Pantelas weighs options for next season

As National Hockey League teams consider their plans for the upcoming draft, Gio Pantelas is exploring some options of his own for next season.

The 18-year-old Brandon Wheat Kings defenceman, who is ranked 46th among North American skaters going into the NHL draft in Buffalo from June 26 to 27, isn’t sure what his plans are for next season, which means his Western Hockey League career might be over.

“The plan is all over the place,” Pantelas said. “There are so many things going on. It’s a changing world, it really is. I have to keep my options open everywhere. I’ve been trying my best to make a decision as quick as I can, but in all honesty, my decision hasn’t been made yet.

“It’s something that even taking so much time to think about, it’s hard to make a decision quick. Hopefully I can give you an answer a month from now but as of now, no decision has been made.”

If Pantelas does leave for the college ranks, it will be the second year in a row the Wheat Kings have lost their best defender to an American school.

A year ago, Quinn Mantei headed to Providence College, where he led the Friars in plus-minus and penalty minutes.

Since it was swept by the Calgary Hitmen in the playoffs, Brandon has also lost overagers Caleb Hadland and Jordan Gavin to RPI and overage defenceman Max Lavoie to Princeton.

Pantelas had six goals, 31 assists, 50 penalty minutes and a plus-minus of 19 while playing all 68 games last season, which was his second in the WHL.

“I was really happy with how things went,” Pantelas said. “It’s unfortunate to get bounced in the first round like we did but I think the season was a work in progress. At the end of it, looking back at it, it was very positive and just a good experience overall.”

Pantelas said part of that was his increased confidence, which helps any player, but he said it was something he focused on. The stout defender with a thick six-foot-two, 214-pound frame said his biggest gains came at the other end of the ice.

“I think definitely my offensive game improved a lot this year, just being able to make reads that I before wouldn’t,” Pantelas said. “Just being able to see passes that are open and try to manipulate defenders who were attacking me and taking every little advantage that I could.”

Pantelas was born in Montreal and lived there until he was 10, when his family moved across the country to Vancouver Island and settled in Victoria.

His father Aki played goal in Canada prior to a move to Greece when he was younger, and after returning to Canada and having a son, he introduced Gio to the ice around age four. The youngster started playing a year later.

After spending the 2021-22 season at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, B.C., Pantelas made the move to the Rink Hockey Academy in Kelowna for the 2022-23 season.

Since his father has a successful painting business on Vancouver Island and couldn’t leave, Giorgos, his hockey-playing younger brother Michael and their mother Britney made the move each winter and headed home in the summer.

Brandon grabbed Pantelas 19th overall in 2023 with a pick it acquired from the Saskatoon Blades in a deal for veteran forward Jake Chiasson. It was 14 picks after they took forward Jaxon Jacobson.

The two tried out together for Canada’s entry at the under-18 world championship, but only Jacobson played in Slovakia, with Pantelas a late cut on April 21.

He was philosophical about it.

“There are still so many steps left for me to take,” Pantelas said. “Just having one year where you keep improving from start to finish, it’s not enough. I still have a lot of years of hockey ahead of me and a lot more time where I have to keep working as hard as I can and keep working my way up the ladder.”

The big defenceman previously skated in the 2026 WHL Prospects Game, the 2025 CHL USA Prospects Challenge and with the bronze medallist Canada at the 2025 Hlinka Gretzky Cup. He also appeared in the World U17 Hockey Challenge when he was 15.

NHL DRAFT

In the preliminary players to watch list issued by Central Scouting last fall, Pantelas was assigned a B grade, suggesting he was a candidate to be picked in the second or third rounds.

“I just tried my best to ignore it,” said Pantelas, who spoke to NHL scouts on a reasonably regular basis all season. “I just showed up every day with a mindset of just going to play hockey and doing the sport I’ve been doing for more than 10 years now. It’s something I’ve grown up around and grew up playing, so there’s no difference at the end of the year if I get selected to a team or whether the end of the year just leads to another season.

“The draft is one step in my journey, it’s not going to make or break a player, fortunately enough, because I don’t have to worry about it. It’s just an exciting event coming up.”

In the midterm assessments in January, he was ranked 58th among North American skaters, and by the final rankings in April, he had jumped to 46th.

He was among the 90 players invited to the draft combine earlier this month, and certainly left an impression.

He finished eight in the right-hand grip at 173 pounds and was second in the left-hand grip at 183 pounds. His average of 178 pounds is 10th all-time at the combine: He is the only Wheat King among the leaders in any of the eight events.

“I did not know that,” Pantelas said. “It’s an honour to be there. I still feel looking back at it that I could have done more, although I’m still very happy with seeing that. I take pride in my strength and just being able to try to manhandle my opponents. Seeing that at the combine is eye opening.

“I’m really proud of that, and hearing that I’m the only Wheat King in the record books is really amazing, especially considering the rich history the Wheat Kings have.”

Also, in the anaerobic fitness: fatigue index, he was tied for 11th with a score of 45.0 percentage drop from peak.

He also met with eight teams. While that might have been a concern for quieter past Wheat Kings like Nolan Patrick or Nate Danielson, the well-spoken and highly social Pantelas enjoyed the experience.

“They all went perfect,” Pantelas said. “I have no issues talking and do a lot of socializing. I didn’t have any weird questions or anything that put me on my heels. It was more so because of my personality, every question I got, it was just another conversation for me. I’m good at talking and had a great time.”

Now that the excitement is behind him, Pantelas is trying to put it all out of his mind for a bit. He is heading to Buffalo, but until then, he has plenty of other things to thing about.

“I’m just trying my best not to focus on it too much,” Pantelas said. “I’ve done all that I could for this draft and now I think my main priority is getting my body as ready as I can for next year and just trying to ease off of hockey for a bit.

“NHL playoffs just finished and I got to watch all that and so now I get to take a nice break from trying to overthink things too much and just get to focus on myself for a little bit.”

ICINGS: The Vegas Golden Knights promoted former Wheat King Ryan Craig to head coach on Wednesday.

Craig, who played five seasons in Brandon and was captain for his last two. He spent the last three years as head coach of the AHL’s Henderson Silver Knights, and replaces John Tortorella, who the Golden Knights hired late in the regular season before reaching the Stanley Cup final.

Craig will address media today.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com