Home from school to watch coverage of the Western Hockey League prospects draft, Brady Leinenweber had just settled in on the couch when his phone began buzzing like a flashing goal light.
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Before he even had a chance to follow the Day 2 proceedings, Leinenweber’s friends were texting to congratulate the gifted 15-year-old defenceman from Kerrobert, Sask., on his selection to the Vancouver Giants.
Just three picks into the second round, Vancouver used the 26th overall selection to choose Leinenweber, a standout this season with the U15 prep Northern Alberta Xtreme and the previous year with the 14U Lloydminster Athletics.
“My phone just started blowing up,” said Leinenweber, replaying the morning draft drama from May 7.
“I thought the draft started at 11 (rather than 10 o’clock Mountain time), so I wasn’t really prepared. I was just sitting on my couch, on the phone on Snapchat, and all my buddies started texting and congratulating me. I went and checked and seen that Vancouver picked me, so it was pretty exciting.
“My agent told me the night before that they were pretty interested, so it was one of my places I was hoping to go, and I’m glad they picked me.”
Leinenweber might be regarded as a second-round steal, considering multiple pre-draft rankings pegged him to go in the first round. His all-star performances in back-to-back elite tournaments — the Crown in December and the John Reid in January — raised Leinenweber’s draft stock appreciably and he became a client of the high-powered Newport Sports agency.
The Giants gained the six-foot-two, 165-pound Saskatchewan native the morning after they selected two British Columbia boys with consecutive picks in the opening round — defenceman Eli Vickers third overall and centre Brayden Jugnauth at No. 4.
At home in Kerrobert, watching with his family, Leinenweber rode the emotional roller-coaster of the first round, during which 23 players were drafted.
“You know, it’s tough,” he said. “Everyone hopes to go in the first round, but after a little bit, you have to move on and use it as fuel. You’ve got 22 teams to prove wrong.”
Leinenweber, the eighth blue-liner selected overall, remains confident he’s among the top defencemen from the 2011-born draft class.
“I mean, they’re all great players, but I think I can be better than most of them, or all of them,” he said. “But I’ve still got lots to prove, so I’m just trying to be happy with where I am and looking forward to being with Vancouver.”
For multiple reasons, the Giants are an attractive destination for Leinenweber, whose oldest sister Julia and her boyfriend live in Vancouver.
“She was praying for it,” he said about his selection to the Giants. “She said if I ever need to hang out, I can always go over to their place.
“So, I’ve always got somebody to fall back on, if I need to. That makes me feel a little bit better about (eventually moving far from home). It’ll be a really cool experience.”
More excitement came later on draft day when Leinenweber’s close buddy and perennial teammate, Landon Reschny of Macklin, Sask., also became Vancouver property. The Giants selected the NAX forward in the seventh round, 149th overall.
“Since I’ve been six years old, I’ve played one season without Landon on my team,” said Leinenweber, the Xtreme’s top-scoring defenceman with 35 points in 29 games this year.
“It’s pretty crazy that we ended up going to the same team and we get to play together for a lot longer to come.”
Before becoming eligible to play in the WHL full-time, both players are signed with the U18 AAA Saskatoon Contacts for the 2026-27 season.
“Landon has been one of my best friends my whole life,” Leinenweber said. “He’s getting bigger. He’s putting on lots of muscle and he’s got a chip on his shoulder. He’s not scared of many people. He’s probably one of the smartest players I’ve ever played with. I don’t know, just something runs in (the Reschny) family, but he’s so smart. He sees plays that no one else can.”
The Reschny clan includes Landon’s brother Dayton, who plays with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers, and their cousins Cole and Anderson. Cole, a former WHL star with the Victoria Royals, is a first-round NHL draft choice of the Calgary Flames. He played NCAA Division 1 hockey this year at the University of North Dakota. Anderson, a 2010-born defenceman, is a Prince George Cougars’ prospect who spent this season with the U18 AAA Saskatoon Blazers.
Landon Reschny and Leinenweber were the top two scorers, respectively, last season with the 14U Athletics, the Lloydminster-based academy playing in the Junior Prospects Hockey League. Leinenweber,
with a 50-point campaign, was the league’s top-scoring defenceman.
A third member of that Athletics team, Kai Genereaux of Meadow Lake, Sask., also was selected in the WHL draft last week. The Lethbridge Hurricanes chose the Calgary Edge School U15 prep defenceman in the sixth round, 120th overall. For next season, Genereaux is committed to the U18 AAA Moose Jaw Warriors.
Leinenweber and Reschny were among 12 players from the NAX prep program in Devon, Alta., drafted to WHL teams this year. That group includes three forwards selected in the first round — Saskatoon’s Danny Ramazanov (17th, Red Deer Rebels), Regina’s Rylan Edwards (18th, Brandon Wheat Kings) and Langley, B.C., native Liam Bordt (20th, Penticton Vees).
Among the picks from NAX is Wainwright, Alta., goaltender Kash Andersen, who went to Red Deer in Round 6 (121st overall). Andersen played in Lloydminster the previous season with the U15 AAA Lancers.
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