Wild Forward Vanek Highlights Group of Eight Current, Former Wenatchee Standouts at NHL Rookie Camps
WHL Wenatchee Wild

Wild Forward Vanek Highlights Group of Eight Current, Former Wenatchee Standouts at NHL Rookie Camps

Published on September 10, 2025 under Western Hockey League (WHL)
Wenatchee Wild News Release


Wenatchee Wild forward Blake Vanek
Wenatchee Wild forward Blake Vanek
(Wenatchee Wild, Credit: Austin Draude)

WENATCHEE, Wash. - With the Western Hockey League preseason slate winding down, the Wenatchee Wild are excited to announce that eight players with Wenatchee ties, highlighted by current Wild forward Blake Vanek, will be attending rookie camps this week across the National Hockey League. Those events will take place at NHL team facilities and other nearby venues across the United States and Canada, starting Thursday with the 2025 Prospects Challenge in Buffalo, New York. The NHL preseason will follow soon afterward, with the first preseason game set for September 20 and the beginning of the regular season slated for October 7.

A forward from Stillwater, Minnesota, Vanek is preparing to play his first season of junior hockey after leading his Stillwater High School team to Minnesota's Class AA state championship game in March. He was selected in the third round of the National Hockey League entry draft this past summer by the Ottawa Senators, and will compete for the Senators on Saturday and Sunday at the 2025 Prospect Showdown at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec. Vanek is likely to square off against a former Wenatchee standout in Sunday's matchup, as Graham Sward hits the ice for the Winnipeg Jets. Sward played for the Jets' ECHL affiliate in Norfolk, Virginia last season and briefly spent time with the Manitoba Moose, Winnipeg's American Hockey League affiliate.

Recent Wild alumnus Evan Friesen will take part in the three-team Rookie Showcase in Highlands Park, Colorado on Friday and Sunday as part of the Colorado Avalanche roster. Friesen posted a team-high 61 points last season as Wenatchee's captain, and signed with the Colorado Eagles, the AHL affiliate of the Avalanche, in June. Former Wild forwards Kenta Isogai and Matthew Savoie will also be on the ice in rookie events this weekend - Isogai is set to suit up for the Los Angeles Kings in the Golden State Faceoff in Irvine, California, and Savoie will step onto the ice for the Edmonton Oilers in the Next Gen Showcase against the Calgary Flames.

A trio of players from Wenatchee's Junior A era will round out the group as Harrison Scott suits up for the Dallas Stars in a pair of prospect games in Frisco, Texas against the Detroit Red Wings, while Brett Chorske and Cristophe Tellier will play for the Florida Panthers in this weekend's 2025 Prospect Tournament in Wesley Chapel, Florida. Each of the three finished his collegiate career this past season before making his professional debut in the Stars' and Panthers' minor-league systems.

Tickets are currently on sale for Wenatchee's Home Opener Presented by Town Toyota on September 27 against the Everett Silvertips, as are single-game tickets for all 34 home games this season. To purchase single-game tickets, multi-game packs or 2025-26 season tickets, call 509-888-7825 or stop into the team office at Town Toyota Center. Updated news and information on Wild hockey are always available through the team's website and on the team's social media platforms on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube.

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Images from this story

Wenatchee Wild forward Blake Vanek
Wenatchee Wild forward Blake Vanek
(Austin Draude)		   



Western Hockey League Stories from September 10, 2025


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