Levi Ellingsen’s first WHL training camp comes as something of a full-circle moment. He can remember watching WHL camps as a youngster, including those of his hometown Tri-City Americans when his brother was trying out for the team. Years later and thousands of miles away, he’s finally getting to make his own stamp on a WHL training camp with the Wheat Kings.
“It’s honestly a dream come true,” Ellingsen said. “Just watching my brother and all the Americans camps, it’s been awesome. It’s such a pleasure to be here.”
Ellingsen might sound like a fresh-faced youngster getting his first taste of WHL action, but you wouldn’t guess his age by his play. The 15-year-old forward has been turning heads all camp long, and his puck skills and physical play have both been on full display.
“He’s been really good,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “As a 15-year-old, a 2010, all weekend he certainly didn’t look out of place with the veterans. ”
Physicality, in particular, is an easy to spot hallmark of Ellingsen’s game. He said upon being drafted by the Wheat Kings, first overall in the 2025 U.S. Priority Selection, that he modelled his game after Sam Bennet. He’d been showing off his heavy hitting style all through training camp, including a crushing hit on the very first shift of the Prospects Game on Sunday afternoon.
“That’s one of my strong suits so I’ve got to use it well,” said Ellingsen of his physical play. “That’s why I’m here.”
The Wheat Kings want the young players to be able to lean on the veterans in training camp, and Ellingsen had some good ones to talk to in Luke Mistelbacher and Jaxon Jacobson. He said he learned a lot from them, not only from what they told him but from what he watched them do.
“I’ve learned to be a leader and use your voice,” he said. “Your voice goes a long way, and so does your play on the ice, so set the tone on the ice.”
Although Ellingsen looks ready to jump into the WHL at any minute, he won’t be able to play this season as a 2010-born player. So he’s off to NAX to play in the CSSHL, where he’ll have plenty of company among Wheat Kings prospects, as both Cruz Jim and Ahmad Fayad (the team’s first and second-round picks this year) played for NAX’s U15 team last season.
“It’s going to be great, they’re two awesome players, very smart,” Ellingsen said. “Jim, he works that blueline so well, and Fayad is so smart with great eyes and good hands too. It’s going to be fun.”
