Macklin's Cole Reschny will be hoping to hear his name called during the first round of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft on Friday, marking the latest step on a long journey — that has been a whirlwind the last few months.
After helping the Victoria Royals through an exciting playoff run that ended in the second round to Spokane, Reschny made the decision to forgo the rest of his WHL career and instead commit to playing college hockey for a top program in the University of North Dakota.
Reschny committed to UND at the end of May with teammate Keaton Verhoeff and will join the team for the 2025-26 season. A prolfic point-getter during his WHL tenure, in 127 regular season games with the Royals Reschny had 152 points, and another 27 points in 15 playoff games.
With the plans for next year settled in Fargo, North Dakota, the only question remaining for Reschny is who will be selecting him in the draft. Reschny is ranked as high as #15 on some lists, as low as #29 on others. The NHL.com mock draft has Reschny going at either #16 to Montreal or #19 to St. Louis, and ESPN has the local forward Reschny going to the Calgary Flames at #18.
The draft will run Friday and Saturday from Los Angeles. It begins at 5:00 PM, and it'll be worth tuning in as the former West Central Wheat King Reschny waits for the phone call that will make his family, and all of west-central Saskatchewan proud.
