The East could be the most intriguing division to watch in the WHL this season, and there are plenty of reasons when looking at the Saskatchewan teams.
The two retooling clubs have new coaches and lots of roster changes, so there are fresh canvases to be painted on – even if things could get a bit messy. There’s a squad looking to get back to the league final and ideally finish the job this time – and with the roster that should be dangerous. Their biggest rival could also be their biggest threat in the division, which adds a little more spice to the chili. And then there’s an organization that’s on the rise and has two young superstars in the making.
The 2026-27 campaign gets going Friday with the Saskatoon Blades heading to Manitoba to take on the Brandon Wheat Kings, and the Prince Albert Raiders hosting the Regina Pats. The Moose Jaw Warriors and Swift Current Broncos have to wait until Saturday when they host Saskatoon and Prince Albert, respectively.
There’s plenty to wonder about before the season begins. Here are five burning questions, one for each Saskatchewan team, as puck drop nears.
5. Who exactly are the Broncos?
The Broncos had just 15 wins last season, the fewest in the WHL. They managed to barely stay out of the league basement, finishing only one point ahead of the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
There’s nowhere to go but up. Just don’t expect a rapid ascent or anything.
Reaching the playoffs is still a long shot under new coach-GM Travis Crickard, especially given the roster turnover. But the Broncos have couple recent acquisitions in Brendan Rudolph (obtained last season from Seattle) and Ty Meunier (brought in over the offseason from Calgary) who could be centrepieces to their offence. The two 18-year-olds had strong offensive showings in exhibition play.
They provide some hope on a group full of uncertainty. Still, the most likely scenario is for them to be flipped for more assets by early January. That would especially be the smart play with Meunier, who’s committed to the University of Nebraska-Omaha for next season.
4. How will Scott King put his stamp on the Warriors?
As with the Broncos, there’s also a new bench boss in Moose Jaw. Unlike in Swift Current, though, the Warriors stayed in house to find their coach.
Former assistant coach Scott King slides down the bench to replace Mark O’Leary, who moved on over the summer to work on Ryan Papaioannou’s staff with the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks.
Taking over the top gig isn’t always a seamless transition, even though it happens more frequently in junior hockey than it does in the pros. That’s true in the King’s case with the Warriors, who promise to be in rebuild mode.
The Warriors missed the playoffs by a point last season. They’ll likely take a step back even from that, according to the WHL scouts polled for this piece. The cupboard remains sparse after putting their chips in to win the 2024 WHL title.
However, King gets a chance to evolve with a team that should have brighter days ahead in a year or two.
3. Will the Raiders stay elite without Daxon Rudolph and Braeden Cootes?
An 18-year-old defenceman just picked in the first round of the NHL Draft and a 19-year-old forward taken there the year prior would have been pillars of a contending team before the sport’s landscape changed.
Now Rudolph, 18, is preparing for his freshman season at the University of Denver, and Cootes is eligible to play in the AHL, where he’s expected to be if he doesn’t stick with the Vancouver Canucks. Those are massive blows.
Still, the Raiders are considered the class of the division even without the two Canadian world junior hopefuls.
The reigning WHL finalists aren’t lacking for skill up front thanks to returnees like Brandon Gorzynski, Maddix McCagherty, Jonah Sivertson, and Ben Harvey. On the back end, Brock Cripps can help fill the void left by Rudolph.
The one spot to monitor is between the pipes, but Czech goaltender Michal Orsulak should be up to the task.
The Raiders should be able to withstand Rudolph’s and Cootes’ losses, at least on paper. How they manage on the ice is what really matters, though.
2. Can the Blades win the division … and maybe more?
The Blades are the WHL’s oldest continuous franchise, having competed in 60 straight seasons from 1966 onward. They’re still looking for their first championship.
There appears to be genuine optimism in league circles that this cast of characters – plus whatever is added before trade deadline – has at least a chance to break a drought that’s entering its seventh decade.
It won’t be an easy road for the Blades to make it out of the Eastern Conference. They’ll have to contend with their archrivals up the road in Prince Albert, while Medicine Hat appears to be the top team in the on the right side of the WHL’s bracket.
But the Blades should be strong.
They’re expected to be fronted offensively by Edmonton Oilers prospect David Lewandowski, who led the team in scoring last season. Cooper Williams comes in with something to prove after dropping to the fifth round of NHL Draft, where he was selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Brayden Klimpke, a Montreal Canadiens fourth-rounder in June, has the potential to be the WHL’s top defenceman.
That’s a solid foundation.
The Blades have consistently been among the top teams in the conference since 2019 and made the league semifinal in 2023 and 2024. All that’s left for them to do is go a bit further.
1. Just how good will Pats youngsters Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue really be?
One WHL scout I connected with for this story called the Pats the wildcard of the East Division.
They snuck in the playoffs last year, nudging out the Warriors, and are now a team on the rise. What’s unclear is how much they’ll improve this season.
They could take a small step forward or they could take a gigantic leap. Whether they can win a playoff round or push for a long playoff run likely comes down to Maddox Schultz and Liam Pue.
The first and third picks in the WHL Draft already have half a season of WHL action under their belts and didn’t disappoint. Much was expected from them when they were the youngest players on Canada’s under-18 Hlinka Gretzky roster last month. They excelled with Schultz leading the tournament in scoring and Pue netting the most goals in the event as Canada won gold.
The Pats have some key players coming back like Zach Lansard and Keets Fawcett, but there are holes and question marks on the roster. Goaltending, the all-important position, is a concern.
How high the Pats soar might depend on if Schultz and Pue are around point-per-game players or, say, if they get close to the century mark.
It might sound unfair to peg a team’s success on a pair of 16-year-olds. But these two are a cut or two above.
