Daneault finding role as centreman in WHL

By Lethbridge Herald on February 14, 2026.

Nathan Reiter

Lethbridge Herald

It’s no walk in the park to play the centre position in the Western Hockey League.

Hurricanes 17-year-old rookie Easton Daneault has been playing the centre position for Lethbridge for the majority of the season in his first full WHL campaign.

Hurricane head coach Matt Anholt says Daneault has embraced the challenge of playing a difficult defensive position. 

“He’s one of those guys that likes to carry it as a centremen. We played him on the wing in the last game but he’s been excellent for us as technically a rookie first year in the league. Playing centre in the league is not easy. I think he’s done a really good job of overcoming some really hard matchups.”

Anholt also spoke about his conversations with Mark Greig, who is the father of Ridly Greig. Ridly played in the WHL for the Brandon Wheat Kings before breaking into the NHL with the Ottawa Senators.

When Ridly was a younger player in the WHL, he faced several difficult matchups on a nightly basis including Dylan Cozens, Kirby Dach and Aliaksei Protas who are all in the NHL today. Anholt says Deneault is facing a similar learning phase facing premier talent and difficult matchups every night.

“Easton’s no different. I think he’s an elite thinker and he’s one of those guys that just puts pucks in better spots.”

Daneault got some looks with Lethbridge last season as a 16-year-old skating in six regular season and eight playoff games for the Hurricanes while recording three assists.

He spent the majority of his time with the Drumheller Dragons in the Alberta Junior Hockey League where he posted 21 goals and 35 assists in 54 regular seasons games, finishing seventh in league scoring and earning CJHL Rookie of the Year honours.

Daneault says he was able to gain a lot of confidence during his tenure with the Dragons.

“I think just like stepping in that junior role early at just a bit of a lower level. I think it helped with my development, got some confidence to be able to jump into this year and just be my best.”

“The full major junior experience is awesome. With the facility we have and the players we get to play with and against. It’s just a whole other experience. I think home ice is huge. The atmosphere and the fans in this league are super supportive, so I think that’s huge. There’s great players on every team now. It’s a big jump, but it’s been fun.”

Daneault is the middle of three brothers in his family. His older brother Ty is in his third season playing for Merrimack College in the NCAA. Easton is also committed to play college hockey for Merrimack. Younger brother Madden is lighting up the AEHL U15 AAA league with 116 points in just 28 games this season and is considered the potential first player off the board in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft.

Daneault says his two brothers are always making him want to improve.

“I think it pushes me a lot. Everything we do at home is competitive. It just makes you want to be a better player and be a better person just in general, so it’s great. I don’t know what I’d do without those two brothers.”

One player that Daneault models his game after is Brayden Point of the Tampa Lightning. Point played in the WHL for the Moose Jaw Warriors from 2012-2016 and has carved out a successful NHL career as an undersized centreman.

“I think he’s a very smart player.” Daneault explained. “Being able to outsmart the bigger players is a huge upside for smaller players like me and Brayden Point. Just his compete on every puck wins him a lot of battles.”

When asked about the comparison, Anholt says he sees a few aspects in Daneault’s game that he’s been able to replicate from watching Point play for Tampa Bay.

“He’s very tenacious, he’s competitive. I know that’s what Brayden was his whole life even still to this day, but especially in this league. I think (it’s) very similar to Easton in a way where they put pucks in better spots and guys like to play with them because they get good puck touches. THat’s what Easton does to a tee so it’s a good comparable.”

Daneault and the Hurricanes return to action on Sunday afternoon in Daneault’s hometown of Red Deer when they take on the Rebels. Puck drop is set for 4 p.m.