The 2026 Western Hockey League Prospects Draft has come and gone, with the Lethbridge Hurricanes selecting a total of eight players over the course of the two-day event, held May 6-7.
DAY ONE OF DRAFT
On Wednesday, the club selected forward Artello Forestal with the 14th overall pick.
The skater from Edmonton played 21 regular season games with the OHA Edmonton U15 Prep team during the 2025-26 campaign, scoring 22 goals and dishing out 25 assists. Forestal also recorded 22 penalty minutes. In three playoff games, he scored four goals and recorded four assists, along with 16 penalty minutes.
At the 2026 Alberta Cup, Forestal played for Team Alberta Gold, where he scored five goals and had four assists. Additionally, he scored seven goals, had five assists and recorded six penalty minutes at the John Reid Memorial event with OHA Edmonton U15 Prep.
“We were really impressed by his ability to put the puck in the net every opportunity that he got. He sees the ice very well and makes his linemates around him play well too,” said Garry Carson, head scout for the Hurricanes.
“We really stressed that we wanted way more speed and skill in this draft and Artello is one of those players who has the attributes that we were looking for. We needed to add more scoring to our group moving forward and he will bring that to our lineup right away.”
DAY TWO OF DRAFT
In the third round, the Hurricanes selected forward Ronan Gow with the 50th overall pick. The Nanaimo, B.C.-born skater played in 30 regular season games with the Delta U15 Prep team in 2025-26, scoring 26 goals, 26 assists and recording 22 penalty minutes. He served as the team captain during the season, and added five points (two goals, three assists) and four penalty minutes in three post-season contests.
With their second pick in the third round, the Lethbridge club chose defenseman Evan Cuthbertson of Kamloops, B.C. He spent the 2025-26 season with the Yale U15 Prep team, where he scored two goals and had 10 assists, along with six penalty minutes across 16 regular season games. In five playoff games, he scored one goal and had two assists.
For the fourth round of the draft, the Hurricanes chose American forward CJ Dornfeld with the 70th overall selection. From St. Paul, Minnesota, Dornfeld recorded 92 points (36 goals, 56 assists) along with 100 penalty minutes in 61 games with the Woodbury Bantam AA team in 2025-26.
Goaltender Chay Ekblad was chosen with the 77th overall pick of the draft. The netminder from Williston, North Dakota spent the 2025-26 campaign with Fox Motors 14 team in the T1EHL14 league. In 13 games, he posted a record of 3-5-2-0 with a 3.34 goals against average and one shutout. He also appeared in two playoff games.
Lethbridge then selected forward Knox Kehler with the 116th overall pick in the draft, in the sixth round. Kehler hails from Yellowhead County, Alberta. In 33 regular season games with the St. Albert Sabres of the ABU15A league, he scored 21 goals and had 23 assists, along with 74 penalty minutes. Kehler added 13 goals and nine assists, along with 16 penalty minutes, in nine playoff contests. In the AEHL U15 AAA Provincials, he scored six goals, four assists, and recorded 10 penalty minutes. Kehler is the son of former WHL player Joff Kehler, who played five seasons with the Spokane Chiefs from 1999 to 2004.
The Hurricanes selected defenseman Kai Genereaux with the 120th overall pick, in the sixth round. The Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan product skated in 30 regular season games with the Calgary Edge U15 Prep team in 2025-26, where he scored four goals, nine assists and had 30 penalty minutes. He added six penalty minutes in two post-season games.
Lethbridge’s final selection in the draft was in the seventh round.
The Hurricanes chose defenseman Rowen Norrie of Calgary. He scored two goals, had 13 assists and 60 penalty minutes in 34 regular season games with the Calgary Bisons U15 AAA team in 2025-26. Additionally, he had one assist in three post-season games. Norrie also appeared in one game with the CBHA Hawks U16 AA team and one game with the Calgary Bulls U17 club during the 2025-26 season.
“We are very pleased with how this draft went for us and are excited about the eight players that we selected,” said Carson.
“Our group had an objective and a plan for this year’s draft in adding a lot of skill and speed to our team and we feel that we accomplished that. The blend of high-end scoring ability, mixed with the three puck moving defenseman and an exciting goaltender, we feel that this group has a lot of potential and we are excited for the future.”
TRADES
The organization also made four trades during the draft. Lethbridge traded the 154th and 160th overall picks in the 2026 draft to Saskatoon in exchange for a sixth round pick in the 2028 draft and an eighth round pick in 2029.
The Hurricanes traded their 150th overall pick to Swift Current for a sixth round pick in the 2028 draft, before acquiring an eighth round selection in the 2028 draft from Kamloops in exchange for the 174th overall pick. Lastly, the Hurricanes traded their 185th overall pick to Edmonton for a ninth round selection in 2029.
A list of all drafted players is available on the WHL website.
