The players the Victoria Royals select — today in the Western Hockey League U.S. priority draft and Thursday in the main WHL prospects draft — would do well to listen to assistant coach Morgan Klimchuk as their junior careers unfold.
Klimchuk was selected fifth overall in the first round of the 2010 WHL draft by the Regina Pats. His WHL career was successful enough with 118 goals and 267 points in 261 games that he was taken in the first round of the 2013 NHL draft, 28th overall, by his hometown Calgary Flames.
But he became a member of the one-game NHL club, which holds its own quirky place in the game’s lore. There’s plenty to unpack there for young Royals players willing to learn from Klimchuk’s experience.
“Through the good and the bad, I have experienced a lot of what these kids are going through and can provide insight and experience,” he said.
That is why he became one of the rare assistant coaches to survive the dismissal of a head coach. Klimchuk was kept on when former NHLer James Patrick became the new Royals head coach just 16 games into last season, replacing Dan Price. New head coaches usually like to bring in their own assistants. Those associated with the old regime are usually expunged.
But Klimchuk and Patrick hit it off to such a degree that Klimchuk was signed last month to a new multi-year deal, with Victoria GM Jake Heisinger, in a statement, describing him as “an important member of our staff [who] plays a key role in the development of our players … [and who] has shown his commitment to this organization through his dedication and hard work and we are excited to have him continue working with James [Patrick] to develop our team.”
That includes the players the Royals will draft over the next two days, that will set the course for the next few seasons. Victoria will select eighth today in the first round of the U.S. priority draft and 30th in the second round.
Victoria has the eighth and 18th picks in the first round of the main WHL prospects draft Thursday, the latter acquired from the Moose Jaw Warriors in the trade for forward Brayden Schuurman and NHL Minnesota Wild-drafted defenceman Kalem Parker. The Royals also netted Moose Jaw’s first-round pick in 2026, second-round selection in 2025 and third-round pick in 2027 along with useful forward Ben Riche.
Meanwhile, Schuurman and Parker have had a good run this season with the Warriors, who were playing the Saskatoon Blades in Game 7 of the WHL Eastern Conference final on Tuesday night. The trade accomplished what the Warriors, looking for immediate impact and to win now, and the Royals, looking to the future, hoped it would for their own particular situations.
The Royals, after placing last in the 2021 bubble season, missed the playoffs in both 2021-22 and 2022-23 before finally reaching the playoffs this season before losing in an opening-round four-game sweep by the Portland Winterhawks, who have advanced to the WHL final.
“We are looking to continue to build. We made the playoffs this season and are looking to take another step by make some noise in the playoffs in future seasons,” said Klimchuk.
A good couple of days drafting today and Thursday would go a long way toward assuring such an outcome.
