Players from region selected at WHL draft

Another year brings another high draft pick from the Eastman region at the Western Hockey League draft.

Ile des Chenes’ Nixon Gaudet was the first name from the region selected, as the Kamloops Blazers made the pick in the second round.

Gaudet suited up for the Eastman Selects AAA U15 team this year, lighting up the scoresheet. Across 32 regular season games, he nabbed 80 points, chipping in with 25 playoff points across 11 playoff games. He scored four goals in a losing effort in game four of the league finals, as the Selects fell to Brandon.

Kamloops had four picks in the first two rounds at the 2026 WHL draft and made 10 selections across the two-day event.

“(We’re) really pleased, it’s an awesome day for the Blazers organization,” Kamloops director of player personnel Aaron Keller said in a team video after the draft.

“Our scouting staff were really high on all of these kids. It was a bit of a different year draft-wise having the U.S. kids involved with the rest of the Canadian kids. It was a little bit difficult scouting but overall we think we did a really good job… The overall theme was basically we wanted smart, competitive kids and every (pick) fits that.”

This was the first year the league didn’t have a U.S. Priority Draft outside of the normal draft, with all players available in a single chain of selections. That meant just 15 players from Manitoba were selected in the draft, the lowest since at least 2013.

Braeden Gilbertson was the next player from Eastman to be selected, hearing his name called by Seattle in the fourth round. The Lorette-born defenseman had 25 points in the regular season, even chipping in with a goal when he was called up to the U17 AAA team for a game.

In round five, a pair of players from the region were selected with back-to-back picks. Prince George took St Malo’s Reed Sherry with the 110th pick and Tri-City took Oakbank’s Brady Piec 111th.

Sherry scored 47 points in 32 games this season for the Selects.

“Reed is a two-way centre with really good habits. He is reliable and a coach’s dream,” Cougars’ Director of Scouting Leland Mack said in a team news release.

Piec played defense for Rink Hockey Academy, even getting the call up to the program’s U17 team and scoring a goal for them at a higher level.

All four players will be in action at the upcoming Hockey Manitoba Program of Excellence U16 Top-40 camp in Steinbach at the Southeast Event Centre May 21-24.

Also getting the call to the Top-40 camp were Ste Anne’s Haize Brightnose (G) and Garson’s Brody Sawatzky (F).

The women’s Program of Excellence will also be in Steinbach at the same time, with a U18 Top 40 camp. The Eastman Selects are sending three players to the camp with St Adolphe’s Isabella Labossiere (G), Powerview’s Mya Grenier (F) and St Pierre’s Emilie Carriere (F) in attendance.