Penticton claims F Avery Watson from Tigers to complete expansion draft

By JAMES TUBB on June 6, 2025.

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jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb

The WHL’s newest club completed their expansion draft process Thursday.

The Penticton Vees selected their last player of the expansion process ahead of their inaugural season in the Western Hockey League, selecting forward Avery Watson from the Medicine Hat Tigers.

The Tigers were the last WHL club required to submit their protected list, an extension granted due to winning the Ed Chynoweth Cup. They had until Tuesday, exactly two days after their elimination from the Memorial Cup. The Vees’ selection was announced via social media on Thursday.

Watson, who has signed a scholarship/development agreement with the Tigers, played in five games for Medicine Hat this season. The 17-year-old spent the season with the South Alberta Hockey Academy U18 Prep team in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.

He recorded 10 goals and 26 points in 32 games, adding two goals and five points in four playoff games.

Desjardins says they had enough veteran players to protect that it left Watson exposed, a selection he expected from the Vees.

“He has a good upside, he really developed last year and is certainly a guy we wanted to keep,” Desjardins said. “But there’s a lot of tough choices with all our guys, we have some older guys who you don’t know if they’ll be around but it’s hard not to protect them in case something changes and then you look really, really foolish if something changes they come back and you don’t have them.”

Calgary makes

pair of trades

The Calgary Hitmen swung two trades Thursday.

Calgary acquired 17-year-old defenceman Kaden Meyer from the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2028 and a sixth-round pick in the 2026 WHL prospects draft.

Meyer played 36 games at the BCEHL U18 level with the Great Van Canadians, recording 11 goals and 50 points.

They made a deal in the East division later in the day, sending 16-year-old Noah Kosick to the Swift Current Broncos for a 2026 second rounder and a conditional 2028 second-round pick.

“We’re very excited to add Noah to the roster,” general manager Chad Leslie said in a release. “He has great hockey sense, great individual skill, he makes his teammates better and has the potential to be a very offensive player in this league.”

Kosick, who is committed to the University of Michigan for 2026-27, appeared in 34 games for the Hitmen last season, recording a goal and three assists.

“I’m excited to get a fresh start,” Kosick said in a WHL release. “I can’t wait to get to Swift Current and have an opportunity to become the player I know I can be.”

Rebels hire Habscheid

The Red Deer Rebels added some championship pedigree behind their bench.

The Central division team announced the hiring of Marc Habscheid as the club’s 10th head coach in team history.

In 18 years as a head coach in the WHL with Kamloops, Kelowna, Chilliwack/Victoria and Prince Albert, Habscheid has 582 wins (sixth most in league history) in 1166 regular season games (sixth most). Habscheid has coached 139 WHL playoff games with 75 wins (eighth).

Habscheid has won two Ed Chynoweth Cups as a head coach, 2003 with the Kelowna Rockets and 2019 with the Prince Albert Raiders. He guided the host Rockets to a Memorial Cup championship win in 2004.

Habscheid won the Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy as WHL Coach of the Year in 2002-03 and 2018-19, he was also named CHL coach of the year in 2003.