The WHL preseason is in the books. With the start of the regular season only a day away, it’s time for the first edition of the SportsCage Eastern Conference Power Rankings.
Things are very much in flux when it comes to trying to decide placement of the conference’s 11 teams, but that didn’t keep our crew of prognosticators from settling on a consensus number one.
That would be none other than the Medicine Hat Tigers (50-10-5-3 in 2025-26), who have a ton of talent returning from their impressive 2025-26 campaign. That includes twins Liam and Marcus Ruck, who went in the first and second round to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL Draft after finishing one-two in WHL scoring last season. The Tigers went 3-0-0-1 in the preseason and open the regular campaign on Friday in Lethbridge.
The reigning Eastern Conference-champion Prince Albert Raiders (50-10-5-3) lead all Saskatchewan teams in second after going 3-2-0-0 in the preseason. They host the Regina Pats on Friday in their home opener. The Pats (25-34-7-2) look to see their days hovering around the final playoff spot in the rearview mirror and are ranked third, in no small part to their perfect 7-0-0-0 run through the exhibition schedule.
The Brandon Wheat Kings (40-26-2-0) slot in at fourth after a 2-2-0-0 exhibition run and host the Saskatoon Blades on Friday, with the Blades (34-27-5-2) having gone 2-1-2-0 and landing fifth in the rankings.
The Calgary Hitmen (38-21-8-1) finished 3-1-0-0 in the preseason and come in at sixth, the Red Deer Rebels (26-36-5-2) take seventh after finishing 2-1-1-1. The two teams are in Calgary on Friday night.
The Edmonton Oil Kings (45-18-3-2) are eighth and Lethbridge Hurricanes (17-47-3-1) ninth after posting 3-1-0-0 and 0-4-0-0 exhibition marks.
The final two spots are taken up by the Moose Jaw Warriors (25-26-5-2), who were unable to win a preseason game and went 0-5-1-0, while the Swift Current Broncos (15-44-4-5) take the 11th and final spot after a 2-2-0-1 run.
Saskatoon is in Moose Jaw and Prince Albert is in Swift Current on Saturday.
The Eastern Conference Power Rankings are compiled each week by a group of longtime WHL observers, taking into account recent play as well as the current standings. From now on, you can find them every Wednesday afternoon on SportsCage.com.
1 – Medicine Hat
2 – Prince Albert
3 – Regina
4 – Brandon
5 – Saskatoon
6 – Calgary
7 – Edmonton
8 – Red Deer
9 – Lethbridge
10 – Moose Jaw
11 – Swift Current
