Pats prospects learning during development camp

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Top draft choices Braden Hordichuk and Aiden Wagner joined the Regina Pats on the weekend, hoping to become part of a franchise that can soon resume challenging for a WHL title.

“I’m a two-way player who could help on the offensive side and the defensive side,” said Wagner, a 5-foot-9, 191-pound, right-shooting defender from Yorkton and one of 31 players attending the Pats’ four-day development camp inside the Brandt Centre. “I could play wherever they need me.

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“I’m willing to go to war for my teammates, do what it takes to win games and make our team a championship team.”

Wagner was the Pats’ first selection, 25h overall, in the recent 2024 WHL Prospects Draft. Hordichuk, the first overall choice in the U.S. Priority Draft, also wants to help. They committed to the Pats on Friday by signing scholarship and development agreements.

“I feel like they picked me because they want to help me and they want me to help rebuild the team,” said Hordichuk, a 5-foot-10, 162-pound, right-shooting forward from Arizona who has family roots in Kamsack from his father, Darcy, a former NHL player.

“That’s gonna be a great opportunity for me and other kids. I can help the net-front presence, just getting in battles and getting where people don’t want to go.”

The Pats are coming off a tough season, having finished last in the WHL’s 11-team Eastern Conference with a 22-40-6 record. General manager Alan Millar made numerous trades last season, mainly dispatching veterans to obtain draft choices to help rebuild the roster with a special focus on 2025-26.

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Both players are 15. After participating in daily ice sessions during the development camp, getting familiarized with the team’s physical tests and meeting the Pats staff and several veteran players, they will be expected to return to training camp in late August knowing their new team’s expectations.

Sixteen-year-olds occasionally make a major junior team’s fulltime roster; most play with high-level programs and join their junior club as affiliated players for in-season call-ups.

“Both players will go through the process here for the next couple years to see where they’re at,” said Millar. “I think they’ll both compete for a spot on our team at 16, definitely play at 17 fulltime.

“I’m always cognizant of the 16-year-old year and making sure that we’re making the right decisions in terms of the player’s best interest.”

Tanner Howe and Sam Oremba were among a group of nine Pats veterans who welcomed the prospects to the development camp, telling them what to expect and demonstrating their work ethic, particularly in the fitness testing. The Pats also invited families to attend the on-ice workouts.

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Hordichuk had never skated in the Brandt Centre before the camp, but his Scottsville-based dad was expecting to watch some workouts and his relatives could also drop in for future games. Hordichuk also heard good things about the Pats franchise from someone he skated with during the offseason, former captain Connor Bedard.

“My dad was pretty excited that I got drafted by the Pats,” said Hordichuk, whose father played minor hockey in Yorkton and junior hockey in Calgary and Saskatoon before starting a 12-year NHL career in 2000. “I don’t think the Pats liked him too much.

“Right after this I’m gonna go back to Kamsack and hang our for a week or so. I’ve never lived there but I’ve visited.”

Wagner has been attending Pats games since the days of Sam Steel, so he was overjoyed to be drafted by Regina and earn the opportunity to play in a familiar building that’s only a two-hour drive from his hometown.

“It was a super special moment getting drafted,” said Wagner. “I knew lots of guys who played here and watched hockey here my whole life. So it’s made it a little more special, being close to home. That’s easier, not only for me, but my family. They can come and watch lots of games.”

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