Saskatoon Blades unveil 77-player roster for 2026 training camp

A new Western Hockey League season unofficially begins Friday for the Saskatoon Blades with the opening of their 2026 training camp at SaskTel Centre.

The Blades unveiled their 77-player roster for the three-day camp Thursday, with the group split into four teams named after alumni Wade Belak, Mike Green, Clayton Chappell and Andrey Makarov.

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Nine returning players from Saskatoon’s 2025-26 roster will be on the ice for training camp, including defenceman Brayden Klimpke and forward Cooper Williams, who were selected by the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, respectively, in June’s NHL Draft.

They’ll be joined by Blades teammates Ben Bowtell, Jack Kachkowski, Hunter Laing, Jack Lavallee, Jordan Martin, Kazden Mathies and Triston Mitchell-McElhone at SaskTel Centre this weekend.

The Blades confirmed forward Hayden Harsanyi and defenceman Isaac Poll will not be available for training camp. Harsanyi is listed as injured, while Poll is still recovering from off-season surgery.

Recent import signing Yegor Gusev has not yet arrived in Canada as the team and his representatives deal with immigration delays. Returning defenceman Kaden Allan remains on the roster but will not take part in training camp.

As for American forward Gavin Clark, the Blades confirmed he is no longer with the organization after being selected by the Sioux Falls Stampede in the 2026 USHL Phase II Draft.

Blades fans will get their first look at the team’s 2025 and 2026 first-round picks, with forwards Kain Martinuik and Teagan Dernisky set to make their first appearances in blue and gold.

Martinuik, Saskatoon’s 15th overall selection in 2025, was signed by the Blades in March after he scored 29 goals and 62 points in 51 games for the Shattuck St. Mary’s U16 AAA team last season.

As for Dernisky, he led the Canadian Sport School Hockey League’s U15 division in scoring with 43 goals and 98 points in 30 games before being drafted 15th overall by the Blades in the spring.

It will be a new-look roster for the Blades this season, with several mainstays departing the organization.

WHL graduates Tyler Parr and Rowan Calvert, goaltender Evan Gardner and forward David Lewandowski turned professional in the American Hockey League, while winger Zach Olsen and defenceman Tristen Doyle are pursuing NCAA opportunities.

The Blades will have an entirely new tandem in net in 2026-27, with Gardner departing and backup Ryley Budd being traded to the Brandon Wheat Kings late last month.

That has opened the door for Philadelphia Flyers prospect Martin Psohlavec, who was selected 42nd overall in the Canadian Hockey League Import Draft, to seize the crease this year.

Saskatoon’s backup goaltender will likely come down to a competition between Taye Timmerman, who dressed in two games for the Blades last year, and 16-year-old Max Hartel, who was one of the top goaltenders in the Alberta Elite Hockey League’s U18 division with the Calgary Buffaloes.

Veteran invites to Blades training camp also include Steven Steranka, who has 72 games of WHL experience with the Red Deer Rebels and Moose Jaw Warriors, along with Austrian forward Konstantin Hutzinger, who co-led the 2026 Division IA World Junior Championship with 12 points in five games.

Teams will practise at SaskTel Centre on Friday morning before the round-robin scrimmages begin at 3 p.m. with Team Belak facing Team Green and Team Chappell battling Team Makarov.

Scrimmages continue all day Saturday, ahead of the third-place game Sunday morning at 9 a.m. and the Kirkness Cup championship game at noon.

The Kirkness Cup is named after former Blades dressing-room attendant Bobby Kirkness, who died in 2021 following a battle with cancer.

Saskatoon’s first of five pre-season games will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m. against the Prince Albert Raiders. That will lead into the 2026-27 regular-season opener on Sept. 18 in Brandon against the Wheat Kings.