Prospect Profile: Dylan LeBret
May 22, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release
It would be hard to blame Dylan LeBret for not knowing a lot about the Tri-City Americans. Growing up in Mead, Washington, 20 minutes from downtown Spokane, LeBret was a huge fan of the Americans biggest rivals growing up.
"I went to a lot of Chiefs games growing up," he said. "My grandpa started me in hockey pretty young, when I was around five years old or so. I really liked watching Ty Smith play, he was such a good defenseman."
LeBret says he remembers travelling up to Canada regularly in his early hockey years, making trips to places like Cranbrook, Castlegar and Nelson to play in tournaments.
When he was nine years old, LeBret was able to play in the Brick Tournament with a Canadian team, and a future teammate of his nearly a decade later.
Suiting up for the BC Junior Canucks at the tournament in Edmonton, Alberta in the summer of 2017, LeBret was on a team with a number of future WHL stars like Gavin McKenna, Cameron Schmidt, and current Americans forward Savin Virk.
"I started playing spring hockey for a team out of Kelowna," LeBret said. "Gavin McKenna was on that team along with a bunch of other guys. So, I played with them a bunch and then they had a tryout for the Brick team, and they invited me too."
LeBret said his family would make the four-and-a-half-hour drive to Kelowna regularly to play with that spring hockey team.
The BC Junior Canucks suffered a heartbreaking loss in the championship game that year, tying the game late to force overtime, but falling 6-5 to the Toronto Bulldogs. That Bulldogs team was also not short on talent, featuring multiple players who will be drafted in the 2025 NHL Draft, highlighted by Michael Misa who was just the sixth player to ever receive exceptional status to play in the Ontario Hockey League at the age of 15.
As LeBret progressed through the minor hockey ranks with the Spokane Jr Chiefs, his family elected to have him play with the Los Angeles Jr Kings program.
That meant racking up a lot of air miles.
"I would fly down there from Spokane for games," he said. "I'd stay in Spokane and practice there before heading to LA to play games with the Kings. It was definitely challenging, especially for my parents because sometimes I'd be flying down there by myself."
After two years with the Jr Kings, LeBret was eligible for the 2022 WHL U.S. Priority Draft. It wasn't something he knew a lot about leading up to it, but he had a connection to the team that ended up drafting him.
"I didn't know much about that draft, but someone in the Jr Kings organization was a scout for the Regina Pats," he said. "He asked me a couple of questions about it and how I felt about the WHL."
Despite the connection, LeBret said it was still unexpected when the Pats selected him with the third overall pick in the 2022 Draft.
Heading to Regina for his first training camp that fall, he said he was impressed at the professionalism of his first WHL experience.
Ahead of the 2022-23 season, LeBret and his family were trying to decide where he should play after two years with the LA Jr. Kings.
After flying down to LA nearly every weekend for the past two hockey seasons, his family elected to have him head East and attend Shattuck St. Mary's in Faribault, Minnesota.
"We knew I couldn't keep flying back and forth to LA," he explained. "We thought about just having me billet with a teammate in LA, but then someone introduced us to Shattuck because a lot of California guys have been going there lately. We weighed the pros and cons of both sides and decided to go to Shattuck instead."
While he enjoyed his time playing with the Jr Kings, LeBret says his experience at Shattuck was incredible as he was able to live in the dorms and get into a normal routine instead of jumping on a plane every weekend.
He was also able to practice with his teammates nearly every day, something he rarely was able to do with the Jr Kings.
LeBret said an average day would see him go to class, jump on the ice for a skate, have lunch, return to class and then head back to the rink for a workout or just to spend time with his teammates.
In his first year at Shattuck LeBret played for the U16 team, posting 38 points (3-35-38) in 57 games. He then jumped to the U18 team for 2023-24, scoring once and adding 22 assists in 57 games.
As a senior this past year LeBret upped his production to 37 points (3-34-37) in 58 games with the U18 team.
He also travelled to Calgary, Alberta to play in the prestigious Circle K Classic, which sees U18 teams from across North America go head-to-head.
After a perfect 6-0 round robin, in which LeBret recorded five points (1-4-5), Shattuck matched up with the Calgary International Hockey Academy (CIHA) in the championship game. That team featured Americans 2024 first-round pick Aden Bouchard.
"It was definitely an important tournament for us," LeBret said. "I remember we played them earlier in the tournament and we kind of ran away with that one. The final was such a tight game though. There wasn't a lot of chances for either team. It was a lot of fun, it was packed in the rink for that game."
After a convincing 9-3 win over CIHA in the first game of the tournament, the final ended with a score of 1-0. LeBret picked up the only assist on the game's only goal, helping Shattuck win the A final for a second year in a row.
The very next day after winning the tournament, it was announced the Americans had acquired LeBret's playing rights from the Regina Pats.
Growing up a Chiefs fan, LeBret had long dreamed of playing in the Western Hockey League before being more exposed to the NCAA as he attended Shattuck.
"Since coming to Shattuck I've been very interested in college hockey," he said. "I had interest in Regina, but I was looking at both options and ultimately decided I wanted to go to college."
LeBret had already secured an NCAA commitment to the University of Maine.
With the rule change now allowing players to play in the Canadian Hockey League and then the NCAA, it opened a new opportunity for LeBret to have the best of both worlds.
"That change was a big difference maker for me," he said. "I was drafted by a USHL team in Ohio, and that's a great league, but I think being in the WHL was what I wanted to do."
LeBret didn't see the news of the trade until later in the day because he wasn't on his phone, but when he did, the excitement from his entire family couldn't have been higher.
"First I saw something on Instagram and then my parents started talking about it," he recalled. "I didn't really see it because I didn't have my phone much, but after I realized what happened I was able to talk to my parents and my mom was so happy. She was in tears because it's so close to home."
He officially put pen to paper and signed a Scholarship and Development Agreement with the Americans on May 13.
After spending the last five years being away from home, LeBret says he and his family are thrilled at the chance to be back in the Pacific Northwest.
"I think they'll be making a lot of trips this season," he said.
On the ice LeBret says he focuses on his own side of the ice first.
"I'd say my game starts in the defensive end," he said. "I think I make a good first pass and can get the puck out. In transition I always try to move the puck up quickly."
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- Prospect Profile: Dylan LeBret - Tri-City Americans
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