Nine players were chosen by the Lethbridge Hurricanes as part of the 2025 Western Hockey League Prospects Draft.
The club’s selections include five forwards, three defenseman and one goaltender.
The Hurricanes did not hold picks in the first, second or third rounds going into the draft, but acquired the 54th overall selection from Victoria in exchange for the 73rd pick and a fourth-round selection in the 2027 draft.
The ‘Canes selected defenseman Liam McFadden with that acquired pick. From Edmonton, McFadden laced up his skates in 36 regular season games with the OHA Edmonton U15 Prep team, with which he scored four goals and had 22 assists. He added one goal and three assists in six games with the OHA U17 Prep team, as well as two goals and one assist in three playoff games.
With their 79th overall pick, Lethbridge drafted forward Luke Samu from the Northern Alberta Xtreme. Also hailing from Edmonton, Samu skated in 36 regular season games with the NAX U15 team, where he scored 23 goals and had 29 assists. The forward added one goal and four assists in five playoff games. At the 2025-25 John Reid Memorial Tournament, Samu scored three goals and had nine assists in six games to help the Northern Alberta Xtreme capture a gold medal.
Forward Graham Gard was selected with Lethbridge’s 87th overall pick, in the fourth round. In 32 regular season games with the Winnipeg Thrashers U15 AAA team, Gard scored 14 goals and dished out 18 assists. He added four assists in five games with the Thrashers U17 team, along with one goal in two games with the U18 team during the 2024-25 season. In nine playoff contests, he scored six goals and had five assists. Gard has family in the WHL, with his older brother Matthew suiting up for the Red Deer Rebels.
Lethbridge’s 133rd overall selection was acquired in a deal with the Regina Pats in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2028 draft. With that pick, the ‘Canes chose forward Nixxon Arcand-Vandale of Saskatoon. In 27 games with the Saskatoon Bandits U15 AA team during the 2024-25 campaign, he had 39 goals and 39 assists. Arcand-Vandale added 12 goals and 17 assists in 10 post-season contests.
Defenseman Jake Beaty was drafted with the Hurricanes’ 156th overall pick. The Virden, Manitoba product scored 14 goals and recorded 16 assists in 31 regular season games with the Southwest Cougars U15 AAA team. Beaty scored two goals and had four assists in eight playoff games. Additionally last year, he scored 11 goals and 10 assists in 32 games with the Cougars U15 team.
With their 179th overall pick, Lethbridge drafted forward Jase Brodrick from the Fort Saskatchewan Rangers U15 team. From Morinville, Alberta, he finished the 2024-25 campaign with 34 goals and 27 assists in 34 games. Brodrick added one assist in one game with the U16 Rangers and one assist in five appearances with the U17 team.
D-man Nixon Wright was taken with the 202nd overall pick. The Rocky Mountain House athlete laced up his skates in 31 regular season games, scoring two goals and 14 assists with the Red Deer Rebels U15 AAA team. He added one assist in 10 playoff games.
In the 11th round of the draft, Lethbridge selected forward Beau Anholt with the 248th overall pick. From Naicam, Saskatchewan, Anholt scored 22 goals and recorded 40 assists with the Warman Wildcats U15 AA team during the 2024-25 season. He added one assist in two post-season contests. Anholt also played in one game with the Prince Albert Mintos U18 team during the season.
For their last pick of the draft, at 271, the ‘Canes picked goaltender Cohen Kuntz. He played in 18 regular season games with the Humboldt Broncos U15 AA team. With the club, he posted a record of 7-8-2 with a 3.67 goals against average and a .909 save percentage. Last year, Kuntz secured a record of 10-2-0 with an .865 save percentage in 13 games with the Broncos U16 team.
In total, the Hurricanes drafted 11 players born in 2010 between the WHL Prospects Draft and the US Priority Draft.
In the US Priority Draft, the ‘Canes selected forward Cash Whitmore of Long Tree, Colorado and defenseman Drew Kortan from Moorhead, Minnesota.
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