NEWS PHOTO JAMES TUBB
Medicine Hat Tigers captain Bryce Pickford corrals the puck to take a shot on the Red Deer net in the first period of a 7-4 win Sunday at Co-op Place over the Rebels.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
Bryce Pickford was looking forward to time with his family and a visit from Santa Claus over the WHL holiday break. He wasn’t expecting an NHL contract to be under the family Christmas tree.
The Medicine Hat Tigers’ captain signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the break, announced Dec. 24 by the NHL club.
He was still in Medicine Hat when he got a text from his agent, unsure about why before he called him and learned the news.
“I don’t even know if it has still hit me yet,” Pickford said.
He didn’t get the chance over the holidays to take his family out for a dinner to celebrate, something Pickford says he’ll do in the future.
The signing was a formality for the 81st overall pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, off to a record-breaking pace in his fourth WHL season, second with the Tigers.
He leads all WHL skaters and CHL defencemen with 27 goals, and sits fourth in the WHL in points with 49. He also leads the league in game-winning goals with seven. Before receiving the fateful phone call from his agent and signing his contract, Pickford said he hadn’t heard much from the Canadiens franchise since leaving training camp.
While he wouldn’t say who he heard from, he received quite a few messages with a Montreal 514 area code.
“They all kind of texted me and said congrats and just told me this is the beginning and keep working hard,” Pickford said. “Getting those texts from those guys, it means a lot and I just have to keep it rolling.”
It’s been a career year for the 19-year-old Chauvin, Alta. product who is six goals away from setting the Tigers’ team record for goals in a single regular season and is 24 goals from breaking the WHL record of 50 goals by a defenceman in a single regular season.
“It’s outstanding for him, he deserves it,” head coach Willie Desjardins said. “He’s played hard, he’s a great force behind our team and it’s good for him.”
Coming off the signing, Pickford tallied two goals and five points in the Tigers’ two wins over the weekend to push their win streak to 12 games entering play tonight in Red Deer against the Rebels. It’s an early return he hopes to continue, not wanting the signing to get to his head.
“Just trying not to make my head too big, trying to stay level headed,” Pickford said. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates, so a lot of credit goes to them and coaching staff and all that. So can’t say thanks enough to my teammates, and I just gotta keep it going.”
