By the time the dust had settled on the 2025 U.S. and Prospects drafts, the Brandon Wheat Kings had added six forwards, five defensemen, and a goaltender to their list, and came away pretty pleased with their haul.
“I’m really proud of our group and what we did,” said Wheat Kings director of Hockey Operations Chris Moulton. “As I do every draft, I walk away really excited about the players we took.”
After getting high-scoring defenseman Cruz Jim in the first round (a player they were shocked fell to them), the Wheat Kings went back to NAX to pick up his teammate Ahmad Fayad. Fayad led NAX and finished second in the CSSHL U15 circuit with 81 points in 36 games.
“This guy is very skilled,” Moulton said. “We’re happy to get him. His skills and hockey sense are off the charts, he makes people around him better. When he was there, we had a bunch of guys we could’ve taken and we felt he was the best fit for us.”
After swinging a trade with the Saskatoon Blades, the Wheat Kings held the 83rd overall pick, and this time they looked between the pipes. Goaltender Joffrey Chan was the selection, fresh off a season with St. George’s U15 Prep where he posted a 13-4 record, a 2.45 GAA and a .918 save percentage.
“We had defensemen, we had forwards, and to get a goaltender we coveted sure helped,” said Moulton. “Goalies go fast. If you don’t get a good one, they’re gone. We really wanted that goaltender and we were happy to get him.”
Next up, at pick number 107, the Wheat Kings snagged Logan Olsen, a Saskatchewan-born defenseman. Olsen was the highest-scoring defenseman on the Warman Wildcats last season with 43 points in 29 games.
Another trade netted the Wheat Kings an additional seventh rounder, 146th overall, and they used it on Mark Munday of Winnipeg. He finished second on the Winnipeg Wild Red with 35 points in 22 games, but also made his U18 debut with the Wild and posted a goal and an assist in two games.
Just seven picks later, at 153, the Wheat Kings were on the clock again. It was back to the blueline and back to Saskatchewan to take Logen Dosenberger, a 6-foot-1 defenseman who not only served as captain of the Regina Pat Blues this season but led their defense with 28 points in 27 games.
In the eighth round, 176th overall, it was Bryaden Watt, a Brandon-born forward who was the selection. Watt finished second on the U15 AAA Wheat Kings in both regular season scoring (62 points in 31 games) and playoff scoring (eight points in five games).
Having traded their ninth round pick to Saskatoon, the Wheat Kings waited until pick 222 for their next selection, for which they went back to the Winnipeg Wild Red and found Liam Green, a defenseman who posted 25 points in 30 games in 2024-25.
As teams began to pass, the Wheat Kings were back on the clock quickly, and this time they went south of the border, selecting Tristan Will of the Minnesota Moose, who had 20 points in 16 games for them last season, tied for first on his team in points per game.
Taren Anderson rounded out the day’s picks for the Wheat Kings. Playing for the Prairie Storm U15 AA team last season, Anderson led the team in goals with 29 and points with 50, while also picking up a goal and an assist in three games with Yorkton in the U18 AAA ranks.
“Taren was a pretty easy pick,” Moulton said. “He’s an unheralded guy who doesn’t get the respect he deserves. He’s competitive, he always leads his team, he had a really good playoff for his team and I’ve always had time for him.”
