Just as the USHL Phase I and Phase II Drafts wind down, the Western Hockey League is just getting started during North America’s junior hockey draft season. 

The WHL will hold an expansion draft on May 7th to welcome longtime British Columbia Hockey League power Penticton to the WHL. Click here for the handful of rules and stipulations pertaining to the Vees and the league in light of the expansion. 

The U.S. Priority Draft will kick off on Thursday (May 8th) with two rounds, and 46 total selections will be made. The Brandon Wheat Kings hold the first overall pick. Last season, the Regina Pats began the draft by selecting Braden Hordichuk first overall. Minnetonka native Boone Chartier was the first Minnesotan picked, going tenth to the Vancouver Giants.

Marcus Matyas, Easton Johnson, Spencer Anderson, Cooper Avelar, Gunnar Conboy, Nolan Fitzhenry, and Finn Spehar were the other Minnesota products selected among last year’s 44 picks.  

Eligible players are 2010-birth years who come from the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming. 

In years past, the process has been complicated by Canadian Hockey League (Canada’s junior hockey governing body) players being ineligible to come and go as they pleased regarding NCAA competition. Now that the Zamboni is out of the garage, WHL teams may not be as trigger-shy about selecting players who may be destined for college hockey. That being said, like any junior draft, zero players are guaranteed to show up. 

Below are capsules on highlighted 2010 prospects who could be selected on Thursday, along with a list of 25 Minnesotans who could see their name roll across the screen. 

To be clear, the chances of all 25 of these players being picked is next to zero. That would mean more than half of all players chosen come from the same state. With the rise in hockey talent in places like California and Texas, it’s just not possible. 

These 25 names have been whittled down from around 40 total players considered. I have no prior knowledge of side deals between families and teams for the 2025-2026 season. I have no idea how Player X feels about making his home in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, for a season. Some players could make the National Team Development Program next season as Under-17s. Some could be content staying with their local high school. Some could simply not want to play in the WHL. Some may quit hockey to focus on a burgeoning paintball career. The point is, there are infinitely more factors to consider here other than “Player X is better than Player Y.” 

Jaxon Cook
Gentry Academy 

“Smooth” may be the best way to describe Cook as a player, though the term doesn’t do his playing style justice. Cook has a subtlety to his game that only comes from natural talent. His hands through the neutral zone are impressive, and he bends angles to his advantage in the offensive zone.

In his first season of high school hockey, Cook totaled 14 goals and 28 points for Gentry Academy. During this spring’s High Performance evaluation camps, Cook was second among all skaters across age groups, with five goals and 13 points. 

Joey Cullen 
Moorhead Bantam AA 

This is one of those players with an inside track on the NTDP U17s for the 2026-2027 season. The youngest of Stanley Cup champion Matt Cullen’s three sons, Joey could be a long shot to leave his current track when he probably has more playing options and opportunities than any other 2010-born player in the country. 

However, if I’m a WHL GM willing to take a home run swing and pray that Cullen somehow finds his way to the Dub, it could be worth it. Cullen was named YHH’s Bantam Player of the Year after leading the Spuds to another Bantam AA state championship, then helped Minnesota’s Blue Ox squad to a 14U national title weeks later. 

According to Elite Prospects, Cullen racked up 67 goals and 151 points in 51 games for the Bantam AA Spuds. He finished the national championship run with eight goals and 11 points in six games.

Parker Deraney 
Detroit Lakes Bantam A 

Like a true degenerate, a couple of weeks ago, sometime after 2:00 AM, I found myself watching a YouTube version of the 14U Nationals semifinal matchup between Deraney’s Blue Ox and Detroit Little Caesars, the country’s top-ranked team at the time.

Throughout the broadcast, I kept noticing No. 16 for the Blue Ox. He could do it all. He had soft hands, could amp up the physical play in the corners and open ice, and made the right play 99% of the time, from breakouts to back checks. Turns out it was Deraney, who has the size to compete in the WHL and the well-rounded toolkit required of modern defenseman. 

Statistically, Deraney was no slouch for the Blue Ox, handing out 20 assists and totaling 23 points in 22 HP Fall Tier I League games. 

Maverick McKinnon 
Forest Lake High School 

McKinnon is the younger brother of current Sherwood Park (BCHL) forward Malachi McKinnon, and shares many of the same qualities that made Malachi a standout with the Long Island Gulls Tier I program and now with the Crusaders. 

Both McKinnons are deft puck-handlers who refuse to drop their eyes to the ice when in possession, constantly processing the play and thinking about the second move they’re going to make with the puck. Maverick has an elite shot that finds corners with velocity easily. As an eighth-grader, McKinnon led Forest Lake in scoring with 22 goals and 50 points in 26 games. Against his 2010-born peers during HP Fall Tier I League play, McKinnon led all skaters with 26 goals and 48 points in 20 games for District 2’s Loons.

At this spring’s World Selects Invite, McKinnon led the field in scoring for SDP Elite 15U with five goals and 19 total points in nine games.

Zane Medlin 
Duluth East Bantam AA 

Medlin is an easy player to fall in love with if you’re a junior coach. He’s sturdily built with room to grow (dad clears six-foot easy), his intensity is off the charts, and nobody works harder on the ice.

Unlike some players on this list, Medlin has not played his entire youth career for a juggernaut program. Duluth East has talent coming through the pipeline, but Medlin’s Bantam AA Hounds went 26-16-7 last season and missed the State Tournament. No matter the score, Medlin competes. He digs in corners. He bangs bodies. He rifles pucks. He never quits. 

He also happens to be highly skilled with a natural goal-scorer’s touch, and finished the Bantam AA season with 73 goals and 112 points for the Hounds. 

Brody Ruprecht
Cretin-Derham Hall 

Ruprecht is the type of player who makes skills coaches lace their skates faster and sprint to the ice for an early-morning session. Ruprecht’s hands and shot make him lethal in the offensive zone, and his pure speed allows him to routinely beat defenders wide and create scoring chances below the dots. 

Like all young players, Ruprehct has some of the finer details of his game to iron out, but his debut high school season with seven goals and 20 points for a top-10 Cretin-Derham Hall squad that came a goal away from a Class AA State Tournament appearance showed loads of potential. 

Mason Schemenauer 
Minnetonka Bantam AA 

Finding a player who wants to win more than Schemenauer would be akin to finding a seat at Cassetta’s during the high school state tournament - nearly impossible.

Schemenauer’s reach makes him an effective defender even without throwing his weight around, another part of his game that made him a top-pairing defender for the Bantam AA Skippers last season. Offensively, Schemenauer has the speed and skill to rush the puck 200 feet, but is just as comfortable making the safe play to break the puck out. 

He was a vocal leader for the Skippers, consistently communicating and directing pre-faceoff traffic. Schemenauer totaled five goals and 16 points in 17 games during HP Fall Tier I League play. 

Dean Stevens 
Minnetonka Bantam AA 

Yes, another Skipper. 

Stevens has long been one of the most productive and entertaining players in the age group, dating back to his Squirt A years in the Minnetonka program. Since that age, the question so many onlookers have had has been about Stevens’ size and how he would handle the physicality of Peewees and Bantams. 

Stevens answered all those questions and then some last season at the Bantam AA level. Stevens has proven that his height and weight don’t matter nearly as much as his ability to avoid oncoming opponents, his superb passing, or his agility. 

On top of his numerous attributes, Stevens is a true gamer, upping his level of play as the game setting dictates. He had six goals and 11 points in five games to lead the Skippers to the finals of the ultra-competitive Moose Goheen Invitational, including two goals in the final 6:55 of regulation (plus an assist in the first period) to force overtime against mighty Moorhead.

Stevens totaled five goals and 12 points in Region and State Tournament play. 

Bauer Sullivan 
Rosemount 

Like Joey Cullen, Sullivan has a legitimate chance to make the NTDP U17s after next spring’s tryout. But, again, if you want to take a John Daly swing on a player, Sullivan could be worth hitting it hard. 

He’s a true two-way forward, and his defensive play is just as impressive as his offensive prowess. Those in the Rosemount youth association and within the high school program are just as high on Bauer Sullivan, the person, as they are on Bauer Sullivan, the hockey player, an obvious nod to his intangibles. 

Sullivan led the Irish to the Bantam AA State Tournament championship game, eventually falling to Moorhead. In three State games, Sullivan had four goals and six points, factoring into all but one goal the Irish scored over the weekend. 

R.J. Thompson 
Detroit Little Caesars 14U 

After a two-year stint with arguably the country’s most dominant 2010 team over the last two seasons, Thompson is back in Minnesota, where he last skated for the Eden Prairie Peewee AAs. Like Cullen and Sullivan, there’s a very real shot of Thompson wearing the red, white, and blue for the 2026-2027 season - big swing, home run, long drive, etc. 

Thompson may be one of the most complete players eligible to be drafted on Thursday. He plays the game like an adult, is physical without being reckless, and takes his leadership roles seriously. He’s as capable of being among the tournament leaders in goals as he is leading the field in assists, evidenced by his 15 goals across 13-Only and 14U Nationals the last two seasons, and his 10 assists in six games during this spring’s World Selects Invite in Philadelphia. Those 10 assists ranked second among all skaters, tied with Mississauga Senator Arjun Nanubhai and behind Forest Lake native Maverick McKinnon.

Outside of goals and assists, Thompson is one of the most polished face-off specialists in the 2010 age group.