Madden Daneault Leads Free Victory+ Stream For 2026 WHL Prospects Draft
madden daneault headlines the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft Show as the first round streams free on Victory+ on Wednesday, May 6. The opening selections begin at 6 p.m. MT, giving viewers a no-cost way to watch the draft unfold in real time.
Kepke And Ginnell Lead The Show
The WHL will start pre-draft coverage at 5:30 p.m. MT, then move into the first round 30 minutes later. Cami Kepke and Brad Ginnell will co-host the show, and it will include special guests from WHL Clubs along with in-depth coverage and analysis of each selection.
Kepke serves as WHL Manager, Community Engagement and Content, while Ginnell is the WHL Manager, Hockey Operations and Recruitment. That pairing puts the league’s content and hockey-operations voices on the same broadcast as the first-round picks come in.
Kelowna Holds First Overall
The Kelowna Rockets own the first-overall selection in the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft. It is the first time the Rockets have picked first overall since 1991, when the franchise was located in Tacoma, Wash.
The draft itself will continue on Thursday, May 7, beginning at 10 a.m. MT. Real-time results will also be posted at WHL.ca, giving teams and families a second way to track the picks once the broadcast window moves on.
WHL Draft Access Expands
The first round sitting free on Victory+ is the clearest change for viewers who want the opening night without paying for access. The WHL is based in Calgary, Alberta, and operates with 23 member Clubs, 17 in Western Canada and six in the U.S. Pacific Northwest.
That reach sits inside a league that has spent over 50 years supplying talent for the National Hockey League and sending over 375 graduates each year into WHL Scholarships. For this draft, the practical takeaway is simple: the first round is open to anyone with the stream, while the rest of the draft waits for Thursday morning.
