked in. When we came up to our pick, he’s a really big human being and his agent is saying all the right things. I wouldn’t say it was a risk, but it’s one of those things where you take a shot. He was a little bit off the radar in his home country, probably wasn’t getting the respect he deserved. You take a bit of a flier on a big body with athleticism and next thing you know, he’s turning heads after Christmas.”
Among skaters, Gio Pantelas has been the leading Wheat King from start to finish, having ticked every possible box for a draft eligible skater. In addition to representing Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup and Team CHL and Team WHL East at two different prospect challenges, the 6-foot-2 right-handed defenseman put up 37 points and a plus-19 rating in 68 games while playing with a physical edge.
“He’s been consistent,” said Moulton. “With all of these kids, they have their moments, I mean they’re 17 this year. He came out of the gates flying, then there was a bit of a lull, but we relied on him heavily. At times it was a lot, but at times he managed. I still like the trajectory he’s on, I think he did a lot of good things this year. He’s finding his way, and his game has matured and he’s really matured as a young man. I believe there’s still work to be done, but that’s a positive thing because it shows he hasn’t plateaued. I think the sky is the limit for this young man as long as he keeps taking the steps.”
Pantelas may have been the top guy from the word go, but the honour of biggest final ranking rise went to another right-shot defenseman: Cameron Allard. The 6-foot-3 blueliner not only put up 19 points in 62 games with minimal power play time, he also leapt up 60 spots from 190th at the mid-term ranking to 130th in Central Scouting’s final ranking.
“He started to create some offense from the back end,” said Moulton. “He was a guy that was just off the radar. The guys at Central Scouting, they’re often looking for high end picks that are coming into our organization that were high end draft picks that find their way through. Here’s a kid that was a later round pick and I’m sure at times scouts came to watch Joby (Baumuller) or Gio and all of a sudden went ‘Holy cow, who is this guy?’ He’s another guy who’s had a lot of growth and has a lot of potential.”
On the subject of Baumuller, few prospects anywhere in the CHL had a bigger leap forward than he did. After being passed over in 2025, Baumuller responded beautifully, exploding from 18 goals to 40 in his third season as a Wheat King.
“What he did and where he came from was special,” Moulton said. “Joby is a great kid, and I cheer for him all the time. He’s had some frustrations over the years and just kept working, kept staying the course, kept his head up, kept being a good teammate and a good Brandon Wheat King, and with that came more opportunities. He’s always been a guy that can shoot the puck and now we’re putting him in spots where he can shoot the puck. He showed he had some jam to his game, and I think that helped too. Once people realized he’s not a guy to mess around with, it probably gave him some more space.”
At the start of the year, Jimmy Egan found himself ranked as W for Wildcard by Central Scouting. He put up solid numbers despite a defensive role (22 points in 68 games) and scored the first goal of the postseason for Brandon. The 6-foot-1 Minnesota native demonstrated he could play in all three zones, something NHL teams are quite keen on.
“I think he showed a lot of maturity and a lot of patience,” said Moulton. “He was kind of up and down the lineup a little bit, and he had different wingers on different nights. Our coaching staff definitely found the value in him as the year went on. He was taking important faceoffs and playing a defensive role a lot of nights, and I thought he did an exceptional job. He’s one of those kids where this coming year, I’m like ‘Ok Jimmy, it’s your turn. It’s your turn to grab the bull and take those opportunities.'”
Last season, the Wheat Kings and the hockey world in general got a reminder that Central Scouting rankings don’t determine whether a player is taken on draft day; Brady Turko, although he hadn’t made Central Scouting’s final list, had clearly done enough to impress the people making the decisions, and the Anaheim Ducks selected him. And with a new rule change meaning CHL players can stay on an NHL team’s list for four years rather than two, expect to see a few other surprises as teams select players they now know they can afford to wait on.
“That was the thing, you always saw guys from other junior leagues who were getting picked because they had a longer time to be patient,” Moulton said. “Now they can be patient with our guys. Some of those mid to later round guys, there will be more from our league and the CHL because NHL teams will be more patient with them. I think that’s a big bonus for our guys.”
Round one of the NHL draft goes on Friday night, while Saturday morning will see the beginning of rounds two through seven.
