Between on-ice sessions, off-ice training, and a full schedule with his charitable work, Ryley Budd is one of the busiest young hockey players you’ll ever meet. So it comes as no surprise that when he found out he had been traded, it came right in the middle of something.
The 2008-born goaltender was traded from the Saskatoon Blades, the team that had originally selected him in the second round of the 2023 WHL prospects draft, to the Brandon Wheat Kings on July 29. The call came down and framed his entire offseason in a new light.
“I was just about to start yoga,” Budd said with a chuckle. “I was at the gym, we did an hour of cardio, and then I checked my phone and saw all of the notifications, and that’s how I got the news. So after that I had to try and calm down and do yoga for an hour, which didn’t go very well for me.”
Yoga is meant to be a calming experience but Budd admitted he wasn’t very calm that day; he was too excited. And while the initial shock to the system that is a trade has mostly worn off, the excitement remains.
“I can’t wait,” said Budd. “Counting down the days. I’ve asked a bunch of people when I should come out, and I think it’ll be around the 19th when I get to come. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve heard nothing but good about Brandon since the trade, and before that as well. So I’m really excited for this new opportunity, to come meet the team and the coaches face to face, and get used to new scenery that I hope I can stay in for the rest of my time in the WHL.”
There are plenty of reasons for excitement on Budd’s end. One is the group of players he’s joining, some of whom he’s already familiar with. He knows Ryan Boyce from their time growing up in Calgary together and knows Jaxon Jacobson from numerous tournaments, including the WHL Cup when the two young men met in the finals. Other members of the team have been reaching out since almost the moment the news broke.
“They’ve been amazing with that,” Budd said. “Everyone has been really welcoming. They’ve made me feel like I’m part of the team already, which is always super nice.”
Another reason for excitement is the opportunity. There is a full-time goaltending position open on the Wheat Kings, and with Filip Ruzicka drafted and signed by the Minnesota Wild (and with a very real chance for him to represent Czechia at the World Juniors), there are some potentially big games up for grabs as a goaltender. After splitting last season between the Blades and the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs (the Blades started the season with two 19-year-old netminders) the chance to be in Brandon from wire to wire is enticing.
“I’m really happy with the opportunity that I think is there in Brandon,” said Budd. “I’m not coming into this expecting anything or looking for anything specific, I really just want an honest chance to try and fight for starts and opportunity on the ice. So I’m really excited about what I’ve heard. Obviously, I want to push Filip but I also want to build a good relationship as goalie partners with him. I think it’s going to be good and I’m really excited for the opportunity.”
There will be off-ice opportunities for Budd as well, and a chance to continue building on the already excellent work of his Be a Budd initiative. Remarkably, the young goaltender started it when he was just 13 years old and has helped it develop into an official non-profit that’s raised over $70,000 in four years.
“I have sponsors who will donate money for every save and shutout to a program called HEROS Hockey, which helps kids with physical and cognitive barriers play hockey and gets them involved in sports,” Budd explained. “That was always really important to me because hockey has been such a huge part of my life and making me who I am today. It was important to me to try and make sure that those kids got those opportunities as well. It’s grown a lot over the last four years.”
According to Budd, the growth is only just beginning. They’ve partnered with organizations in Calgary working on such issues as prostate cancer and domestic violence, as well as the Calgary Food Bank. And here is where another opportunity presents itself, because Budd foresees plenty of chances to do good in the community of Brandon as well.
“We started planning stuff right away for what I can do in Brandon,” he said. “I’m really excited about the possible opportunities for what I can do in the community there. I’ve got things in the works already for getting Be a Budd involved in Brandon and I’m excited to see how that can grow and how things might work out.”
Add all that up, and there are more than the usual number of reasons for Budd to be counting down the days to training camp. Many of those reasons all boil down to the same thing: a chance to make a first impression on a new group of coaches, teammates, fans, and community members.
“It’s the fresh start that I’m really excited for,” Budd said. “Coming in with a clean slate, coming to make some first impressions, I’m really excited about that. I have nothing bad to say about Saskatoon, I loved my time there and I loved all the people there, but I think a fresh start is going to be really good for me at this level to try and really secure myself as a goalie in the league who is going to stay and stay all season.”
