Stanks On Sports
When the dust settles on the 2024-25 WHL season, Curtis Hunt might end up winning the Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s executive of the year or that may come in near future seasons.
Of course, that is an impossible thing to predict as none of the WHL’s 22 clubs have hit the ice yet for a regular season game. The circuit’s regular season opens on Friday with eight contests including the Prince Albert Raiders hosting the Regina Pats at 7 p.m. at the Art Hauser Centre.
During this past off-season, Hunt, who is the Raiders general manager, did a great job of crafting on paper what has the potential to be a good roster. Of course, potential is a key word, but the Raiders could turn heads in a wide open East Division with a mix of new and familiar faces.
Hunt and the Raiders brass’s most inspiring move over the off-season was electing to keep Polish import left-winger Krzysztof Macias. As a 19-year-old import rookie last season, Macias recorded 22 goals, 25 assists and a plus-nine rating in the plus-minus department in 65 regular season games.
Macias’s work ethic showed through each night, and he improved steadily as the year went on. On top of that, he is personable. When you have all those traits when you play for the Raiders, the faithful in “Hockey Town North” will take you to heart really quick, and he became a fan favourite.
Due to the fact he is a 20-year-old and takes up both an overage and import spot this season, there was no certainty that Macias would be back for a second campaign. Had he been a year younger, it would have been a no-brainer that he was coming back, because he earned the opportunity to come back and have the chance to build off his rookie season.
Raiders management decided Macias deserved to be back. That also shows everyone else in the team’s dressing room that if you join the club and do all the right things, the team will be there for you.
One of the new faces the Raiders brought in was 19-year-old offensive-defenceman Lukas Dragicevic in a blockbuster trade with the Tri-City Americans on July 25. Dragicevic came to the Raiders along with 18-year-old prospect goaltender Eric Kahl and a seventh round selection in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft in exchange for 19-year-old shutdown-defenceman Terrell Goldsmith, 18-year-old centre Grady Martin, 2005-born netminder Nathan Preston and a third round selection in the 2025 Prospect Draft.
The Raiders are looking to get more offence, and the presence of Dragicevic along with returning veteran Justice Christensen gives the Raiders two power-play quarterbacks. With Dragicevic and Christensen on the back end, the Raiders power play can potentially have more dynamic looks than it has had in recent years.
Of course the massive trade that seemingly everyone that follows the three CHL leagues noticed was the deal where the Raiders sent star 18-year-old right-winger Ryder Ritchie to the Medicine Hat Tigers on August 26. In return, the Raiders received 18-year-old centre Tomas Mrsic, a third round selection in the 2025 Prospects Draft and a third round pick in the 2028 Prospects Draft.
The Tigers wanted Ritchie so that he could play on their top line with superstar left-winger Gavin McKenna and star 20-year-old centre Oasiz Wiesblatt. Medicine Hat gave up immediate value with Mrsic and later on value with the draft selections to make the deal too good to pass up.
Mrsic’s upward projection shown by the jump in his offensive numbers from his 16-year-old season to his 17-year-old campaign was too tempting. In 2022-23 as a 16-year-old rookie, Mrsic recorded nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points to go with a plus-three rating in 58 regular season games. Last season as a 17-year-old sophomore, Mrsic recorded 23 goals and 39 assists for 62 points to go with an even rating in 63 regular season games.
You almost couldn’t pass up on Mrsic with the anticipation he could have another strong jump in offensive production to go along with the fact he can play on any of the forward spots.
The Raiders rounded out their 20-year-olds with a pair of key returnees who have been career members of the club in right-winger Niall Crocker and star netminder Max Hildebrand. Crocker recorded career highs in goals (23), assists (34), points (57) and plus-minus (plus-three) appearing in all of the Raiders 68 regular season games last season. He will provide a steady presence for the team.
Hildebrand is one of the WHL’s top puck stoppers and gives the Raiders a chance to win every night. Last season, he recorded a 25-20-4 record, a 2.88 goals against average, a .907 save percentage and two shutouts. After having a great off-season of training and getting to soak up being around his other passion of baseball as the equipment manager of the WCBL’s Saskatoon Berries, you can expect to see a refreshed Hildebrand going into the campaign.
Also, it is believed that a lot of the Raiders potential strength is in their 17-year-old, 16-year-old and 15-year-old age groups. On paper, those draft classes seem strong with the Raiders having five of their 11 selections inside the first three rounds in each of the past two years.
You can watch for players in the 17-year-old age group like Oli Chenier, Luke Moroz, Dayce Derkatch, Ryan Gower and netminder Cooper Anderson to get increased opportunities as the season goes on. Derkatch, Gower and Anderson are playing in their respective rookie campaigns.
You can expect the five 16-year-old rookies currently on the roster in Daxon Rudolph, Riley Boychuk, Ty Meunier, Benett Kelly and Jonah Sivertson are going to get their looks. Rudolph, Boychuk and Meunier went first, second and seventh overall respectively in the 2023 Prospect Draft. Rudolph and Kelly roam the back end, while Boychuk, Meunier and Sivertson all play up front.
Again, those five players are all 16-year-old rookies, so they will make mistakes and patience will be needed. With that noted, the potential payoff of playing these players now could be big by the end of the season or in future campaigns.
Due to the presence of Gower, Rudolph and Kelly on the back end, the Raiders elected not to bring veteran rearguards in former captain Eric Johnston and Easton Kovacs back as 20-year-olds. Johnston was dealt to the Swift Current Broncos for a third round pick in the 2028 Prospects Draft on July 25, while Kovacs was shipped to the Wenatchee Wild for a conditional fifth round selection in the 2028 Prospects Draft on August 22. As of Tuesday, Kovacs has been dropped from the Wild’s regular season roster.
Having made the playoffs last season with a 31-32-2-3 mark, the Raiders are in a unique position going into this season. They can very much be a playoff team again and make some noise, and it also feels like they have something huge going for the future where the biggest returns could come in a couple of seasons from now.
Overall, there can be lots of excitement around the Raiders for what could possibly be.
Darren Steinke is a Saskatoon-based freelance sportswriter and photographer with more than 20 years of experience covering the WHL. He blogs frequently at stankssermon.blogspot.com.
