The Brandon Wheat Kings’ website re-posted an article from the Brandon Sun’s Perry Bergson, in which Bergson discusses the WHL team’s outlook for the 2023-2024 season.
Bergson points out that the Wheat Kings’ captain, Red Wings 9th overall draft pick Nate Danielson, is literally and figuratively “front and centre” in terms of the Wheat Kings’ forwards:
Everything starts with Danielson, the co-captain last season who led the team in scoring with 78 points on 33 goals and 45 assists. He was then selected ninth overall in the National Hockey League draft by the Detroit Red Wings.
“Nate is a special player,” Wheat Kings head coach and general manager Marty Murray said. “It’s not too often you get a top 10 NHL pick coming back to your team. We’re expecting him to have a real big year, although you don’t want to put too much pressure on a kid. We just want him to play his game. He’s developed into one of the best players in the league and I’m really excited to see him after a good summer.
“Part of it with him too is the weight of the draft being off his shoulders.”
For Brandon fans, the worst possible scenario occurs if Danielson finds a spot in Detroit in his 19-year-old season, something that happened with previous Wheat Kings stars such as Nolan Patrick and Wade Redden.
Murray is hopeful Red Wings history points in a different direction.
“Detroit typically has a path for these guys where they like them to season themselves a little bit in the American Hockey League,” Murray said. “We fully expect Nate back, but it’s a crazy game, as we all know, and sometimes those kids turn into men over the summer and Nate was on the verge of doing that last year.
“Would it absolutely surprise me if he made an NHL roster this fall? No, but at the same time, we expect Nate to be back and a big part of our hockey team.”
Continued; per the NHL-CHL agreement, Danielson would have to either make the Red Wings out of training camp, or he must return to the Wheat Kings.
There’s no AHL middle ground for Canadian Hockey League-playing players (an exception was made for players who played during the pandemic, like former Wings prospect Donovan Sebrango) for their 18 and 19-year-old seasons, and Danielson doesn’t turn 19 until September 27th, so this year, at least, he’s either an NHL’er or WHL’er.
All of that being said, I don’t expect Danielson to make the Wings out of training camp due to Detroit’s new-found depth at forward. Danielson still has a ways to go physically, and while he’s drawn some recent comparisons to Ryan Kesler, he’s not there yet.
