REGINA, SK—The 2025 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League Draft, set for June 10, marks the league’s 10th anniversary of having a draft.
In honour of that, we looked back through the years and picked the Top 10 draft selections that significantly impacted the organization that drafted them.
There are many players not listed below who were drafted, who had terrific SJHL careers, either for the team they were chosen by, or others, but in the interest of the exercise, we kept it to these 10, and limited it to guys who made impacts specifically for the organization that called their name.
It was also tougher to pick players post-2020 due to the time needed to make an impact over time. Plenty of auto-protected players and men from outside Saskatchewan had a significant influence on the SJHL.
Be sure to tune in on June 10 at 1:00 P.M. ST across the SJHL social media platforms and on YouTube to see who’s next to impact the league significantly!
10. Boston Harkness, Melville Millionaires, 3rd Rd., 32nd overall, 2020 Draft
He has been one of the underrated players in the league for the last few years, the big-bodied, mobile, defence-first right-shot defender from White City. SK has been a great leader for the Moneymen for the three full campaigns he has played. When he takes the ice for the first time next season in the White-and-Blue, he will already have played 178 SJHL games, all for Melville. How about this stat: he has missed seven games over the three years he’s been in the league.
9. Austin King-Cunningham, Estevan Bruins, 1st Rd., 11th overall, 2015 Draft
Not many players have matched the fear factor that the Pilot Butte, SK native brought to the Bruins in this millennium. AKC came into the Bruins during the 2017-18 campaign, and hit and fought his way into the hearts of the fans in the ‘Energy City’. An extremely friendly kid off the ice, King-Cunningham snarled his way to 142 games on the ice for the Bruins, and took significant strides offensively before the COVID-19 pandemic ruined the 2020-21 season.
8. Mason Bueckert, La Ronge Ice Wolves, 1st Rd., 1st overall, 2019 Draft
A forward with direct-to-the-net offensive instincts and a heavy shot, playing at the Mel Hegland Uniplex and the La Ronge Ice Wolves, was a perfect fit for the former first overall pick. He scored 48 goals over 157 SJHL games, mainly played for the Wolves before he was moved to the Kindersley Klippers and a playoff run at last year’s trade deadline. His 20-goal, 62-point 2023-24 season was his breakout campaign, and his total was 13 points more than the second-highest scorer on the club.
7. Cole Tanchuk, Flin Flon Bombers, 2nd Rd., 19th overall, 2019 Draft
It is so rare today for a player to play four junior seasons, let alone for the same club, but the farm boy from near Shellbrook, SK, accomplished that feat with loads of class and a winning mentality. He played in 256 SJHL games, three finals, a Centennial Cup, and 53 playoff games! Certainly a defence-first defender, he doubled his career-high goal total last season and missed only two Flin Flon games in the previous two campaigns.
6. Tyson Janzen, Yorkton Terriers, 6th Rd., 63rd overall, 2016 Draft
Another big-bodied, right-shot defender on this list, Janzen went from being a 6th-round pick, to 187 SJHL games, and a 31-points-in-54 games for a plucky, cinderella Terriers’ squad in 2021-22. He has also now won three-straight ACAC titles for Red Deer Polytechnic, and played that same steady, low-mistake, high-intelligence game for a long time in the city ‘Where Good Things Happen’.
5. Jackson Allan, Battlefords North Stars, 3rd Rd., 35th overall, 2019 Draft
One of a vast number of SJHLers over the years with agricultural backgrounds, the pride and joy of Davidson, SK, always played way bigger than his 5-foot-7 frame, and played a key, regular role during Battlefords’ magical 2022-23 championship season. Despite being known as a two-way dynamo, he still scored 105 points in 160 SJHL games, all for the Stars, and gave everything he could to return from a tough injury last year as the club’s captain. His family is also Saskatchewan hockey royalty, as dad Chad won two World Junior gold medals for Canada, and cousin Nolan just finished his rookie season with the Chicago Blackhawks.
4. Kishaun Gervais, Yorkton Terriers, 1st Rd., 3rd overall, 2016 Draft
This past season, the former Terriers’ star split between pro hockey in Finland and the ECHL. Still, it was a dynamic, emotional presence for Yorkton between 2018 and 2022 (as he was in the Carolina Hurricanes’ organization this year). A proud member of Keeseekoose First Nation about an hour north of Yorkton, his big brother Kailum was also a very impactful Terrier during the club’s dominant early and mid-2010s. Kishaun mixed his gritty, tenacious game with great speed and skill, putting up 80 points in 120 SJHL games while being a major fan favourite.
3. Doell brothers, Nolan, La Ronge Ice Wolves: 4th Rd., 42nd overall, 2016 Draft; Holden, Battlefords North Stars: 1st Rd., 11th overall, 2018 Draft
A bit of a cheat here to pick both Doell brothers out of Martensville, SK.
Nolan has also won three ACAC titles in a row with Janzen and Red Deer, and was a dominant offensive player for mostly La Ronge, and briefly Melfort, between 2019 and 2022. He scored 39 goals and added 89 points in just 109 SJHL games over that span, with an absolute cannon of a shot.
Holden was the centreman for one of the best lines the SJHL has ever seen between fellow North Stars greats Jake Southgate and Kian Bell in 2022-23. The current NCAA Division I Ferris State man posted 100 points in 49 games that year, and 166 total points in the Black and Silver between 2019 and 2023. His 67 assists that season still hold up as the most this decade, and the most since fellow Battlefords superstar Layne Young put up 72 in 2017-18. Most importantly to Holden, his 22-23 team ran away with the SJHL championship, and grabbed a national silver medal that year at the Centennial Cup in Portage, Manitoba.
2. Jake Tremblay, Nipawin Hawks, 1st Rd., 7th overall, 2015 Draft
A rookie during Nipawin’s 2018 championship season, Tremblay’s speed and intensity hugely endeared him to the Hawks faithful. Through 185 games in the Nipawin Black and Gold, he was one of the most complete players in the league in the 2010s. Never the biggest guy, he still won tons of face-offs and played in every situation for Doug Johnson between 2017 and 2021. Tremblay put up 122 career points, but offence was just one facet of the Pence, SK man’s game.
1. Steven Kesslering, Battlefords North Stars, 3rd Rd., 32nd overall, 2017 Draft
Kesslering was undoubtedly an outstanding player throughout his 189 games in the Black and Silver. However, he took it to unstoppable levels throughout the 2022-23 playoffs, through the league final, and into the Centennial Cup. He scored 40 goals in that regular season, but was at or above a goal-per-game in the postseason and National Championships, and his blend of speed and power was just too much for any SJHL defender in that run. Despite not being on the Battlefords’ top line, he was their playoff MVP in 2023 and ended up with 165 points for the Stars. Not bad for a third-round pick!
Honourable Mention: Braxton Buckberger, Cody Davis, Hardy Wagner, Jordan Frey, Layne Matechuk, Luke Nkwama, Rayce Ramsay, Connor Miller, Koen Senft, Steven Steranka, Jaxon Herchak, Brock Evans, Mason Karakochuk, Blake Betson
