The Wenatchee Wild had a pleasant fourth-place finish in the Western Conference last season, going 34-30-4. Wenatchee was eliminated in a tightly contested first round between the Kelowna Rockets in six games. Even after selling two premier WHL talents, Conor Geekie, and Matthew Savoie, at the trade deadline. This left the Wild with some very talented prospects looking to have career years heading into this season and one of the most experienced coaches in WHL history; the Wild are not to be taken lightly.
Wenatchee begin their season at home against the Seattle Thunderbirds on.
Hockey Staff
GM Bliss Littler returns for his twelfth season in the Wenatchee Wild organization, as the team used to play in the BCHL.
The Wild made a big move this offseason, bringing in one of the most decorated WHL coaches ever. Don Nachbaur, the three-time WHL Coach of the Year, will enter his twentieth year as a head coach in the WHL after spending the past two years as an assistant coach for the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL. This will be Nachbaur’s fourth WHL team that he has coached.
Longtime Wild coach Chris Clark is back as he embarks on his sixteenth season in the Wild organization. Clark is listed as the Wild’s Associate Head Coach and Assistant General Manager this season.
Dan Johnston will join the Wild as an Assistant Coach for his first season in Wenatchee.
Johnston followed Nachbaur from the Wranglers to Wenatchee after spending two seasons as the Team Manager and Video Coach for the Wranglers. Johnston has previous WHL experience as a video coach and assistant coach for the Brandon Wheat Kings during the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons.
Offseason Moves
Wenatchee were some busy bees this summer, making five total trades. Here’s a look at some of the biggest ones, along with the signing of an import player.
The first trade involved trading defenseman Jonas Woo, who was coming off a career year with the Wild, to Medicine Hat, acquiring Reid Andersen and a third-round 2025 WHL Bantam draft pick.
The second trade of the summer saw the Wild acquire a 2023 U.S. Priority Draft second round pick from the Medicine Hat Tigers, forward Ben Davis, in exchange for an 8th-round pick in the 2026 WHL Bantam Draft.
For the third trade of the summer, Wenatchee sent a 5th-round pick in 2027 and a 6th-round pick in 2028 to Red Deer in exchange for eighteen-year-old forward Zane Saab. Saab had just finished his rookie season in the WHL with Red Deer and had five points across 41 games. Saab will be a solid depth addition to the lineup.
The Wild signed forward Noah Samanski, a nineteen-year-old German import with some pro experience who has represented Germany nationally. The Wild selected Samanski thirty-fifth overall in the 2024 CHL Import Draft.
Key Departures
Wenatchee has lost some quality players this season due to aging out and by trade.
Graham Sward
First, Alternative Captain Graham Sward, Wenatchee’s top defenseman last year, will not return after aging out.
Sward was a 2022 fifth-round pick of the Nashville Predators in the NHL Draft and enjoyed a five-year WHL career, topped off with a tremendous overage season with the Wild. He finished second on the team in points with 81 and had the most out of any Wild defenseman and the second-most points by a defenseman in the WHL last season. Sward was a premier two-way defenseman in the WHL.
Briley Wood
Forward Briley Wood also aged out and went out with a bang after finishing third on the team with 62 points and becoming one of the most improved players in the WHL last season.
Wood had an excellent breakout season, but it was only his second full season in the WHL. Until this past season, Wood split time primarily between the Lethbridge Hurricanes of the WHL and the Neepawa Natives of the Jr. A Manitoba Junior Hockey League (MJHL). Wood briefly appeared on the Winnipeg Ice before the team moved to Wenatchee but was reassigned to Neepawa. Wood’s previous career high was eight points in a season during 2021/22 with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Karter Prosofsky
Former Alternative Captain Karter Prosofsky was another force on the blue line that the Wenatchee Wild will miss after aging out.
Prosofsky enjoyed a five-year WHL career, all spent technically with the Wild franchise. He prospered as an overager, having a career year with the Wild. Prosofsky played in 59 games and had 45 points, which included a whopping +36 plus/minus. Prosofsky’s previous career best was only 17 points. Prosofsky played in 178 total WHL games and had 82 career points. He was a strong leader on and off the ice, played a great physical game, and had some solid defensive skills.
Prosofsky is slated to begin his professional hockey career after signing with the Italy Hockey Club Gherdeina of the Alps Hockey League in mid-July.
Jonas Woo
One last key departure is that of Jonas Woo, who as stated, joins Medicine Hat by trade.
Woo brought healthy amounts of energy at 5’9 and experience to the lineup from his days in Winnipeg after being a part of the Eastern Conference Championship squad in 2023. He was an offensive presence on the blue line that could not go unnoticed, along with being a solid defenseman. Woo played in 68 games for the Wild last season and had a career-best 34 points as an eighteen-year-old last season, thirteen more than his previous career-best of 21.
Key Forwards
The Wenatchee Wild bring ten forwards back from last season who will definitely look to shake things up in the Western Conference. Here’s a look at the ones who will have the most significant impact on the lineup.
Kenta Isogai
The first is the face of the Wild this year, which is overager import Kenta Isogai. Isogai was the best player by far on the Wild last season following the departure of Conor Geekie and Matthew Savoie at the trade deadline.
Isogai scored 88 points, including 31 goals, in his rookie season in the WHL. This was the most points out of a Wild player all season and was good enough to end up on the WHL U.S. Division First All-Star Team. Isogai attended the Florida Panthers development camp after surprisingly going undrafted in his last draft-eligible season this past summer.
Isogai is by far the best prospect to come out of Japan. Isogai’s electric speed and two-way play are hard for WHL teams to stop, and he will be the most crucial piece for the Wild if they want to reach the playoffs. In one preseason game this year for the Wild before heading to the Panther’s NHL Development Camp, Isogai put up 6 points.
Miles Cooper
Miles Cooper is entering a draft year after an excellent rookie season with the Wild, could be an underrated player in the WHL this year and be even higher on NHL boards this year.
Cooper, as a rookie at seventeen years old, had 46 points in 65 games and was ranked as high as 141st by NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. He will receive plenty of ice time to take another step in his development with the Wild, and possibly, being paired with Isogai this season, Cooper could be in for a career year. Cooper possesses strong hockey intelligence and is very patient with the puck, making him a solid playmaker.
Luka Scherbyna
Former Spokane Chief Luka Scherbyna enjoyed an excellent rookie season with the Wenatchee Wild as a seventeen-year-old this past season.
Scherbyna posted 24 points in his rookie season. He is known primarily for his speed and is excellent on the forecheck. Scherbyna will have plenty of opportunities with ice time this season and will be looking to take the next step as he enters his first NHL Draft-eligible season.
Evan Friesen
One last forward that will be noticed in the lineup is overager Evan Friesen.
Friesen is also coming off of a career year with the Wild, posting 52 points in 60 games last season. Following the end of last season with the Wild, the forward got an Amateur Tryout (ATO) with the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL to get a taste of pro hockey. While Friesen did not record a point in the one game he played, it is a great experience to bring back to his final year of junior hockey.
Key Defenseman
Here’s a look at the top defensemen for the Wild this season who were all not a part of the Wild until the January Deadline of last year or later and will look to lead a relatively young defensive group.
Reid Andresen
First is nineteen-year-old Reid Andresen, who begins his fifth campaign in the WHL and is one of the most experienced defensemen on the Wild roster besides overager Easton Kovacs.
Andresen previously, as stated, played for the Medicine Hat Tigers for four years and was a former first-round pick for the Tigers in the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft. He played 210 games for the club with 86 total points. Andresen is a quick and shifty defender at 5’9 who can create and partake in offensive opportunities. He will be a top-liner for the Wild this season, as he will bring tons of offensive production on the blue line for the Wild this year. Andresen, however, is coming off of a down year with Medicine Hat point-wise, putting up 32 points in 67 games, compared to his 35-point career-best from 2022/23.
Josh Fluker
Another defenseman who will be vital to the Wild is Josh Fluker, the 7th overall pick of the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft to the Swift Current Broncos. Fluker will look to have a career year in his first full year in Wenatchee and third in the WHL.
The eighteen-year-old Fluker joined the Wild at the halfway point of last season after Wenatchee acquired him and two other prospects from the Swift Current Broncos for then WHL star Conor Geekie. Fluker is coming off a season in which he tripled his previous career best of 5 points with 15 points. Fluker adds experience to the blue line, is a shutdown defenseman with solid intelligence and grit, and will be one of the top four defensemen on the Wild this year.
Sam Ward
Shifty 5’7 defenseman Sam Ward will play a significant role on the blue line this season for the Wild as he also enters his first full season in Wenatchee and third in the WHL.
Sam Ward was also involved in the Conor Geekie trade after previously playing for the Swift Current Broncos. Ward, an alternative captain for the Wild, enjoyed a career year last year, having 13 points in 54 games split between the Wild and Broncos. Ward’s previous career best was 3 points in 33 games. As said prior, Ward brings plenty of speed to the blue line; his shiftiness paired with his defensive ability is a nice plus for this Wenatchee defense as he will be considered a top-four defenseman on what is regarded as a young defensive group.
Goaltending
Wenatchee returns the same goalie tandem from last season with now overager Daniel Hauser and Brendan Gee.
Daniel Hauser
First is returning starting goaltender, overager Daniel Hauser, who has the most wins in franchise history, currently having 95 heading into this season. Hauser would need to win 28 games this season to break the WHL record for wins by a goalie.
The veteran netminder is set to begin his fifth year as a goalie in the WHL and third as a starter. Hauser appeared in 39 games for the Wild last season. In those 39 games, Hauser went 17-16-3, had a .900 save percentage and 3.50 GAA. At only 5’11, Hauser is, in a nutshell, like a cat in the crease. Hauser will have his workload cut out for him this season, but if Hauser has a career year, Hauser could help guide the Wild further than many expect and reach the postseason.
Brendan Gee
Backup nineteen-year-old netminder Brendan Gee will return for his second season in the WHL.
As a rookie last season, Gee appeared 34 times for the Wild and went 17-13-1, with a .872 save percentage and 4.14 GAA. Gee is also a somewhat small stature for goalies, sitting at 5’11, and playing to a similar nature to Hauser; very agile and quick in the crease and can pounce on loose pucks out front quickly.
Key Rookies
The Wild have a bright future with a very young and talented roster, here is a look at the top rookies for the Wild this upcoming season.
Noah Samanski
Samanski just finished a year playing professional hockey in the Alps Hockey League for RB Hockey Juniors and has spent time in the Austrian Junior Hockey League. The nineteen-year-old forward played eight games and recorded a single point in the Alps Hockey League last season. Samanski has represented Germany nationally. Most notably at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup in 2022/23. As stated, Samanski adds some pro experience to the lineup, which is a plus for this young team as he gears up for his first year in North America.
Ben Davis
Another promising rookie for Wenatchee is Ben Davis, who joined the team from Medicine Hat via trade.
Davis spent last season in Plymouth, Michigan, playing for Victory Honda 16U AAA. Davis was a second-round, 23rd overall, U.S. Priority Draft selection in 2023. Davis played in 84 total games with Victory Honda, having 33 total points last season.
Although the WHL is obviously a huge leap, the now seventeen-year-old Davis excelled in his first-ever WHL preseason. In four games, Davis posted two goals and an assist.
Overview
Although Wenatchee is predicted to take a step back, some pieces remain from what once was a powerhouse team in the league in Kenta Isogai and Daniel Hauser. Along with talented younger players and tagged with one of the more experienced coaches in WHL history, Don Nachbaur. The Wild should not be underestimated, as they will reach for another postseason appearance.
Area 51 will have you covered all season long with WHL coverage on the Blogs page.
