Katsilieris looks to jump to Wheat Kings

Will Katsilieris may not have travelled the usual path to the Western Hockey League, but the Calgary defenceman is still nearing his destination with the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The six-foot-one, 191-pound blue-liner played under-15 AA in his draft year and then spent the next season with the U17 AAA Calgary Flames. In a league where the well-trod path veers through prep hockey or AAA in both U15 and U18, Katsilieris appeared to be on the outside looking in, but he never gave up a hope.

“I stayed optimistic,” Katsilieris said. “I know coming out of U15 AA I just tried my best to make U17 and made it happen. I was happy then and got listed and was in U18 the next year.”

The Wheat Kings open their four-game pre-season tonight at Assiniboine Credit Union Place against the Regina Pats.

Katsilieris is one of nine defencemen still in camp, although that number includes 15-year-old blue-liner Marko Malbasa, who will soon be headed back to Winnipeg’s RINK Hockey Academy for his rookie U18 season.

In Katsilieris’s 2023-24 draft year, he skated with the U15 AA NWCAA Bruins, posting 22 points and 51 penalty minutes in 28 games. He was also called up for four games by the U15 AAA Calgary Flames.

Even so, his expectations weren’t high on draft day.

“I actually did not think I was going to go at all,” Katsilieris said. “I was in U15 AA so I didn’t really think there was a chance at all.”

Instead, the Wheat Kings listed him a few months later, early in his U17 year in 2024-25. Katsilieris found out when he received a call from Brandon’s director of hockey operations, Chris Moulton.

In his mid-season review of the team’s prospects with The Brandon Sun on Dec. 19, 2024, Moulton said there was a lot to like about Katsilieris as he compared him to now former Wheat Kings defenceman Dylan Ronald, who was traded in the off-season.

“Two years ago he was playing community hockey in Calgary, then all of a sudden he went to play AA and went to play AAA last year and was hit from behind and injured,” Moulton said. “He didn’t even play AAA as a U15 because of the injury and this year he almost made the U18 team as a walk-on and he’s playing U17 for the Flames and he’s a really good player. He’s smart, he makes plays.

“He’s one of the kids who is on the upswing. Like a Dylan Ronald, they may not be a household name but they’re a good player. He’s got a Dec. 26 birthday, he’s growing, he’s 5-11 now. To go from community hockey to affiliating at U18 in two years is pretty impressive. We really like this kid.”

In the 2024-2025 season with the U17 AAA Calgary Flames, Katsilieris had eight goals and 13 assists in 31 games as his club won the Alberta Elite Hockey League U17 AAA championship. He was named to the second all-star team and playoff MVP after posting nine points in nine games.

“That was really big,” Katsilieris said. “My coach Justin (Ostertag) gave me first line, first power play and that really helped out. It was a good group of guys and it was a lot of fun.”

Katsilieris, who was born on Boxing Day, is one of the youngest players in his 2009-born cohort every year.

A year ago, the left-shooting defender made the jump to the U18 AAA Flames and had 25 points and 18 penalty minutes in 26 games. He was also called up for two games with the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Olds Grizzlies last season.

Katsilieris attended his second camp with the Wheat Kings last week, and was happy with how everything went.

“It was a lot of fun,” Katsilieris said. “It was a good experience, good group of guys, good coaching staff.”

Brandon head coach and general manager Marty Murray said he has made a strong impression this fall through training camp and through pre-season practices.

“He’s a presence,” Murray said. “He’s an ‘09 and obviously a bigger size body. I thought he moves the puck with authority and does a real good job of walking the line and getting the puck through. He has a real nice little snapshot. He was just steady through camp and deserves a chance to stick around.”

Camp has certainly made a mark on him as well, and it might be a permanent one.

Katsilieris, who is still wearing a full mask, has four stitches on his chin after getting hit by his buddy Kade Pierson during training camp.

“He came up under my cage and got me pretty good,” Katsilieris said. “I needed stitches. It was only four, so it wasn’t that bad.”

He describes himself as a two-way defenceman who takes care of his own zone first and then jumps up in the rush when he gets an opportunity. However, he admits that defending against major junior veterans is something completely new.

“It’s almost everything, to be honest,” Katsilieris said. “The way they move the puck, they’re looking one way and make a pass the other way, good shots, you can’t let them get anything. It’s a lot of stuff.”

The youngster will likely see action in at least one game this weekend against the Pats, who they meet again on Saturday in Ochapowace, Sask. The Wheat Kings then have a home-and-home series with the Moose Jaw Warriors on Sept. 11 and 12, with the regular season beginning on Sept. 18 when the Saskatoon Blades visit.

“It will be nice,” Murray said of this weekend’s action. “There is so much to cover in such a short time so we’ll be a little green going into the game but it’s a fun part of the year when you can get different players in game situations. You’re not practising against your buddies or friends. It will be good to play a different team.”

It will also provide another chance for Katsilieris to show he belongs and should spend his 17-year-old season in the Wheat City.

“It’s a big goal,” Katsilieris said. “It’s probably the biggest goal I have right now. I hope to be one, one day. Who knows?”

ICINGS: The WHL announced Wednesday that its short-lived relationship with Victory+, which live streamed games since March 2025, has ended. On an interim basis, games will shift to YouTube. The league said it will have more news before the regular season begins.

» pbergson@brandonsun.com