Mistelbacher embraces new challenge

Luke Mistelbacher isn’t a huge guy, but the Steinbach product will be carrying a heavy load for the Brandon Wheat Kings this season.

The six-foot, 200-foot overage forward will be expected to provide a level of offence the Western Hockey League team hasn’t seen in recent years after the club acquired him on draft day.

”I’m offensive for sure, shot first,” said Mistelbacher, who skated on a line with Brandonite Clarke Caswell with the Broncos. “I play hard and fast but mostly offensive.”

Mistelbacher, a right-handed shot who skated in the Eastman Selects system prior to jumping to the WHL at 17, led Swift Current with 42 goals and 51 assists last season. He was fourth in the WHL in goals, eighth in points and tied for 10th in power-play goals with 13.

The last time a Wheat Kings skater earned 93 or more points in a season was the 2018-19 campaign when team captain Stelio Mattheos led the squad with 96 points on 44 goals and 52 assists.

Mistelbacher and overage defenceman Grayson Burzynski of Winnipeg were acquired from Swift Current for the Wheat Kings’ own pick in the first round, 15th overall, plus 15-year-old prospect Alex Letourneau, a second-round pick in 2025 originally belonging to the Saskatoon Blades, third-round picks in 2027 and 2028 and a sixth-round pick in 2028.

After watching him in training camp, Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said Mistelbacher is a gifted player.

“He’s elite,” Murray said. “The way he can carry the puck and make plays, he is a threat to both shoot the puck or pass the puck. He had 90-plus points in the league last year and that isn’t surprising when you sit back and watch him. I’m excited to work with him and round out his game. He’ll be a key component of our team this year.”

The only returning skater in the WHL who had more points than him last season is Berkly Catton of the Spokane Chiefs.

Incredibly, Mistelbacher wasn’t selected in the 2020 WHL draft after piling up 33 goals and 22 assists in 34 games with the under-15 AAA Selects. But Swift Current general manager Chad Leslie quickly listed him, invited him to training camp and later signed him.

Mistelbacher appeared in three games at age 16, and made the team for good the next fall for the 2022-23 season. After posting 16 points, he exploded for 20 goals and 33 assists in his 18-year-old campaign in 2023-24, and then took it another level last season.

His outstanding campaign included two hat tricks and a four-goal game, and his longest stretch without a point was just two games. From Oct. 5 to Nov. 22, he went on a 16-game point streak when he tallied 33 points, the fifth longest in the WHL last season.

In 190 regular-season games over parts of four seasons, he has 68 goals, 94 assists and 50 penalty minutes, with 12 points in 14 playoff games.

When he found out about the trade, Mistelbacher admitted it came as a surprise. But as he thought about it, it began to make a lot of sense.

“It’s weird,” Mistelbacher said of the change. “Different billets, different teammates, you have to get to know everyone, different staff. It’s been good. The guys have been good to me.”

“Leaving Swift sucked at first but it’s been really fun in Brandon,” he added. “Hopefully we can be good this year.”

It’s also nice his friend Burzynski is making the move with him.

The six-foot-three, 210-pound Burzynski is a fifth-year veteran and left-handed shot who had 11 goals, 36 assists and 48 penalty minutes last season.

“It’s awesome,” Mistelbacher said. “I’ve played with him for three years now and played against him growing up. It makes it more comfortable being here.”

The deal was a popular one with his family, as it no doubt is in Winnipeg with the Burzynski clan. Steinbach is located 836 kilometres from Swift Current, and 286 from Brandon.

“They were really happy,” Mistelbacher said. “Two-and-a-half, three hours is a lot better than nine. The family is really happy. They can come and watch me whenever.”

Mistelbacher, whose younger brother Ty attended training camp as a free agent, played on Team Yellow throughout camp on a line with Jaxon Jacobson. The pair seemed to enjoy immediate chemistry, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see them together more as the season begins.

“It’s been awesome,” Mistelbacher said. “He’s a great passer and I’m a shot-first guy so it’s been really good. We started clicking pretty early.”

Growing up, Mistelbacher spent hours on the ice at an outdoor rink, getting there every day if he could. That could be where he developed his wicked shot, which he gets off quickly, accurately and with incredible velocity.

“Halfway through my 18-year-old year I felt like I just started scoring,” Mistelbacher said. “I could always shoot hard growing up but it really came into play in my 18-year-old year.”

Mistelbacher, who turns 20 on Nov. 2, has already made his pro debut. He was called up by the American Hockey League’s Iowa Wild after Swift Current was ousted in the playoffs last spring, and scored in his two AHL games.

He will soon head to rookie camp with the Minnesota Wild, but is set to join the Maine Black Bears next fall after his overage year in the WHL. He said the fact he’s one of the old guys in the league is hard to believe.

“It’s crazy,” Mistelbacher said. “It doesn’t feel real, and I actually kind of hate it. It sucks.”

The Wheat Kings have four pre-season games, starting in Regina against the Pats on Friday, with the teams meeting a night later in Brandon at 6 p.m. Brandon finishes up by hosting Swift Current at Assiniboine Credit Union Place on Friday, Sept. 12, and heading to Virden a night later for the rematch.

Brandon opens the 68-game regular season on Friday, Sept. 19 with a visit by the Moose Jaw Warriors.

Mistelbacher embraces any leadership expectations placed on him, noting he has three full WHL seasons to draw on. And Brandon is quickly starting to feel like home.

“It’s really good,” Mistelbacher said. “The facility is awesome, pretty new so that’s been good. The coaching staff has been really nice. We haven’t seen too much of them yet but that will come.”

And while the change is a big one, his goal remains the same.

“To win, to win everything,” Mistelbacher said. “We want to win our last game.”

» pbergson@brandonsun.com