The Saskatoon Blades didn’t wait long after the end of the 2022-23 season to declare who their Number 1 goaltender is for 2023-24.

The Bridge City Bunch dealt 19-year-old Saskatoon product Ethan Chadwick (pictured) to Everett for a second round pick in Thursday’s W-H-L Prospects Draft and a fourth rounder in 2025. That leaves 19-year-old Austin Elliott, a second-team East Division all-star this past season, along with 17-year-old Evan Gardner as the expected netminding tandem for the Blue and Gold this fall. Prior to that trade, the Blue and Gold sent the 21st overall selection in Thursday’s Draft to Medicine Hat for the 29th overall choice, a fifth rounder Thursday and a second round pick next year. When Saskatoon got down to making selections, they drafted 12 players – one goaltender, four defencemen and seven forwards. The first pick, at 29th overall, was 6′, 181-pound centre Zachery Olsen, a Calgary product who played this past season for the Edge School Under-15 Prep team. The full list of Blades’ draft picks and Les Lazaruk’s complete interview with Saskatoon President and G-M Colin Priestner follows this story.

Meanwhile, the Prince Albert Raiders resisted the temptation to trade any of their first round picks Thursday morning. P-A had their own second overall selection plus the first overall choice and seventh overall pick acquired in trades with Edmonton and Kelowna, respectively. The Raiders dipped into Alberta for all three selections, taking defenceman Daxon Rudolph of Lacombe first, Riley Boychuk of Cochrane second and left winger Ty Meunier of St. Albert seventh. In addition, it took until the 14th choice of Thursday’s festivities to have a Saskatchewan product picked. Lethbridge selected Humboldt product Dayne Beuker, a centre who played with the Broncos Under-15 Double-As this past season. He is the son of former U of S Huskies star forward Dean Beuker. Centres Beckett Hamilton and Caine Wilkie were the first two Saskatoon prospects chosen…18th overall by Red Deer and 20th by Everett, respectively.