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A new season is upon us and the Victoria Royals have announced their 2024-25 opening roster, naming 17 forwards, 8 defencemen, and 3 goaltenders to the team.
Here is the squad:
Forwards
#2 Layne Schofield (’08)
#7 Cole Reschny (’07)
#8 Vaughn Watterodt (’04)
#9 Tanner Scott (’04)
#15 Daniel Morozov (’07)
#16 Wyatt Danyleyko (’07)
#17 Nolan Stewart (’08)
#20 Markus Loponen (’06)*
#21 Simon Pohludka (’06)
#22 Teydon Trembecky (’05)
#25 Reggie Newman (’05)*
#26 Caleb Matthews (’07)
#27 Cruz Waltze (’08)
#28 Logan Pickford (’06)
#29 Deagan McMillan (’05)*
#32 Kash Alger-East (’08)
#34 Escalus Burlock (’06)
Defencemen
#3 Justin Kipkie (’05)*
#4 Seth Fryer (’06)
#5 Kyle Marsden (’06)
#12 Cosmo Wilson (’05)
#14 Jerrett Ross (’07)
#18 Keaton Verhoeff (’08)
#23 Nate Misskey (’05)*
#24 Matthew Keller (’06)
Goaltenders
#31 Ryan Tamelin (’06)
#33 Jayden Kraus (’06)
#35 Spencer Michnik (’06)
* – Away at NHL Camp
Italicized players are returnees from last year.
The Royals will return 12 players from last year’s team, highlighted by Cole Reschny, Justin Kipkie, and Nate Misskey.
Let’s take a look.
Royals revamp top six forward group
It looks like the Royals saw a clear need at forward over the offseason, and given that they’re returning only 6 forwards who played at least 30 games last season, that makes sense. With both Dawson Pasternak and Tyson Laventure ageing out of the league, and Robin Sapousek not returning for an overaged season, it was clear they were going to need to inject some talent.
And so they did.
The Royals spent both of their CHL Import Draft picks on forwards, bringing in Winnipeg Jets 5th rounder Markus Loponen and Simon Pohludka.
Loponen, in particular, will be interesting to track. The Royals have never brought in an NHL drafted player through the Import Draft before, so it’s pretty exciting that they were able to do so. The Import Draft might be the closest thing the WHL has to NHL free agency – given that you can add impact-level 18 year old players – and they did well with their recruiting there.
Given Loponen’s NHL draft pedigree, you can expect him to make a big impact once he gets settled in Canada. He has great shooting ability and could be an excellent complement to Cole Reschny on the power play.
Another big move the Royals made was trading top-four defenseman Austin Zemlak for a forward. Dealing from a position of strength, the Royals converted Zemlak into forward Deagan McMillan, who figures to play in the top six this year.
McMillan is away at the Vancouver Canucks rookie camp, but will be an important player as the Royals retool their top six forward group. Cole Reschny, Tanner Scott, and Reggie Newman will remain as proven top six talent last season, but the Royals will need more.
Between Loponen, Pohludka, and McMillan, hopefully they’ve found enough.
Three headed goaltending battle looming
One of the most interesting storylines this season will be who can grab hold of the starting goaltender position.
The Royals had a traditional set up last year when it came to goaltending, with overaged netminder Brayden Holt taking the lion’s share of the starts, and Jayden Kraus serving as his backup.
Given that Holt has aged out of the league, the Royals net was always going to be a question mark over the off season and into the preseason.
Jayden Kraus is the known commodity, having been drafted by the team (3rd round in 2021), and playing 26 games last season. His 4.29 GAA and .870 save percentage wasn’t world beating, but playing as a 17 year old goaltender on a bottom half team isn’t exactly a walk in the park, either. If Kraus can earn some starts this year, he should have a better team in front of him.
Ryan Tamelin, meanwhile, is less well known but hard to miss. He’s a 6’8 goaltender who was originally a 2021 9th round pick by the Spokane Chiefs, but never signed there. After a sizzling 6-0 start to his season in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League last season, the Royals signed him last November.
Every coach/executive loves size so he’ll be interesting to track this year with the Royals. He had an excellent season last year.
Spencer Michnik rounds out the three-headed goaltending beast, after being acquired this past offseason from the Seattle Thunderbirds. Like Kraus, he has experience as a backup goaltender in the league, playing 21 games last year. The Royals liked him enough to ship out a late round pick for him, so perhaps they see something in the young man.
In the Royals three game preseason, Tamelin played the entire first game, Kraus and Michnik split the 2nd game, and Tamelin and Michnik split the 3rd game.
You can read into that what you will, but it appears that Tamelin may have the edge over Michnik.
Regardless, given that they are all 2006-born and have up to three years of their WHL career ahead of them, the Royals ideally have their goaltender of the future right in front of their noses. Time will tell.
Royals blueline could carry the team
The Royals will run it back with two key pillars on the blue line: NHL drafted defensemen Justin Kipkie and Nate Misskey.
Both Kipkie and Misskey are 19 years old and are ready to once again be top pair, impact defensemen. Kipkie had a great season last year after being drafted in the 5th round in 2023, and Misskey earned himself an NHL selection this past summer after going undrafted two years ago.
Icing two NHL-drafted, 19 year old defensemen is a position many WHL teams would love to be in.
The Royals also brought in Cosmo Wilson over the summer, a trusted defensive minded veteran who won a championship last year with the Moose Jaw Warriors.
But it’s the blend of talent and age that Royals fans should really be excited about, as 2022 4th overall pick Keaton Verhoeff will play his first full season in the WHL at 16 years old.
Verhoeff was able to play many more games than the standard 5-game limit for 15 year olds last season due to the Royals’ injury woes, and showed quickly that he can handle the league. He’s a 6’3, 200 pound defenseman with an offensive mindset and poise with the puck. His offensive instincts and talent are obvious, and given his athletic toolkit, his potential is sky-high.
With Kipkie as a two-way transition menace and Misskey as a high compete, no nonsense defender, Verhoeff comes with the perfect complementary skillset and situation to grow and develop in.
Victoria’s blue line should be a strength all season and be a big part of any success they have.
Royals leave one overaged slot open
WHL teams are allowed to carry three overaged players, which this season will be 2004-born players.
The Royals did great in the overaged market last year, with Dawson Pasternak impacting the organization far beyond his 70+ points, and Tyson Laventure being an excellent fit at the deadline.
With just Tanner Scott and Vaughn Waterrodt on the squad as ‘04s, the Royals will be able to assess the squad and then decide how to use that last slot. It’s an interesting option to have, and one that could go a few routes.
It can be used as a failsafe plan for an unsuspected injury, or be a means of bolstering whichever position needs it.
Cole Reschny ranked top-20 for 2025 NHL draft by TSN
The Royals will be led offensively by Cole Reschny, and his notoriety is only growing in the hockey world, after he was ranked 16th on Bob McKenzie’s draft list.
He was ranked 12th by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler in August as well.
Reschny is in line to have a monstrous season this year, after scoring a point-per-game as a 16 year old. He handled the opposition’s top defenders all year, and after a summer in the gym, a full season under his belt, and the motivation of his NHL draft season, Reschny should be to ready to roll this season.
The Royals 2024-25 season kicks off tonight, September 20th, at 7:05 p.m. versus the Tri-City Americans – you can grab your tickets here.
