Since the Western Hockey League (WHL) was founded in 1966-67, the league has expanded 15 times, taking its seven original teams and becoming one of the largest junior hockey leagues in North America. Now, nearly 20 years after adding its last team, the league is expanding again after awarding an expansion franchise to the Penticton Vees for the 2025-26 season and beginning the process for Chilliwack to join in 2026-27. With the recent NCAA rule change, which allows major junior players to keep their college eligibility, more players than ever are looking at the WHL as their first step to playing hockey professionally.
While the Vees are gearing up for their first season in the WHL, trying to find the right balance of youth and experience to make their transition to a brand new league, the Saskatoon Blades have a different perspective heading into the expansion draft on May 7. As the only founding member who has never moved cities, the Blades have seen a lot of teams come and go. So, while their roster is young, the team’s history and experience are deeper than any other franchise in the league. That should lead to some interesting decisions as they create their protection list.
Official Expansion Draft Rules
According to the official CHL statement, each of the current 22 teams will have to submit a protection list from their current player lists the day before the draft. Just like the NHL’s expansion draft rules, teams will have two options for selecting which players will be unavailable for Penticton. They can either protect:
A) 16 players aged 17 to 20 years old (born in 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005) appearing on their 50-player, Injured, Suspended, Graduate, Special Import, and 20-year-old Lists, plus an additional six players appearing on their College List.
B) 14 players aged 17 to 19 years old (born in 2008, 2007, 2006) and three 20-year-old players (born in 2005) appearing on their 50-player, Injured, Suspended, Graduate, Special Import, and 20-year-old Lists, plus an additional six players on their College List.
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After these lists are submitted, Penticton will be able to select one player from each roster left unprotected. That won’t include any player born in 2009 or later, though, as they have been made exempt from the draft. That still leaves a lot of players to sift through, and teams will have to prepare for any eventuality. “Are they going to look at our college list? Are they going to look at younger players? Are they going to look at adding a veteran player?” Regina Pats general manager Alan Miller said, “Then there is the ability to talk to Penticton in advance to do a deal to protect a player that you don’t want to lose and give them something else. So that’s a process we’ll be in the middle of, and we’ll get prepared for early in May.”
One exception for the draft was given to the Medicine Hat Tigers and Spokane Chiefs, who are gearing up for the WHL Final, which starts on Friday. For those two teams, they won’t have to submit their lists until a later date, depending on when they’re eliminated, at which time Penticton will select from those teams.
Vees Gearing Up for a Brand New Roster
Like the Blades, the Vees were also a founding member of their home league, helping construct the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) back in 1967. Since then, they’ve become one of the most successful franchises in Junior A, winning the BCHL title 12 times and the national Junior A championship twice. Many future stars have passed through their doors, from Hall of Famers Brett Hull and Paul Kariya, as well as Tyson Jost, Dante Fabbro, and Bradly Nadeau.
However, in the WHL, the Vees will start fresh with a brand new roster. As part of the BCHL, which broke from Hockey Canada in 2023, Penticton could recruit players from all across North America who wanted to pursue NCAA hockey instead of the Major Junior route. Last season, they dressed four players from Ontario, one from Quebec, two from Minnesota, and five from Massachusetts. Unfortunately, since they fall outside the WHL’s protected territory, none of those players are eligible to play in the WHL unless their major junior rights are released.
While that happens occasionally, just like it did with Austin Elliott this season when the Blades released him and he signed with the London Knights, it’s unlikely the Vees will rely on bringing back all their eligible players. Of those who fall within the age restrictions for next season and haven’t already committed to an NCAA program, only two players on their roster have WHL rights: Eli McKamey, who was drafted by the Victoria Royals, and Callum Stone, a Portland Winterhawks draft pick. Both players will likely be left unprotected for the expansion draft and are perfect options for the Vees to select, but that still leaves 20 more names to add to fill out their team.
Predicting Saskatoon’s Protection List
So, who will the Blades protect heading into Wednesday’s expansion draft? And, more importantly, who will the Vees take?
The Blades committed to getting younger this season, which saw them part ways with several top players and bring in a whole cohort of 17 and 18-year-olds. In what was expected to be a growing year, Saskatoon surprised many by fighting for first place in the East Division all season long, faltering only in the last few games. “Massive credit to the job that Dan (DaSilva) and Andrew (Sarauer) did as a coaching staff to empower those kids and give them all significant roles on the team,” said Dan Tencer, Blades director of scouting. “It’s super exciting because we have those guys for a chunk of years here, and we expect to be able to build off of that. The excitement for the future is really significant.”
Tencer’s comments imply that the Blades will continue to focus on their young roster, meaning that up-and-coming stars like Zach Olsen, Cooper Williams, Brayden Klimpke, Jordan Martin, Hayden Harsanyi, David Lewandowski, Hudson Kibblewhite, and Hunter Laing will be protected ahead of the expansion draft.
But that also means the team might want to secure some future pieces, too. While Adam Halat and Luke Dumas, both deadline acquisitions, are exempt from the draft, several other promising players aren’t. Goaltender Ryley Budd, as well as skaters Kohen Lodge, Liam Eisnor, Triston Mitchell-McElhone, and Jack Lavallee, all appeared in at least one game with the Blades this season and looked very promising in their debuts. An expansion team like Penticton would love one of them, so Saskatoon can’t risk leaving them unprotected.
So far, that’s 13 players protected, but it also leaves Saskatoon at a crossroads. The Blades could choose to protect their three 20-year-olds plus one other player, or select three more youngsters and hope the Vees don’t take one of their veterans. Another exception for the expansion draft was that the Vees can ice four 20-year-olds next season instead of the three every other team gets, which could make them more aggressive in selecting veterans.
Tencer’s comments last month might give additional insight into their plans, though. After complimenting the team’s coaching staff, he added, “I would say this year, especially on defence, very strong year.” That might mean the Blades are comfortable with their blue line and don’t want to risk breaking it up. If that’s the case, Morgan Tastad and Jack Kachkowski will also be top priority protections. That leaves just one spot left, which will go to star goalie Evan Gardner. Although he was reassigned to the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Cleveland Monsters after the Blades’ playoff exit, competition will be tough for playing time next season. His development would be better served back in Saskatoon, where he’ll start at least 40 games, barring an injury.
That leaves backup goalie Ethan McCallum, Kazden Mathies, Willy James, Isaac Poll, and Colten Worthington, along with the team’s three 20-year-olds, Tyler Parr, Rowan Calvert, and Frantisek Dej, as the most notable exposed players. Although the Blades’ veterans are tempting, I believe the Vees will look at McCallum, who had a very strong showing at the end of 2024-25 when Gardner went down with an injury. Poll is also an intriguing option, as he’s a 6-foot-3 right-shot defender and former first-round Bantam Draft pick, but he was often a healthy scratch for Saskatoon and wasn’t as strong as their other young defencemen.
Whatever the Blades choose to do, though, it will likely come from a wealth of experience. Saskatoon has proven time and time again that it can build a top WHL team, and general manager Colin Priestner has been excellent as the man in charge, doing right by his players and his team. This season was a step back, but with all the challenges ahead, they persevered and showed the rest of the league what Blades hockey means. Losing a player will be tough, but nothing that this group can’t overcome.
