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The Canucks 2025 first rounder — No. 15 overall — and the Raiders open up the first round Friday at home versus the Red Deer Rebels
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Published Mar 25, 2026 • 4 minute read
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Braeden Cootes, the Vancouver Canucks prospect who’s playing for the Prince Albert Raiders. Prince Albert starts the playoffs this weekend. Credit: Mark Peterson / Prince Albert Raiders. Photo by Mark PetersonArticle content
Vancouver Canucks centre prospect Braeden Cootes isn’t shy about the Prince Albert Raiders’ expectations for these WHL playoffs.
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“We want to win it all,” the 19-year-old pivot said Wednesday morning of the Raiders, who are the top seeds in the Eastern Conference after their 52-10-5-1 regular season. “Obviously, we have our goals and hopefully we’re set to achieve them.
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“Is there pressure being the No. 1 seed? I wouldn’t think so. Our expectations are higher than anyone else’s. It’s a privilege to be the No. 1 seed in the East. We like it.”
The Raiders open the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first round at home on Friday versus the No. 8 Red Deer Rebels (26-36-4-2). The Rebels finished 52 points behind the Raiders in the regular season, but the teams split their four head-to-head meetings, with Red Deer taking the last two, winning 4-3 on the road March 3, and 3-1 at home on March 7.
The last time Prince Albert and Red Deer met in the first round was 2019. Prince Albert swept that series and went on to win the league championship, beating the Vancouver Giants 3-2 in overtime in Game 7 on home ice to clinch the WHL banner.
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That was the last extended post-season run for Prince Albert. General manager Curtis Hunt, who is in his 11th year at helm there, says this year’s Raider team has similarities to that team, with its depth in particular. Prince Albert was second in the league in goals for (310) and first in fewest goals against (165). They had six 20-goal scorers, plus three others who scored 20 or more they picked up in trades.
Cootes was their last puzzle piece. They acquired him from the Seattle Thunderbirds just ahead of the Jan. 8 trade deadline, sending four players and four WHL Draft picks to the Thunderbirds, including two first rounders, in return.
Cootes was the Canucks’ first-round pick, No. 15 overall, in last summer’s draft, and a strong showing at training camp and in the pre-season led to him sticking with the big club for three games.
He was reassigned to Seattle then and stayed with them until he landed a spot with Team Canada for the world juniors in Minnesota over the Christmas holiday break. The swap with Prince Albert was announced right after tournament finished.
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Cootes has put up 14 goals and 40 points in 28 games with the Raiders, including three goals and 12 points in his final five games. Combined in the regular season, he was at 24 goals and 63 points in 45 games.
He had 63 points, including 26 goals, in 60 regular season games with Seattle in 2024-25.
He was the Thunderbirds captain, as well as wearing the ‘C’ for the Team Canada entry at the 2025 Under-18 world championships. He has been lauded for his leadership and character as much as his mature, two-way game on the ice.
Hunt said earlier this season that talking to Cootes is like “talking to a 25-year-old.”
“He’s been excellent,” Hunt recapped Tuesday of Cootes, who missed three games earlier this month with an undisclosed injury. “He was banged up for a little bit there, but maybe that time off was good. He makes a big difference in our line-up.”
Henrik and Daniel Sedin, who are part of Vancouver’s player development team, are Cootes’ main contact with the Canucks.
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“I know other teams have ex-NHLers as their development guys. But those two were unbelievably smart hockey players. They’re hall of famers,” Cootes said “When they say something you listen. I’m very lucky to have them as a resource.”
He tags Red Deer as a hard-working team and they remind him of last year’s Seattle team with “how they play an honest game.”
“If we play our game at a our pace we can have success,” the 6-foot, 183-pound right-shot Cootes said of the Raiders. “But it’s not going to be easy. We’re going to have to work for it.
“We have a lot of really good depth. I think we’ve been playing really good hockey the last couple of games. The boys are excited to get this going.”
Cootes could still wind up playing games again in B.C. later this spring. Winning the East would put Prince Albert in the WHL final against a team from this province or one of the U.S. squads. The Western champion Everett Silvertips (57-8-2-1) had the league’s best record, finishing seven points ahead of Prince Albert. The Raiders edged out the Medicine Hat Tigers (50-10-5-3) by two points for the East crown, while the expansion Penticton Vees (44-14-6-4) were fourth overall in the 23-team circuit.
As well, the Kelowna Rockets are the host side for the four-team Memorial Cup national championship May 22-31, and Rockets will be joined by a second WHL team.
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