Five big questions loom for Wheat Kings

A new day dawns in the Western Hockey League.

After a long off-season that saw the ramifications of the NCAA hit home for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the loss of three front-line players, a season that had been identified as one of promise for the team hangs in the balance. With an influx of young and veteran talent, can this still be Brandon’s year?

The Brandon Sun identified five key questions that will go a long way to determining how the 2025-26 campaign goes. If the team finds answers, they’ll be fine.

If they don’t, it could be a tough year ahead.

Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray and 10 returning veterans were asked to weigh on the season to come.

IN THE MIDDLE

1. Who will step up down the middle to replace Roger McQueen and Matteo Michels?

August wasn’t a great month for Marty Murray as he lost the players he had slotted in to centre his top two lines when McQueen and Michels made late decisions to head to the NCAA.

It’s not unusual for WHL forwards to have played at least some centre before they arrived in major junior and were shifted to the wing, but Murray and his staff face a bit of a conundrum until the problem works itself out.

The leading candidates to step up appear to Jaxon Jacobson and winger Carter Klippenstein, with a handful of other possibilities as well.

What’s the solution, and how effective will it be?

• MARTY MURRAY: “Everybody is going to have to move up the depth chart. Jacobson is probably in our number one slot and Klippenstein has been a centre his whole life until his time in Brandon so he’ll slide into the middle. Egan is a natural centre and then (Prabh) Bhathal, (Ben) Binder Nord, (Carson) Ralph, so we have some depth there and we’re confident guys can come in and do the job.”

• NICK JOHNSON: “I think there are a lot of guys who can fill that role. The first guy who comes to mind is Klip. He’s a hard worker and obviously got drafted this year. When you look at a No. 1 centreman, you look at a guy who is good at both ends or maybe more defence first who can produce the offence as well. Maybe we took a hit but I think we’re all capable of taking over that offensive end, may be not just that first line but all four lines.”

• JAXON JACOBSON: “Hopefully myself. I see myself filling in and being able to play with the top guys. We have Klip and Jimmy Egan coming up the middle too so I think we have a pretty good 1-2-3 punch. I’m not sure who else will play in the middle but we have a lot of guys who can fill the role.”

• BEN BINDER NORD: “I think we have a great group of guys who can help fill those roles and help do what they did. They’re both major players and had key roles but I think we have a great solid group of forwards and so many prospects that it will be hard to even fill our team and get rid of guys. We’ll be set.”

• JORDAN GAVIN: “I think we have guys who can take a big step this year. I think we’re an older team this year and have some good guys down the middle. We have a lot of guys who can play in different positions so I think we’ll fill those needs perfectly.”

• GIO PANTELAS: “I’m very confident we have guys who can step into roles. Obviously we lost two great players but the rest of our team is still looking amazing, even with our centre men. All that matters is keeping it above 50 (per cent) and our defensive game will be way better than good enough for our centre men not to need to chip in a crazy amount.”

• JOBY BAUMULLER: “Jax and Carter are two guys who we know are willing to step up and fill those roles. It’s something our team is going to need for the long run and I believe those two guys will work hard at it every day and will take on the job very well.”

DEFENCE FIRST

2. Can the defensive corps take the next step with the loss of captain Quinn Mantei and overager Luke Shipley?

It’s not unusual for teams to graduate their top pairing, but the Wheat Kings were hoping their captain would return for his overage season. Instead, he opted to go to school and the Wheat Kings found themselves moving forward without their best defensive and offensive blue-liners.

The trade for overager Grayson Burzynski and the addition of 19-year-old Czech defender Adam Hlinsky certainly helped, but they will need last year’s rookie trio of Gio Pantelas, Nigel Boehm and Dylan Ronald to make another big step this season.

Can this unit carry the load?

• MARTY MURRAY: “The first thing you look at is we have some size on the back end. I think we have to play to our size but I think we have a group that has the ability to do some good things. Guys like Pantelas, Ronald, Boehm, who were here last year, I’m looking forward to them taking some strides. They played some big minutes down the stretch and in the playoffs for us and did a pretty decent job. At the same time, it’s time to take it to another level here. Obviously bringing in Burzynski when we lost Mantei allowed us to replace him with a veteran presence.”

• GIO PANTELAS: “We have a few rookie D-men coming in but one of the rookies played two junior years prior (Max Lavoie) and our other defensive rookie (Cam Allard) played with us half the year. We have a really old group as of now and I think that will really help the back end, and we have a huge D corps and physical presence.”

• NIGEL BOEHM: “Losing those two is big and takes a lot but having a group of guys who are veterans and have a year of experience under their belt in the Western League will help our group a lot. Hopefully we can bring some more experience to our D corps this year.”

• DYLAN RONALD: “Burzynski is a big guy to bring in. The rookies last year will take strides this year.”

• MERREK ARPIN: “Shipley aged out and Q was a big part of the team last year but we have Burz coming in and he’s a good offensive guy. Gio is looking like he’s taken another step. We have players to fill those roles and then we have some good defensive defencemen. We’re going to be a solid defensive team.”

• JORDAN GAVIN: “As an older team we want to play harder, faster. I think we have that edge on a lot of teams and I know we have a bunch of guys who will take steps. We have some news guys like Adam (Hlinsky) who have been good so far, and some young guys coming in, so I think we’ll be really good on the back end.”

• JAXON JACOBSON: “I think we have a very, very solid group of young D-men who I feel very confident in. Every time I’m out on the ice I feel like they’re making the smart play. They grown a lot, especially Gio and Nige. How much they factor into this season is going to be crucial.”

STEPPING UP

3. Which players will take giant steps in production?

The question for Brandon isn’t if anyone will step in production, but rather who will make the most significant leaps forward. If Jacobson has a gifted trigger man like Mistelbacher riding his wing, he could pile up the points. Joby Baumuller, Jordan Gavin, Carter Klippenstein, Caleb Hadland, Brady Turko, Nick Johnson, Gio Pantelas and Easton Odut may also see significant increases.

So who steps up?

• MARTY MURRAY: “The obvious guys are the Mistelbachers but I think a guy who could really make a huge jump is Jordan Gavin. He has the ability to be a top-15 scorer in the league. Hadland had 25 goals last year but he has the ability to put his production with a 200-foot game, along with Klippenstein. Baumuller is another one, Turko, the list goes on and on. We should have scoring threats on every line.”

• JOBY BAUMULLER: “I think Brady Turko will have a big jump. After getting drafted, he’ll have a lot of confidence, which will be very good for him. I think Carter Klippenstein is the same thing as Brady, with both getting drafted. They’re going to have big years. Mistelbacher is a guy who I think is going to come in and help this team a lot, and Caleb Hadland will also be a guy with a lot of confidence this year. He’s been in the league three years and knows what it takes to win. Jax will have a big year taking that centre spot. He learned a lot in the summer and will come into this year ready and wanting to win, and the same with Jordan Gavin. I think he’ll have a big year.”

• DYLAN RONALD: “Jax will be a guy, and Mistelbacher as well. Hads will be a guy and I think Gavin will also put up some numbers.”

• NICK JOHNSON: “The first guy who comes to mind is Klippenstein. He can for sure take a leap this year, especially moving into the year with more swagger. Even like our young guys like (Chase) Surkan scoring that hat trick (against Regina in the pre-season), he’s a smaller guy and a skilled guy but I don’t think you should sleep on our younger guys because their point production in their leagues before was solid. Even Joby has gotten faster and has a harder shot. If he utilizes that, you’ll see big point production.”

• NIGEL BOEHM: “Jordan Gavin will be the first most. He has a lot more skill and poise and will bring his skilled game into this year. Another one would be Jax, whose confidence has improved a lot over the summer and he will bring a lot of skill to our team up front. Gio’s defensive game is like no other and he moves along the blue-line like a big right-hand defenceman. He’ll be good.”

• EASTON ODUT: “I have to say Turks and Jax. We’ve been together forever. Benny is going to work hard, he always does, and he’s going to get rewarded. Joby is also going to get rewarded. He works hard and I love it.”

• GIO PANTELAS: “I think Boehmer is going to make a huge jump this year. He already had a good year last year, especially as a rookie but I think this year it’s really going to show. I think Max Lavoie is going to show a huge jump from playing last year in the MJHL. I think Easton Odut, who faced a lot of injuries last year, this year he’s healthy, and hopefully he stays healthy and if he can, he’s going to have a great year production-wise.”

GUARDING THE NET

4. Can Brandon’s new goaltending tandem carry the mail?

The Wheat Kings find themselves in a rare position in net as they kick off another season.

With the graduation of Carson Bjarnason and the trade of backup Ethan Eskit that brought in former Victoria Royals starter Jayden Kraus, Brandon will have two new netminders to start a season for the first time since 2018-19 when they traded Dylan Myskiw and Jiri Patera and Ethan Kruger took over. The last time they had a completely new tandem to start camp was in 2010-11 when Jacob DeSerres and Andrew Hayes were replaced by Liam Liston and Corbin Boes.

The candidates to back Kraus up are former Edmonton Oil Kings netminder Hudson Perry, who is 18, and a pair of 17-year-olds, prospect Dylan McFadyen and Czech netminder Filip Ruzicka, whose transfer has been appealed by his former club and is caught up at the IIHF. As a result, no one is certain when he’ll arrive.

What’s the forecast for the new-look duo?

• MARTY MURRAY: “Kraus went to pro camp, which is a good sign. I thought he was exceptional during training camp. I think he only gave up one goal the whole weekend and the guys behind have pushed. We have some young kids, which is encouraging for the depth of the organization, and the European thing is still up in the air right now. We’re comfortable with it. I think we’ll have two good options in net and Kraus is a veteran player who had success and carried the workload.”

• GIO PANTELAS: “I know I can’t score on them, which is good. They make huge saves and have been playing really well.”

• JORDAN GAVIN: “I think we have a solid tandem back there. I know Jayden played 50 games last year for a really good Victoria team so there’s no worries there. He’s been really good in practice and games so I don’t think we’ll have any issues back there.”

• NICK JOHNSON: “Kraus is a veteran guy who is 19, and even in training camp I don’t think he had a goal scored on him in the first two or three games. He’s been looking solid and will be very good in the number-one role for us. I’m super excited, and even him going to Colorado is going to bring him confidence coming back.”

• EASTON ODUT: “Krauser is unbelievable. He’s big, he’s fast, he can move, he’s a good guy. We have Perry too, he’s big and fast. I think our goaltending is one of our strong suits … It just makes hockey so much easier and more fun having trust in your goaltenders. You know they’ll make big saves when they have to.”

• JOBY BAUMULLER: “Kraus, the goalie we picked up from Vic, is going to be a heckuva goalie. He’s shown even at camp that he’s ready to roll. He’s a guy who wants to come in and help this team win and he can do it. Our backup will be good too with Hudson Perry. We’ll have a goaltending corps.”

• MERREK ARPIN: “Krauser looked unbelievable in camp, so I’m really confident in his ability. He’s always dialled in and mad if a goal is scored on him in practice. He’s just a great goalie. Perry is a good goalie as well.”

SPECIAL TEAMS

5. Can the special teams be special again?

Depending on what nights you saw the Wheat Kings last season, you could be forgiven for thinking their two special teams units were the best — or worst — in the WHL.

The power play struggled to score in big moments last year and despite some inspired stretches, fell to 15th in the league at 22.8 per cent. The penalty killing was a revelation, leading the league for a stretch before some late struggles dropped them to ninth at 78.3. Combined, that puts them at 101.1 per cent, down from the combined total of 105 per cent that is traditionally seen as the sign of effective special teams.

With McQueen, Mantei, Shipley and overagers Nolan Flamand and Marcus Nguyen gone, the power-play units will feature a new look, but it seems to have the pieces in place for success.

On the PK, can Brandon finish in the top five for the third time in the last 20 years? A big part of that will also be limiting penalties in a kinder, gentler era of the game.

• MARTY MURRAY: “Consistency is a big thing. You want to try and get over that 105 combined percentage between power play and penalty killing, and we were probably over that for the most part and then we kind of slipped towards the end of the year. That’s a good sign. One of the things too is that having an 85 per cent penalty kill is good, but how many are times you on the penalty kill too? … If we’re taking penalties, they have to be justified. Maybe it’s saving a goal or making a big hit. Those penalties 200 feet from your own net usually end up hurting you.”

• DYLAN RONALD: “I think for our PK, we’d want to keep that pretty consistent with last year, and maybe maintain that throughout the season instead of that little sag. The PP will obviously be looking a little different this year with new guys coming in so hopefully we can get that figured outing have it similar to our PK.”

• JORDAN GAVIN: “There are going to be some off nights but I think it’s staying in rhythm and not letting an off-night tear you down. I think we have really good personnel this year for both power play and penalty kill, so I think if we’re staying consistent it will all work out for us.”

• EASTON ODUT: “We’re going to have to be more consistent. We’ll practise it and it’s a new season, so stats reset. We’ll work on it as a team and be good on the PK — we have lots of hard workers and lots of good defensive players — but then the power play will come. We have a lot of skill guys. We’ll click and find good units and everything will happen.”

• JOBY BAUMULLER: “We have to come in with a good mindset each day to show that our power play can be a top-end power play in the league. We have a bunch of skilled guys and shooters who can play on the power play and put the puck in the back of the net at the same time. I think we come in and do a lot of damage.”

• BEN BINDER NORD: “I think we can build on that. The PK was awesome and can continue to do that and keep making strides to make it even better. The power play, we have a lot of guys who can put it in the back of the net so I think we’ll be really solid with the addition of our new trades, Mistelbacher and Burzynski, who can put the puck in the net for sure. We’ll have a really solid power play.”

• NICK JOHNSON: “You have to step up. Being on the power play, you need to take that responsibility and when you need a goal, you need to get one. Each power play is an opportunity to get on the board and get another one. It’s crucial. Our PK has been solid the last couple of years too so we have to the way we’re going. I think it will be great outcomes for sure this year.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com