The Brandon Wheat Kings are the reigning Eastern Conference champions, yet are wanting to take that next step after getting trounced in the WHL Finals by Kelowna. The Wheat Kings lose Peter Quennville and Eric Roy to graduation and are most likely going to be without Morgan Klimchuk and Rihards Bukarts. Ivan Provorov could be gone if he sticks with the Philadelphia Flyers this season, but the Wheat Kings do return a fair amount of players, as well, as Nolan Patrick and Kale Clague will have larger roles with the team while the likes of Ryan Pilon, Jayce Hawryluk, and Jordan Papirny will be the leaders on the team. Also, Stelio Mattheos will be in his first full season with the team.
The Moose Jaw Warriors missed the playoffs by four points, and though the team does return some good talent, they do have to replace their leading scorer in Jack Rodewald, as he graduated. The wild card here is whether Brayden Point will be remaining with the team for the full season or if he gets traded at some point in the season. Brett Howden figures to have a bigger role, but Zach Sawchenko needs to be better when it counts the most.
The Prince Albert Raiders are looking to this season, particularly after a rather disastrous time where the Raiders had to trade both Josh Morrisey and Leon Draisaitl and ended the Cory Clouston experiment after a season and a half. Having Marc Habscheid for a full season should benefit the team, as will a season of relative peace within the team. However, there isn't a heck of a lot to work from, as the Raiders will have a hard time scoring, but having someone like Brendan Guhle on the blue line will at least give the team some peace of mind on the blue line. Nick McBride returns in goal, which is a good thing.
Despite finishing second in the East Division, the Regina Pats' rebuilding phase began in earnest last year. Getting rid of Morgan Klimchuk, Connor Gay, and Kyle Burroughs mid-season, set the team up to build around Sam Steel, who will look to rebound after having his season cut short due to injury. The Pats' fortunes could rest on whether Daniel Wapple returns for his overage year, as he proved to be very good in goal when given the chance to start.
To expect anything other than more growing pains for the Saskatoon Blades would be something of a folly. Coach/GM Bob Woods is still trying to reestablish the team's sources after a rather handling by the previous regime, and certainly, that began last season, as Niktita Scherbak and Nelson Nogier were both sent out during the season. However, all not bare, as Mitchell Wheaton and Connor Gay will join Brycen Martin as possible leaders on the team that will eventually be welcoming their first round picks in this year's Bantam Draft, something the Blades couldn't have done the previous five seasons.
If there's a team that is destined for a fall, it is the Swift Current Broncos. Despite the best efforts of Landon Bow in goal, the Broncos too often didn't have enough scoring to help him out. Now, the question of whether or not Bow will be one of the overage players to be on the team lurks, as he is one of nine 1995 birthdays on the roster from last season. The team is also likely to lose both Dillon Heatherington and Brett Lernout, both of whom could turn pro. The only sure things to be on the roster this season that are proven players will be Jake DeBrusk and Glenn Gawdin.
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