It took less than a week for the Prince Albert Raiders to get a commitment from the first overall pick in last Thursday’s W-H-L Prospects Draft to come to P-A.
The Raiders announced the signing of defenceman Daxon Rudolph to a W-H-L Scholarship and Development Agreement Monday. The Lacombe, Alberta, product notched 17 goals amongst 50 points in 30 games this past season with the Northern Alberta Xtreme Under-15 team in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League. The 15-year-old added five goals amongst 12 points in five playoff games as N-A-X captured the Under-15 C-S-S-H-L title. Following is the news release from the Raiders…..
The Prince Albert Raiders are proud to announce the signing of first overall pick Daxon Rudolph to a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement.
“It feels great being selected (and signing) with such a great organization,” Rudolph said. “I’m really proud of myself, and I’m ready to get some work done in Prince Albert. They love winning and they’ve had some recent success, and I’m looking forward to being a part of it in the future.”
Rudolph, a product of Lacombe, Alta., spent the 2022-23 season with the Northern Alberta Xtreme (NAX) U15 program in the CSSHL. The defenceman registered 17 goals and 33 assists for 50 points in 30 games. He added another five goals and seven assists in five playoff game en route to the Xtreme capturing the CSSHL Championship.
“NAX was awesome for me, we had a really great group of guys,” Rudolph explained. “We worked hard all season. There was a lot of talent, a lot of hard workers and great coaches. We had a lot of success and ended up winning it all. Just a great group of guys, and I had fun playing with them all year.”
Rudolph becomes the third player to be drafted first overall by the Raiders (Kaiden Guhle, Kyle Chipchura). When asked about what he could bring to the table, he provided the optimistic answer of bringing offence from the back end.
“I’d consider myself to be an offensive defenceman who moves the puck well, has good hockey IQ, and can move my feet well down the ice. Those are strengths that I want to bring to this team. I try to model my game after Adam Fox and Drew Doughty.
“This summer I want to focus on getting stronger and getting my first few strides to be more explosive. I’ll spend most of my time in the gym this summer getting better and better.”
