A young man who came of age and found his love for hockey in a WHL rink watching East Division teams, and who is immensely proud of his prairie roots, gets traded to a Manitoba-based team on the verge of a huge season for both the team and himself. It’s almost storybook, and it’s easy to see why Jayden Kraus is so excited about it.
The 2006-born goaltender was born and raised in Prince Albert, and while he enjoyed his time on the west coast with the Victoria Royals, he was thrilled to get the news he’d be headed back to the wide open skies of the prairies. The Brandon Wheat Kings acquired him from the Royals on July 29 and he was ecstatic.
“I’m a Sask kid, a prairie kid at heart,” Kraus said. “I love the blue skies. This is where my heart is. To have a chance to play back on the prairies and get to play in a division that’s very familiar to me, I can’t even explain how excited I am. I think it’s going to be an amazing experience. It’ll be an awesome opportunity to get my family out to watch me play as well.”
Kraus is more familiar with the East Division than even most other Prince Albert kids would be. His family billeted Prince Albert Raiders (always goaltenders) for four years, including Carter Serhyenko and Max Hildebrand, and he practically grew up at the Art Hauser Centre.
“When I was really young, it started with my great grandpa who was a season ticket holder,” Kraus explained. “As soon as I was born I jumped right in there with him. My parents had season tickets right from when I was a young, young kid. I was at games every single night, even when I was in U18 AAA. I played at home for U18 AAA so I got to watch the Raiders a lot and I set my goals on being in the Western Hockey League.”
Fittingly, Kraus was on his way back to Prince Albert from Saskatoon, where he skates in the offseason, when he got the call he’d been traded. Adding to his excitement at returning to his home region is the knowledge the Wheat Kings have big plans for the season ahead, plans to which he is now central.
“Every hockey player dreams of being on a good team and going on a deep playoff run,” said Kraus. “Growing up around the WHL, it was always my goal to win a championship. Playing in Victoria on a pretty strong team I got a taste of what it would take to win. I’m super, super excited to bring my skills on and off the ice and who I am as a person to Brandon.”
Kraus was no passenger on that strong Royals team either. The 6-foot-2 netminder posted a .908 save percentage, a 2.86 GAA, and an impressive 25-8-9 record in 46 games. It was a huge leap forward for him after a rookie season in which he served in more of a backup role, playing just 26 games.
“I took a deep dive into calming my game down and that really helped me have a lot more success this past season,” Kraus said. “Ultimately it helped me play a lot more games. It was fantastic, I took the net there and just kept rolling with it. The Royals gave me the opportunity to play a significant amount of games and I’m really excited to be coming to Brandon where I think I can bring my experience from this past season and put it towards having success on and off the ice.”
That on-ice success earned Kraus a look at the next level, as he was invited to development camp with the Colorado Avalanche. Not only did he enjoy his camp, he made good use of it and earned an invite to their rookie camp in the fall.
“That’s another thing that as a kid you dream of and dream of but you don’t really expect it to become reality,” said Kraus. “I was super fortunate to get that opportunity. It’s sensational how they treat their pros. Just to get a taste of that for a week was a great experience. I’m super pumped to go back and bring back some things that I learn there and use them in my time in Brandon.”
So the kid whose heart is in the prairies has taken himself to the ocean and the mountains with his goaltending skills, and now those skills are bringing him back to familiar territory. He’s counting down the days to when he can get started, though of course that doesn’t mean he’s not using the time in between.
“Now for me is that final push in the gym and getting in those last games in this last month to get myself ready for coming to camp,” Kraus said. “I’m ready to get started. I’m fired up to get the year going and do some damage in the win column.”
Kraus added he is good friends with Roger McQueen, and stayed with Luke Shipley in Victoria when he was 15 and 16 in Victoria. He also knows Rhett Ravndahl well, and all of them have given him good reviews of the Wheat Kings organization.
