Pats make splash, select twice in top-3 in first round of 2025 WHL Draft

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on May 8, 2025.

sports@medicinehatnews.com@MedicineHatNews

The Regina Pats kicked off the 2025 WHL Draft in style.

The Pats selected Regina product Maddox Schultz first overall, then after a trade, selected forward Liam Pue with the third overall pick.

The 15-year-old Schultz had 43 goals and 93 points in 44 games to win the Saskatchewan U18 AAA Hockey League scoring race as an underage player.

The third overall pick originally belonged to the Kelowna Rockets, with Regina sending the 26th pick and two first-round picks, in 2026 and 2027.

Kelowna opened the draft by acquiring Calgary Hitmen captain Carson Wetsch and a conditonal second rounder in 2028 for prospect Ben MacBeath, a 2027 first, 2025 second and 2025 fourth-round pick.

Swift Current made a pair of moves, trading 40-goal scorer Luke Mistelbacher (2005) and defenceman Grayson Burzynski (2005) to the Brandon Wheat Kings for a 2025 first and second-round pick, a 2027 third, 2028 third, 2028 sixth and prospect Alex Letourneau.

The Medicine Hat Tigers did not make a selection, trading their first-round pick to the Saskatoon Blades as part of the Tanner Molendyk and Misha Volotovski trade on Jan. 6.

Barring a trade today, they won’t make a pick in the Prospects Draft until the third round where they hold the 50th and 67th picks.

Before Round 2 begins, the WHL will host the U.S. Priority Draft that gets underway at 9 a.m.

The Tigers hold the 16th and 32nd pick in the two-round draft.

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