Canes coach thrilled with progression through camp

By Lethbridge Herald on September 3, 2025.

Herald Photo by Justin Seward Lethbridge Hurricanes Nathan Maloney gets tangled up with a Calgary Hitmen player in the corner during ÊWHL exhibition action at VisitLethbridge.com Arena on Wednesday night. Canes head coach Matt Anholt had liked what Maloney has brought to the team so far.

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Hurricanes are in the midst of their exhibition schedule and head coach Matt Anholt wants to see the preseason roster gain more comfortability and seeing what some unsigned players have for potential.

“You want to just see those guys probably build a little bit of confidence going into the year, get a lot of puck touches (and) feel that they’re really ready to take a huge step” said Anholt.

The Canes still have unsigned players and players from the 2008 and 2009 age groups looking to still crack the roster.

“Just want to see those guys compete, make plays and if they don’t make plays, how hard do they work to go get it back,” said Anholt.

“I think being able to slowly chip away at our systems and being able to see how they can work inside those systems and be able to snap into those things quickly is a big-time thing … for our coaching staff … to evaluate.”

“Matty’s done a good job so far in building a structure with these younger guys and also older guys,” said veteran forward Logan Wormald.

Anholt was impressed with what he saw over the weekend at  training camp.

“Rookie camp is always a little bit more exhausting for the kids because there’s a lot more games and you gotta take a little bit of a break,” said Anholt.

“So, it’s a little bit of a different mindset because it doesn’t even really feel like a real game. But I thought the kids did a good job of competing and earning a spot into main camp.

Anholt praised older players in main camp.

“ I thought the older guys that rotated in and out of the games did a great job of leading the way and showcasing that they’ve really taken a step this year,” said Anholt.

Forward  Easton Daneault and defenceman  Nathan Maloney stood out to Anholt during camp.

“Daneault looks like he’s really taken a step,” said Anholt.

“ (On Tuesday) night,  in the preseason game, he had three assists (and) he was our best player by far.”

Maloney has come as expected.

“Offensive, skates really well  (and) looks like  he should be able to run a powerplay for us,” said Anholt.

Anholt has seen presumable Canes starting goalie Koen Cleaver as  being  exceptional   and  the likes of  Carsen Adair,  Will Scott and Grady Pichette  making another step of progress.

“It was super exciting to see a bunch (of) young guys come up and show off their skill,” said Wormald, on the camp experience.

Wormald’s normal linemates in the past few seasons of Brayden Edwards and Miguel Marques have moved on this season and he spoke about what it was like to try and find chemistry with new linemates.

“I don’t think it was something I was completely focused on,” said Wormald.

“Yeah, it’s different playing with different guys but (in) practices, you’re just going out there and trying to build some chemistry with guys that are going to be on the team.”

Daneault knew coming into  training camp that there would be a younger look to the team.

“I think we can all learn together, and we’ll all grow throughout the season,” said Daneault.

Daneault worked during the offseason to become bigger because he hopes to land a spot on one of the top lines.

The Hurricanes are down to 33 players on their roster  after reassigning forwards Hayden Iron Shirt, Matteo Di Stefano, Graham Gard and Luka Samu, as well as defenceman Lucas Jacobson and Liam McFadden on Wednesday.