With just 11 games to go in the 2024-25 regular season, the Prince Albert Raiders are competing for an East Division crown and the play of their 16-year-olds has been a major reason why.
Ty Meunier was the third player selected by Prince Albert in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft with the seventh overall pick. The Raiders took Daxon Rudolph with the first overall pick and Riley Boychuk second.
Raider head coach Jeff Truitt says Meunier has all the tools in his toolbox to be a great offensive player in the WHL.
“I think numbers really help the confidence knowing that you can contribute and knowing that you’ve got the confidence to make those plays and take those shots. Ty’s got great hands and great vision. He can shoot the puck and he’s using those assets to be successful that way and contribute.”
Throughout his minor hockey career, Meunier has always been a prolific scorer.
During the 2022-23 season in the Alberta Elite Hockey League (AEHL) U15 AAA season, Meunier finished first in league scoring with 54 goals and 34 assists in just 32 games played for the St. Albert Sabres. Boychuk finished second with 80 points in 33 games for the Airdrie Xtreme.
Last season, Meunier skated in 35 games for the U18 AAA St. Albert Sabres posted 27 goals and 26 assists and finished fourth in AEHL scoring. He was second in the league amongst 15-year-old skaters as only St. Albert teammate Brett Olson had more. Olson was taken one pick after Meunier by the Vancouver Giants in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft.
Meunier has dressed in all 57 games for the Raiders this season and has posted 13 goals and 11 assists. The 16-year-old Meunier has also been a more common sight on the Raider power play as the season has gone on.
In an interview with the Daily Herald, Meunier credited a lot of his individual success in his rookie season to the overall success that the Raiders have experienced as a whole.
“I think it just starts with the whole team. I think our whole team’s been playing well. Our lines have been playing well. Our chemistry is getting really good, so they’ve been helping me a ton. I’ve been getting confidence and starting to handle the puck more and holding onto it a bit more. It’s been really good and it’s helped the competition.”
At the time of publishing, the Raiders currently hold a two point lead for the top spot in the East division over the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Saskatoon Blades are also within striking distance for the division crown trailing the Raiders by four points with four head-to-head meetings left this season.
With the Raiders playing important games into the month of March, Meunier says it’s been an incredible experience for both himself and the other rookies on the Prince Albert roster.
“It’s awesome, not many guys are on a team that’s as good as we are in the first year of the league, so it’s been great. I think we just keep pushing, keep getting better every day and it’s great that we can be in it for our first year and hopefully continue pushing for the best.”
Since the calendar flipped to 2025, Meunier and the rest of the 2008-born Raiders have taken major steps forward. Since January 1, Meunier has posted four goals and nine assists.
Truitt says Meunier has learned a lot from the older guys around him as the year has gone on.
“I give the guys around him a lot of credit because he’s seeing what the other guys do. He’s looking at the other guys and seeing their preparation, their work that they put in, the details of the game, the weaknesses of their games in order to get better. I think that coming out of minor hockey and coming here, he’s adjusted extremely well and he’s seen that blueprint of what it leads to continue to trend on and he’s following that.”
It didn’t take long for Meunier to pick up his first WHL goal as he struck in Moose Jaw on Sept. 21, in his second career WHL game. After picking up his first goal, it took Meunier nearly a month before finding the back of the net on Nov. 1 against Swift Current.
Meunier says it was an adjustment getting used to playing in the WHL.
“It’s definitely a faster pace, so just knowing what you’re going to do before you even get the puck. I think just getting shots off whenever you have the chance, not if you have it in the middle or whatever, not giving it away or just getting shots off is a big thing and trying to get the middle of the ice as much as you can.”
Along with Rudolph and Boychuk, the Raiders have three 16-year-olds that sit in the top 25 in league scoring this season. In a year that has seen a lot of older players join the WHL midseason after the CHL/NCAA rule change, Truitt says it’s promising to see the three players contributing on a nightly basis for Prince Albert.
“It’s huge because some 16-year-olds struggle for a long time and then the confidence goes down and everything else seems to follow with it. It’s a deep hole to get them out of. It’s great to see the young guys having success. Meunier, Boychuk and Rudolph being able to contribute because that just escalates their trend a lot quicker to going and being an impact guy. It’s great to see.”
The Raiders return to action on Friday night when they welcome the Edmonton Oil Kings to the Art Hauser Centre. Puck drops at 7 p.m.
sports@paherald.sk.ca
