Victoria Royals forward Tanner Scott made history this week as the first Western Hockey League player to commit to an NCAA Div. 1 team. The five-season Royals veteran will attend Bowling Green University next season following his 20-year-old and final season of junior in Victoria. He was followed Thursday by 20-year-old Prince Albert Raiders goaltender Max Hildebrand, who has committed to NCAA Div. 1 Bemidji State, and Tri-City Americans captain Jake Sloan, who will be joining Scott at Bowling Green, as the trickle is turning into a flow.
The NCAA voted last week to allow players from the Canadian Hockey League, which includes the WHL, to play in the NCAA. The NCAA had previously considered the CHL a pro league because it provides modest monthly stipends for its players.
Scott, a five-foot-eight and 176-pound spinning-top known for his speed and non-stop motor, has 53 goals and 139 points in 234 regular-season games for the Royals. Scott had five goals and 13 points in 14 games this season before being injured. He is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
While the veteran Scott’s return is pending, a returning player at the other end of the age scale, has been the story of the week for the Royals. Rookie defenceman Keaton Verhoeff, 16, captained Canada White to the gold medal in the World Under-17 Challenge in Sarnia, Ont., and then scored the winning goal in Victoria’s last game, a 3-1 decision in Kamloops against the Blazers, to show why he is projected as a first-round selection for the 2026 NHL draft.
The win in Kamloops was the second game of 11-5-3 Victoria’s eight-game road trip, which began with a 5-2 victory last weekend over the Seattle Thunderbirds in Kent, Washington. Upcoming are five games in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference, beginning tonight against the Tigers (11-9) in Medicine Hat as two projected NHL first-round draft picks — Cole Reschny of the Royals for 2025 and Gavin McKenna of the Tigers for 2026 — go at it.
The Royals continue the road swing Saturday against the Lethbridge Hurricanes (12-5-1) and 2025 NHL-draft ranked goaltender Koen Cleaver from Port Alberni. That is followed by games in Edmonton against the Oil Kings (8-8-2) on Wednesday, in Calgary against the Hitmen (8-7-4) on Nov. 22 and in Red Deer (9-8-2) against Rebels captain Ollie Josephson of Victoria, an NHL draft pick of the Seattle Kraken. The tour finishes Nov. 27 in Everett against the Silverbacks and prodigy rookie defenceman Landon DuPont, only the second player in history after current Chicago Blackhawks sophomore forward Connor Bedard to receive exceptional status to play in the WHL as a 15-year-old.
