The pathway to the Western Hockey League became clearer for Brody Sunderland last Friday, just as Prairie roadways turned into snow-covered sheets during an unseasonable blast of winter.
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After a standout rookie season with the U18 AAA Lloydminster Lancers, the 15-year-old forward from Kitscoty, Alta., signed with the Spokane Chiefs, the WHL team that drafted him in the fourth round, 75th overall, last spring.
“It feels good,” said Sunderland, who turns 16 in June. “All my hard work is finally paying off here. It’s definitely a little bit of a confidence boost, heading into the summer. It’s a big summer (of training) for me.
“It’s great to get signed, just to add that confidence to my game, my workouts, and just have that little extra edge on everything.
“They like my size, my speed. They think I’m a guy that can play at the next level. They’ve told me that multiple times, so I’ve just got to go out there and earn it.”
Sunderland is expected to have multiple options on his plate later this summer and into the fall, regardless of whether he cracks the WHL as a 16-year-old.
He attended the junior A Lloydminster Bobcats’ prospects camp on the weekend before his Spokane signing announcement. This weekend, he’s headed to Beaumont for another Alberta Junior Hockey League camp, with the Fort McMurray Oil Barons.
Beyond all those junior possibilities, Sunderland could also return to the Lancers, who turned a corner this past season and qualified for the Alberta Elite Hockey League’s U18 AAA playoffs for the first time in three years.
Playing against considerably older players, Sunderland and the rest of the 2010-born Lancers — Cobin Garnett, Tripp Fischer, Josh Frazer and Kael Scott — each did their part throughout that breakthrough season.
Averaging almost a point per game, the well-rounded Sunderland scored 10 goals and 27 points in 30 games, despite missing about a month with double pneumonia in late December and early January.
“We were really excited with the year Brody had and the steps he took in his game, both with his physical growth and his game on the ice,” said George Ross, the Chiefs’ director of player personnel.
“With his size — he’s about six-foot-four now — his combination of that size and his speed is pretty unique at this age.
“So, we’re pretty excited about Brody and officially welcoming him into the fold, and really excited to see what the next few years are going to look like for him.”
Sunderland now is a signed prospect going into his first full year of major junior eligibility. Whether he plays in Spokane this coming season remains to be determined.
“That’s a good question,” Ross said Saturday from Minneapolis, while scouting Minnesota prospects before the WHL draft May 6 and 7. “We’ll see. He’ll certainly have every opportunity. At the end of the day, we want to do what’s best for Brody and maximizing his long-term development.
“While there are certainly guys that do play in the league at 16, I think it might become a little bit more difficult to do so now in the new landscape. But for us, it’s most important that he’s in the right spot next year for his long-term development. That might be Spokane, or it might be elsewhere.
“But we’re excited to see, after another productive summer for him in training, what his game and what he’s going to look like in camp. We’ll go from there.”
Sunderland is already showing appreciable gains physically. He recently hit the six-foot-four mark, prompting even his doctor to take notice.
“Just a regular checkup with the doctor,” he reported. “She saw me (and said), ‘We’ve got to measure you. You look tall.’ So, we had to make it official.
“Yeah, I’m officially six-four now. I think I’m almost done (growing), but six-four is a good height.”
Sunderland is also a bigger boy these days. Weight-wise, the Grade 10 student has climbed to 175 pounds, compared to 160 at the opening of this past season.
“I definitely got a lot bigger throughout the year,” said Sunderland, who wants to push that same agenda this summer.
“Yeah, for sure. My goal is probably 185 at the Spokane camp. That would be a good place to be at.”
As for his chances of staying in Spokane beyond the pre-season, Sunderland is prepared to give it his best shot.
“I feel, after being signed, it definitely gives me another look at camp,” he said. “But it is hard to crack the Dub at 16 nowadays. So, we’re not going in there expecting to make the team, but I’ll definitely give it my best shot. (Alternatively), after that, hopefully junior (A), and then if not, the Lancers is always a good follow-up team.”
Bobcats’ assistant general manager Andrew Gilbert, the junior A team’s Lethbridge-based scouting director, gave Sunderland a positive review at Lloyd’s prospects camp on the weekend before last.
“A great combination of size and skill,” Gilbert said. “Clearly, he’s taken another step from last year, with his ability to be strong on pucks and play in traffic and protect pucks down low — but then have the ability to finish in tight.
“He’s a good hockey player and — I don’t want to put too much pressure on him — but he’ll most likely, in my eyes, be a Western leaguer in the next year or so. That’s probably where he ends up, which is awesome for him. It’s very well-deserved.
“For us, he’s certainly a guy that we want to keep a close eye on. He’ll be a very good hockey player long-term.”
With the Lancers and Bobcats both playing out of the Hub, Sunderland was one of the U18 AAA players who was able to practise with the junior A club on occasion this winter. Another was fellow Spokane prospect Connor Nickle, a 2009-born forward who just last week signed with the AJHL’s Bonnyville Pontiacs, about half an hour from his Cold Lake home.
of the Edmonton Junior Oilers Orange during Alberta Elite Hockey League U18 AAA play this past season. Sunderland scored 10 goals and 27 points in 30 regular-season games. John MacNeil Meridian Source
During his WHL draft year, Sunderland lived in St. Albert and played with the U15 AAA Raiders/Sabres.
He returned to the Lloyd area this past season to join the Lancers and play under new head coach and fellow Kitscoty native Chris King.
Sunderland said he has appreciated the interest from the Bobcats, but he’s not taking anything for granted when it comes to where he might eventually settle next season.
“Pretty much gotta earn it, right?” he said. “If not Spokane, then (the Bobcats) want me to go to there, after Spokane, and try to make that (Lloyd) team.
“I thought (the Bobcats’ prospects camp) was good. I got to know what they’re about, their organization and stuff like that. It was a good thing to go to, that’s for sure.”
Another Lancers’ forward from Kitscoty, 2009-born Gavin Pratt, participated in Lloydminster and Fort Mac junior A prospects camps on back-to-back weekends, including the Oil Barons’ sessions last weekend in Cochrane.
Ross said the Chiefs are also looking forward to seeing the progress of forward prospects Frazer and Nickle at training camp this August. Both players were Sunderland’s teammates the past year with the Lancers. Nickle and Frazer were drafted in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
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