Two straight days of zoom meetings, phone calls, anticipation, deliberation, and debate netted the Brandon Wheat Kings nine young players who they hope will one day be cornerstones of their organization. And they’re feeling pleased with the cornerstones they picked up.
After a successful first day of the draft (in which they traded back three spots and selected Rylan Edwards, the player they’d originally wanted three spots earlier), the Wheat Kings picked eight players on day two. They selected forwards and defensemen from Minnesota to Maple Ridge over the course of roughly five and a half hours.
“It was a little insane, to be honest,” said Wheat Kings director of hockey operations Chris Moulton. “It was so different from every other draft. I’ve done this for 30 years and it’s the first time we’ve combined drafts. There were a lot of parts that were different. But it was super fun. It always ends the same way, where you walk away pretty happy with the guys you got. It’s a long year, and a long day, but a good day.”
There are a wide variety of skillsets represented by the nine players the Wheat Kings ultimately took, but one common thread runs through the nine of them: compete level.
“We have some guys that are 5-foot-10 or 11, they’re not the really big guys but they’re always competitive,” said Moulton. “Our whole group are competitive guys that like to push and go to tough areas. We definitely had a range of guys.”
For these nine players and so many others, the day was one of celebration, but there are countless players who didn’t hear their names called for whom the hopeful day may have carried a bitter note. From his years of experience, Moulton offered one piece of advice for those players who did not get drafted.
“It’s just the start,” Moulton said. “Tons of guys get listed, tons of guys come to the Western Hockey League late. The year we won the Memorial Cup with Spokane we had six undrafted players, including our starting goaltender who played in the NHL. You don’t get drafted then you just work harder and keep doing the things you’re doing.”
With that said, Moulton helped us introduce you to the eight players the Wheat Kings took on day two.
Marko Malbasa: Defenseman, 2nd round, 42nd overall.
A 6-foot-1, 165 defenseman from St. Andrews, Malbasa was the captain of RHA Winnipeg and posted 31 points in 30 games last season. He’s been very consistent at the CSSHL level, as he posted 26 points in 33 games the year before.
Chris Moulton: “Super well-rounded guy. We were talking about him at 18th overall, and we were lucky. It always kind of works out that way, you get some breaks and some kicks in the teeth when it comes to selections. This guy we wanted early. He’s a well-rounded guy that can play the skilled game, can play hard, he competes, he pushes back, and he’s a team leader, his coaches love him and his teammates love him. Being a Manitoba kid from just down the street and a great player, it’s just an unbelievable fit for what we’re trying to do.”
Mason Corkish: Forward, 3rd round, 67th overall
The brother of WHLer Owen, Mason has spent two years in the 14U AAA system in Minnesota (the American equivalent of U15). Most recently, in 2025-26, he posted 16 points in just 11 games with the Minnesota Moose.
Chris Moulton: “Great player. We had a history with his brother, had Owen up at camp for a couple of years and got to know Mom and Dad really well, such a super family. Owen ended up getting listed by Prince Albert and playing there which was hard for us but great for that young man. There’s a comfort there that makes picking an American even easier. We loved the kid, our American scouts loved him. He can compete, he can score, he’s big and strong, not a huge guy but he plays heavy on the puck. An easy pick for us.”
Austin Rideout: Forward, 5th round, 105th overall
A player with solid size (5’11, 174 pounds) and offensive touch (28 points in 29 games played), Rideout was a member of OHA Edmonton this past season in the CSSHL Prep ranks. He scored three goals in three playoff games for OHA as well, but points are only one part of the package here.
Chris Moulton: “Austin is one of the meanest players I’ve seen this year. He not only has some skill and can skate, he likes to engage physically. He like to get involved and likes to be hard to play against. I love the way he plays the game and I’m ecstatic to have a guy like that going into future seasons in a very tough Eastern Conference.”
Nate Harrington: Defenseman, 6th round, 130th overall
A fast-riser who went from U15 AA in 2024-25 to a full-timer with OHA Edmonton in 2025-26, Harrington stands 5-foot-11 and posted eight goals and 24 points in 30 games this past season. He also joined the U17 team for four games and collected his first goal.
Chris Moulton: “Nate was great. We’ve had him on the radar all year, we thought he had a really good second half. We really liked him at the end of the season, and then at the Alberta Cup he was exceptional. Very well-rounded guy, great puck transition guy, moves the puck up the ice, has good gap control. One of the guys that plays the game the right way.”
Lachlan Kisio: Forward, 7th Round, 153rd overall
A player with plenty of family connections to the game (including his uncle Brent, a longtime coach including at the WHL level and his grandfather Kelly, who played 13 years in the NHL), Kisio battled back from injury this season with Edge Prep in Calgary. He posted 10 points in 16 regular season games, but showed just how much progress he’d made in the playoffs with four goals and six points in five games.
Chris Moulton: “He’s just figuring it out. He’s really on the incline in his game. He was banged up this year but he came back and had a really good, strong second half. The best part about Lachlan is he finds holes to put himself in position to score. He’s got a great release, and obviously with the Kisio family, he’s got a lot of people in his family that played the game and know how to play the game the right way and know what it takes. He had a great second half, and he’s on the incline. We wanted to grab him while he’s on that.”
Lucas Seidel: Defenseman, 8th round, 176th overall
Seidel played for an always-strong Red Deer AAA Rebels team and made the most of his first season in U15 after playing the previous season in the JPHL. He netted 32 points in 31 games, followed that up with six points in nine playoff games, and put himself on the map with his puck skills.
Chris Moulton: “Intelligent puck mover. He’s fun to watch. He goes tape-to-tape, he’s evasive, he’s slick with the puck, he creates offense from the back end, he’s a treat to watch. I’m a big fan. We love the way he played. He played on a very strong team and he was surrounded by good players that made him better but he also made them better. He’s a puck guy that does really good things creatively.”
Kasen Nuttall: Goaltender, 9th round, 193rd overall
The only goaltender the Wheat Kings selected in this year’s draft, Nuttall already boasts some size at six feet tall, but far more impressive are his sterling results with the Calgary Northstars: in 19 games he posted a 2.66 GAA and an eye-popping .931 save percentage. In his only playoff start, he did everything he could to keep his team in it, posting a .953 save percentage.
Chris Moulton: “A steady guy. Every time we watched him play, he kept his team in games. His team was a good team, but his goaltending made them better I thought. Kasen was one of those guys when you went there, you always walked away thinking he’d made the saves he had to make but he also made some saves that kept his team in games. We’ve liked him all along, and we have a couple of guys on our staff that take some pride in knowing their goaltenders. ”
Wyatt Lowther: Forward, 9th round, 198th overall
For their final pick of the day, the Wheat Kings went the furthest west of any of their picks to Maple Ridge’s own Wyatt Lowther, who played with the Burnaby Winter Club’s U15 prep team. With 33 points in 30 games played, he showed some offensive chops while playing a complete game.
“Complete, just a complete guy. He can score, he can bring some offense, but he’s never afraid to go into traffic, never afraid to finish a check, never afraid to get in on defensemen on the forecheck. He played on a good team, he played in a good league, and one of those guys that maybe should’ve been a little bit higher. We were ecstatic to get him. Our basic premise of our group this year is we wanted guys that will compete every night and aren’t afraid to push back. He’s exactly that.”
