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Spokane Chiefs

Spokane Chiefs 2025-26 season preview: Early season roster still in flux even after season-opening road trip

Spokane Chiefs’ Mathis Preston (96) celebrates with teammates Will McIsaac (18) and Chase Harrington (26) after scoring against Portland in Game 3 of the Western Conference Championship on April 30 at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. All three return to the Chiefs roster for the 2025-26 season. (Jaime Valdez)
Spokane Chiefs’ Mathis Preston (96) celebrates with teammates Will McIsaac (18) and Chase Harrington (26) after scoring against Portland in Game 3 of the Western Conference Championship on April 30 at the Memorial Coliseum in Portland. All three return to the Chiefs roster for the 2025-26 season. (Jaime Valdez)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

The 18 position players and two goalies who dressed for the Spokane Chiefs in their opening night road win over Kelowna on Sept. 19 were much different than the group who dressed in the Western Hockey League championship series against Medicine Hat in May. The roster will look different again for the home opener on Saturday when several players who were out at NHL camps return.

Let’s take a look at how the roster is constructed for the home opener and how it might change in the near future.

Forwards

There are 17 forwards currently listed on the Chiefs official roster, which includes seven rookies. That number doesn’t include 2006-born Cam Parr, who was traded on Monday to Medicine Hat in exchange for an eighth-round pick in the 2027 WHL prospects draft.

The trade of Parr, a feisty fourth-liner, speaks to the glut of talent general manager Matt Bardsley has assembled for the attack.

The number also does not include captain Berkly Catton, who survived the Seattle Kraken’s first cut-down day on Monday when they returned six players to their respective junior clubs. Catton, 19, would have to make and stay on the Kraken’s NHL roster all season or be returned to Spokane for the duration of the WHL season.

Catton, obviously, is the big wildcard entering the season. The 5-foot-10, 179-pound center – the No. 8 overall pick in the 2024 NHL draft – has little left to prove in juniors, where he’s coming off back-to-back 100-point seasons (38 goals, 71 assists in just 57 games 2024-25). But 19-year-old players are not eligible to play in the minors until the rule changes for the 2026-27 season, and the Kraken may feel Catton needs another year of physical maturity to withstand the rigors of an 82-game NHL season.

2007-born Owen Martin was the other forward participating in NHL training camp with the Winnipeg Jets, but he was returned to Spokane on Monday in their first wave of cuts. Martin had 13 goals and 21 assists in the regular season last year and added six goals and six assists in 20 playoff games.

The roster also does not include four of the five top scorers from last season – along with Catton – as Andrew Cristall, Shea Van Olm, Rasmus Ekström and Brayden Crampton have all graduated and are playing professionally or in college.

There’s only one 20-year-old on the entire roster – winger Sam Oremba. He fought through injuries last season, appearing in just 33 games, and tallied 12 goals with 11 assists. A big-bodied presence, Oremba has appeared in the playoffs with three different WHL squads (Spokane, Regina, Seattle) with 52 games of postseason experience.

In last week’s opening-night win in Kelowna, coach Brad Lauer had Brody Gillespie centering Chase Harrington and Mathis Preston on the top line. Gillespie (Team USA) and Preston (Team Canada) represented their countries at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup over the summer, and all three enter their draft seasons. Preston – with his playmaking abilities and lethal shot – is a potential top-10 pick in the 2026 NHL draft.

Other returning forwards include 2006-born Smyth Rebman (12 goals, 19 assists for 31 points), Coco Armstrong (7-11-18), Assanali Sarkenov (10-17-27) and Ethan Hughes (7-17-24 with Moose Jaw); and 2008-born Cohen Harris (4-8-12).

Rookie forwards on the opening night roster included 2006-born Kaslo Ferner and import Elias Pul; 2007-born Tristen Buckley; and 2009-born Gavin Burcar, Ossie McIntyre and Caden Zasada.

Defense

The Chiefs two defensemen who were at NHL camp, Will McIsaac (St. Louis) and Nathan Mayes (Toronto) were both returned to Spokane on Monday and the team is hopeful to have them both back in the lineup for the home opener. Both 2006-born players enjoyed career-best production last season (McIsaac 6-31-37; Mayes 6-21-27) and bring good size to the Chiefs blueline.

2007-born Owen Schoettler (5-13-18) is a strong-skating puck-moving defenseman who will look to activate at any time.

There are two other returning defensemen with more limited experience: 2008-born Kaden Allan and Rhett Sather.

Rookie defensemen on the opening night roster included 2007-born Caden Campion; 2008-born Nolan Saunderson; and 2009-born Bryson Roberts, Harry Mattern and Ryker Doka.

Goalies

Carter Esler spent the 2024-25 season as workhorse starter Dawson Cowan’s understudy. With Cowan forfeiting his remaining junior eligibility to play college hockey this season, Esler moves into a more prominent role.

The 2008-born Okotoks, Alberta native got into 18 games in the regular season as a rookie and two more in the playoffs, often relegated to the second of back-to-back road games or third-game-in-four nights action.

He acquitted himself well with a 3.23 goals against average and .894 save percentage. Esler was teammates with Preston on Team Canada at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup.

Esler is expected to split time with import Linus Viellard. The 2006-born German netminder was the Chiefs first-round pick in the 2025 import draft and had a strong preseason with the Chiefs. He starred for the Eisbären Juniors Berlin U20 team last year with a 2.16 GAA and five shutouts in 23 games.