Wenatchee Wild Awarded Third Overall Selection in WHL Draft

For 36 years, many of hockey’s top players have started their journey by being picked early in the Western Hockey League’s annual draft.

This season, the Wenatchee Wild will have the chance to pick one of the top players.

The Wild are excited to announce that they have the third overall pick in this year’s WHL Prospects Draft, following Thursday’s draft lottery. This pick comes from a January 2024 trade with the Swift Current Broncos, which involved Conor Geekie, now with the Syracuse Crunch, and a first-round NHL draft pick.

Wenatchee received Swift Current’s first-round pick for this year. The Broncos finished 10th in the Eastern Conference and 22nd overall this season. This is the highest draft pick for the Wild since they acquired the former Winnipeg ICE franchise in the summer of 2023.

Some examples are headlined by former New York Rangers goaltender Dan Blackburn, who won a WHL championship with the Kootenay ICE in 2000 before being taken by the New York Rangers at 10th overall and going directly to the National Hockey League after his WHL career ended in 2001.

Also topping the list of third overall picks is current Czech pro Mark Pysyk, who is in his second year of European competition after making 521 NHL appearances for the Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers, and Dallas Stars. This will be the 37th year for the WHL Prospects Draft, since its debut in 1990.

This year’s WHL Prospects Draft will take place on Wednesday, May 6, and Thursday, May 7. The first round will be on Wednesday, with the rest on Thursday.

Story: Austin Draude, Wenatchee Wild