McFadden impresses in WHL debut for Hurricanes

By Lethbridge Herald on January 6, 2026.

Nathan Reiter

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Hurricanes got a glimpse at the future over the weekend.

15-year-old defenceman Liam McFadden made his WHL debut for the Hurricanes on Friday night in a 4-3 Lethbridge win over the Swift Current Broncos at the VisitLethbridge.com Arena.

McFadden was selected in the third round, 54th overall by Lethbridge in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft. He was the first player that the Hurricanes selected in the 2010-born age group. Lethbridge traded their first round pick to Moose Jaw for the services of Brayden Yager last December, while their second rounder was dealt to Calgary in 2024 for overager Sean Tschigerl.

Lethbridge traded up on draft day to acquire the pick used on McFadden, sending the 73th overall pick (used on defenceman Trystan James) and a future fourth rounder in 2027 to the Victoria Royals.

Hurricane head coach Matt Anholt says McFadden has plenty of tools that will translate to the WHL level. 

“His feet are outstanding. Really good lateral skating ability. His passing, I thought, was shown in a couple of moments. He wasn’t afraid to at least showcase what he can do. There were a couple mistakes, but that’s typical. It’s hard as a D man, you make one mistake and usually everybody in the rink is going to know about it. I think it was a good game for him to get in on a home game.”

McFadden skated in both games for Lethbridge over the weekend against Swift Current, registering a minus-one rating in both contests.

“It was awesome.” McFadden said about making his WHL debut. “I’ve been dreaming of this since I was a little kid and for it to finally come true, it’s just awesome.”

As a 15-year-old, McFadden is not able to join the Hurricanes on a full-time basis until his season is complete with his U18 club team. McFadden is currently suiting up for OHA Edmonton’s U18 Prep team in the Canadians Sports School Hockey League (CSSHL). 

In 19 games this season, McFadden has registered two goals and 10 assists ranking second on his team in scoring by a defenceman.

McFadden says he will be able to take a lot of lessons back with him to the U18 level.

“It’s going to give me a lot of confidence when I go back down to U18 and help me play to the best. The guys (in the WHL) are a lot bigger, faster, stronger. You have to make plays just that much quicker.”

McFadden was penciled into the Hurricane lineup on Friday skating alongside 18-year-old Tomas Malinek on the third Lethbridge pairing. At times throughout the game, McFadden was also sent over the boards alongside 19-year-old Nathan Maloney.

“They’re really good.” McFadden said. “They’re good leaders, they’re helping me out on the bench, talking a lot, just making my day easier.”

Anholt explained that Lethbridge was trying to do their best to insulate McFadden in his debut.

“I think it was just trying to protect our young guy, obviously. It’d be nice if we had maybe another older guy back there that we could play him with as a lefty because even Maloney, as good of a player as he is, it’s hard to play on your offside with a young guy. I think there were some challenges at moments, but you want to set them up for success. You want to hopefully get them some o zone starts, play them against their bottom six lines and hopefully his partner can bail them out if anything happens.”

Lethbridge returns to action on Wednesday night when they welcome the Seattle Thunderbirds to the VisitLethbridge.com Arena. Puck drops at 7 p.m.

ICINGS:

The Hurricanes completed a trade on Monday, acquiring 18-year-old forward Oli Chenier from the Prince Albert Raiders in exchange for a fourth round pick in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft. In 30 games this season, Chenier had posted three goals and 10 assists for Prince Albert.