Graydon Kvill and the Lloydminster Lancers showed trust in each other as he signed with his hometown U18 AAA hockey team this summer.
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That mutual faith was reflected in the defenceman’s performance during the Lancers’ main training camp Aug. 24-28 at Servus Sports Centre.
“Kvill has been very good,” coach Chris King said during a late-night practice Aug. 28.
“He really moves the puck well. He’s a good passer. I think that’s going to be a big part of our team, is being able to move the puck.
“He’s such a smooth skater, sees the ice well. Between him and (Aiden) Harman, two puck-moving guys coming in, I think it’s going to add a lot to our team defensively, helping the offence start.”
Kvill, who turned 16 in March, has transferred to the Lancers after playing the previous three years with the Lloydminster Athletics academy program at the U14, U15 and U17 levels, respectively. He sported maroon Athletics’ gear last week.
Kvill was among the initial seven players that the Lancers signed in advance of the 2025-26 season.
“It shows they can rely on me, and I need to set that standard for the rest of the team,” he said. “Just not let down the pressure.
“I felt the Lancers were the way to go. It gives me good chances and opportunities for after minor hockey.”
HOCKEY BUDDIES
While extreme heat struck the Lloydminster area, the Lancers sweated it out on the ice for five straight days of camp. The Aug. 28 skate marked Kvill’s ninth on-ice session during that stretch.
“Camp has been really good and pretty intense,” he said. “It’s fun to get to know a bunch of people. It’s nice to be around a great group of people who can just support you and can’t get mad at you.
“I have a billet who is from Wainwright (forward Alec Robinson). I’ve known him for a bit. I played spring hockey with him for a few years before we started playing (on teams) together. I also know (forward prospect) Shaun Going well from growing up. He’s a great kid, a really good guy.”
Robinson, also one of the Lancers’ early signings, led the U17 Athletics in scoring last winter, with 27 points in 28 games.
Kvill was the team’s top-scoring defenceman, with 20 points in 27 games in the Junior Prospects Hockey League.
“I think (I’m) a smooth-skating, playmaking defenceman who can also create a bunch of offence,” said Kvill, five-foot-11 and 160 pounds.
“I’ve been doing power-skating sessions for four or five years, with Making Stridz, and also just the Athletics when I’ve been there, lots of skating.”
Kvill lives on an acreage near Marshall, where he and younger brother Lincoln trained during the off-season. Lincoln hopes to step up to the U17 AAA Lancers this season.
“We have a home gym that we can use anytime together,” Graydon said. “And we can do stuff around the acreage, too.”
Not surprisingly, the brothers are multi-sport athletes. Each represented their respective schools at provincial high school track and field championships last June — Graydon with Holy Rosary at the Alberta meet and Lincoln with Lloydminster Comprehensive at the Saskatchewan provincials.
JUNIOR CAMP AUDITIONS
This week, Graydon is going into Grade 11 at Holy Rosary, while Lincoln is entering Grade 10 at Lloyd Comp.
Although he’s still just 16, Graydon has attended spring camps with three junior A teams — the Brooks Bandits of the BCHL and the Bonnyville Pontiacs and Olds Grizzlys of the AJHL.
“It was good competition, intense,” he said about those auditions. “Just wanting to show the coaches what you can do.”
Graydon Kvill, along with Harman and Rhett Romanchuk, were the first three defencemen signed to this year’s edition of the U18 AAA Lancers.
Meadow Lake’s Harman also played in the Athletics program last season, scoring 22 points in 23 games with the U18 team.
The six-foot-four Romanchuk is a returning Lancer from Lloydminster. After participating in the early part of U18 AAA tryouts, he headed to camps with the major junior Calgary Hitmen and the junior A Lloydminster Bobcats.
Robinson was among the four forwards who were spring or summer signings of the Lancers. The others were Kelton Doolaege — a Castor native from the U17 AAA Lancers — and hometown WHL draft choices Tripp Fischer and Josh Frazer.
Overall, the U18 AAA Lancers took a pro-active approach in securing seven early commitments.
“I think those were guys that were key that we had to get in (the program), that probably had other options,” King said. “So, that was key to the recruitment. It helps us with (acquiring) other guys. When guys play together, when one guy goes, then two guys go. It’s good.”
King reported that 10 of the prospective Lancers also participated in WHL camps, and some were engaged in junior A tryouts.
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