Grade 9 leadership class never seemed as fun as it was May 8 for Brody Sunderland, a student at Kitscoty High School.
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It was his WHL draft day, of course, and the emerging six-foot-two forward from the U15 AAA St. Albert Raiders Sabres got to share the moment back in his hometown with his childhood buddies from Kitscoty.
“Yeah, my parents wanted me to go to school,” Sunderland said with a chuckle. “I ended up getting notice of the draft while in class, so it was pretty cool with my friends.
“I asked my teachers if I could have my Chromebook out during all the classes, just in case. They let me, so I was just following the draft, and I had an assignment on my desk.”
Sunderland now has a special hockey assignment to add to his to-do list. The Spokane Chiefs selected him in the fourth round with the 75th overall pick in the two-day WHL prospects draft.
“I was the first guy to see my name pop up,” he said. “I looked at my friends and they kind of knew what happened.
“It was, like, ‘Yeah, where did you go?’ I’m, like, ‘Spokane.’ It was just a really great moment with all my friends.
“When some of my other friends from different classes found out, they came over and congratulated me. It was pretty loud.”
Sunderland might not be the loudest guy off the ice, but he made his presence felt on the ice this past winter as he overcame injuries, weathered a growth spurt and flourished with the Raiders, providing clutch playoff performances as they earned bronze in the Alberta U15 AAA championship.
He spent the hockey season living in St. Albert, making the move with his mom, Sara, after receiving an invitation from the Raiders organization.
Now, he’s “leaning toward” playing back home this coming season with the U18 AAA Lloydminster Lancers, who have already attracted multiple local players from the 2025 draft class to return to the area and suit up with their hometown team.
One of those is Josh Frazer, a forward from Lloyd who was also drafted to Spokane, just two rounds after Sunderland’s selection. Frazer, fresh off a strong season with the OHA Edmonton prep program, went to the Chiefs in the sixth round, 135th overall.
“The last couple of years, we’ve played in lots of tournaments together and we’ve been on planes together, so it’s just really cool that we could be on the same (WHL) team for camps and maybe in the future,” Sunderland said of his familiarity with Frazer.
They weren’t far away from each other this winter in the Edmonton area, with Frazer part of the Devon-based OHA program and Sunderland playing in St. Albert.
“It was pretty crazy,” Sunderland said of residing in the Edmonton suburb. “Just out of nowhere, I got the invitation to the team to go try out. It all happened so fast.
“It’s similar to the feel of Kitscoty, though. St. Albert is kind of a smaller city, so it was nice. It was a good adjustment.”
The smooth-skating Sunderland made big strides as he scored 18 goals and 37 points in 34 regular-season games and added 10 points in nine playoff games.
“I feel like I had a really strong year up in St. Albert,” he said. “I really progressed throughout the season and I think that’s what got me drafted.
“I definitely turned it up for playoffs and provincials. I had an injury at the start of the year, but … I overcame it pretty early and I started getting better every single day.”
That progression wasn’t lost on Spokane scouts. They kept a close eye on Sunderland all season and recognized how effective he was, especially down the stretch in meaningful games.
“We loved Brody’s season,” said George Ross, the Chiefs’ director of player personnel. “We thought he got better and better each time we watched him play this season, which we felt was important to us.
“We see a big, athletic, speedy and powerful forward that has some scoring ability, some play-making ability, and really brings an element of power and toughness with heart and skill. We think he’s got quite a bit of untapped potential and upside for his game to grow these next few years.”
Ross was interviewed from Medicine Hat, where the Chiefs and Tigers opened the WHL final just one day after the draft.
In speaking with the well-spoken Sunderland before and after the draft, the Chiefs sensed his character traits, which were a decisive factor in drafting him.
“It’s not hard to tell he’s a very grounded individual from a strong family,” said Ross, projecting Sunderland as one of those prospects “you can win with down the line.”
In the past year and a half, Sunderland has grown almost 10 inches. He’s now six-foot-two and about 150 pounds.
“I need to fill out my frame still,” he said. “But, growing to six-two from five-10 at the start of the year, I’ve definitely been able to use my body a lot more during the season. It’s given me an advantage on the ice.”
Sunderland, who doesn’t turn 15 until June, likens his game to that of St. Louis Blues forward Dylan Holloway, formerly of the Edmonton Oilers.
“He might not be the biggest guy, and not resemble my frame too much, but I love the way he plays,” said Sunderland. “He’s a 200-foot guy, he loves to score, he’s a skilled guy and he’s also really fast.”
Team-wise, Sunderland’s NHL favourite remains the Oilers. Nowadays, he’s watching Edmonton in the Stanley Cup playoffs and Spokane in the WHL final.
Still finalizing his plans for next season, Sunderland is considering the
U18 AAA Lancers as one of his prime options.
“That’s what I’m leaning toward right now, with all my buddies coming back (to Lloyd).”
He couldn’t participate in the Lancers’ recent identification camp, because of a shoulder injury that shortened his Alberta Cup participation the previous weekend.
Regardless, he was among the 80 players who advanced to the next round of Team Alberta U16 tryouts, with a weeklong camp set for July in Red Deer.
As he rehabs his shoulder, Sunderland can draw on earlier success in recovering from injury. This time last year, he suffered an avulsion fracture in his left hip. His four-month layoff ended just as his St. Albert season began, and he didn’t miss a beat.
He was rewarded on draft day.
“It feels great,” said Sunderland, whose most popular nickname is B-Sunds. “All the hard work I put in through the years, it’s paying off.
“I had a couple of teams that had a lot more interest in me than other teams, so I was definitely watching their picks a lot more closely than other teams’ choices.”
Spokane acted on its pre-draft interest in Sunderland, who had previous knowledge of the Washington State city.
“I used to have an uncle who lived down there, but he has since moved,” he said. “That was pretty much the only connection I had (with Spokane). He lived pretty close to the rink.”
While living and playing in the Edmonton area this winter, Sunderland attended an NHL game and also watched WHL games involving the Edmonton Oil Kings.
“It was fun to go with my teammates,” he said. “It was a good experience.”
Within a few years, Sunderland hopes to experience WHL action firsthand, wearing a Chiefs jersey.
His athletic family includes older sister Aubree, an elite volleyball player headed to University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, B.C., in two years.
Their older brothers, twins Luke and Owen, are students at University of Alberta, Augustana Campus, in Camrose.
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