What Will Be the Future of the Wenatchee Wild BCHL Players?

The Excitement of the Wenatchee Wild’s transition from the BCHL to the WHL, still has the hockey fans in North Central Washington, buzzing with anticipation.

The rights to the Winnipeg Ice players, results in them becoming the new face of the Wenatchee Wild.

Wenatchee is inheriting a very talented team, who had the best regular season record. Last year's Winnipeg Ice and was a finalist in the WHL finals, losing to the Seattle Thunderbirds in 5 games. 

The Winnipeg Ice were in “Win NOW!” mode brining in 10 players last season, trading away future draft picks, for the quick haul of top talent. Looking at the roster, only 4 twenty year old's (3 position players & 1 goalie) graduated from junior hockey. 

The Ice roster (now Wenatchee Wild's roster) is mostly Canadian, reflecting the parent CHL hockey rules for rostering. There were 5 non-Canadians on the squad, of which: 3 were American, with the rest from Italy, Switzerland & Belarus. All five “internationals”  are set to return for the 2023-24 season.

With the WHL replacing the BCHL in Wenatchee, what will become of players from last year’s Wild roster?

Players in the BCHL hope of earning a college scholarship. With that said, it's assumed that none of last year's Wild boys will stay put and play here.

Why?

The ultimate goal of a WHL player is to be drafted by an NHL team and make-it to the big time. They are paid stipend, and are not eligible for college hockey. 

The Wild players who played for the BCHL version of the Wenatchee Wild - whose rights were to continue in Wenatchee for the upcoming season: Are now considered free agents and eligible to sign with any other team in the league.

 “We hope the majority if not all, can find homes in the BCHL,” - BCHL commissioner Steven Cocker. 

As the Wenatchee Wild prepares to enter play in the WHL, Dan and the Wild’s ownership are looking to sell the BCHL franchise team license to another town. Any sale of this license would be subject to approval by the BCHL’s Board of Governors. Something, that we in Wenatchee, know takes time.  The BCHL administrators conduct proper due diligence to look over any prospective ownership group. That said, Wenatchee's slot in the British Columbia Hockey League probably won't be filled by another town/franchise for the upcoming hockey season.

INFO: Brian Wiebe of BCHL.ca, Hockeydb.com, Seattle Times