An awful lot can happen in a year, and Brady Turko knows that better than most.
In May of 2024, he was one of the leaders of an all-time great Brandon U18 AAA Wheat Kings team at the TELUS Cup. Before the end of June the next year, he’d graduated from AAA to the WHL, played his first full WHL season, and become a draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks.
The McCreary native went in the seventh round, 200th overall, to the Ducks yesterday. It was the culmination of a rapid rise for a player that scouts see big things for in the future.
“There are no words I can put it into to describe how happy I was,” Turko said. “It’s something I can’t describe, and something I’m super grateful for.”
Being drafted at all is special, and Turko would’ve been pleased to represent whatever team selected him. Being drafted by the Ducks, however, the same team that drafted his Wheat Kings teammate Roger McQueen tenth overall the previous evening, was a little extra special.
“It’s surreal to me,” said Turko. “I’m still shocked by it and letting it sink in here.”
There won’t be much time for Turko to let it sink in. He caught a flight from Winnipeg at 6:30 the morning after he was drafted and then it was off to development camp. That’s where both he and the Ducks hope he can refine some skills that will take him to the next level.
“It’s just getting better at the little things,” he said. “Your shot, getting stronger in the gym, getting your strength up, getting your weight up, and making sure that come next season you’re better in every possible way than you were last year.”
That year-over-year improvement is something Turko is well familiar with. His first season of U18 hockey he put up a respectable 43 points in 44 games, but the next season, accustomed to the pace of play and the league in general, he exploded for 41 goals and 90 points in 41 games. He’s already got one season in the WHL under his belt in which he posted 26 points in 68 games, so perhaps there’s another big offensive jump in his future.
“That year makes a huge difference,” he said. “You get used to the travel schedule, you get used to the pace of play and the quality of players you’re playing against. I think it makes a huge difference.”
Turko won’t be the only one looking for a big season with the Wheat Kings. Not only was he one of three forwards from the team selected in this entry draft (McQueen and Carter Klippenstein being the others) he’s part of a team that features a ton of returning talent.
“I think we’re going to have a really good team this year,” Turko said. “We had a pretty decent season last year but I think the expectation for everyone coming in should be to win a championship and I think that’s what we’re going to try to accomplish next year.”
It would be a big step up for a Wheat Kings’ team that missed the division title by a single point last season, but not such a big step that it’s beyond their reach.
After all, a year can make a world of difference. Just ask Brady Turko.
