(Image Credit: Red Deer Rebels/Taylor Lachance)

By Ian Gustafson

The show goes on

Rebels star Beckett Hamilton confirms he’ll return to Red Deer next season

Apr 6, 2026 | 1:25 PM

At a time when teams across the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) are losing some of their top players due to recruitment efforts from the NCAA, the Red Deer Rebels received verbal confirmation from one of their brightest stars.

On Saturday, the Rebels held their season ending meetings as players packed up their things and headed home for the summer.

During that process, Red Deer media members caught up with Rebels leading goal scorer Beckett Hamilton, who said he’ll return to Red Deer next season.

“Yeah, 100 per cent,” Hamilton said when asked by rdnewsNOW if he’ll return. “Not a ton [of interest from colleges/universities], nothing serious. I’m fully focused on coming to Red Deer next year and hopefully make a huge push in the playoffs and see what we can do.”

Hamilton’s words came a day after the Rebels were eliminated from the WHL playoffs by the Prince Albert Raiders with a loss in Game 5 in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

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Red Deer nearly shifted the series back to Red Deer for Game 6 but instead fell 4-3 in overtime in Prince Albert on Friday.

The 18-year-old from Saskatoon, Sask. gave credit to all of his teammates for how they were able to push back against one of the top teams in the Western Hockey League.

He explained, despite plenty of roster changes throughout the season and the trade deadline, they were able to make some noise.

“We had a young team, a very inexperienced playoff team. We had three 20s and no 19-year-olds. It’s not easy for a group of 17-year-olds to push for the playoffs but we found a way and we all came together,” he said.

“It’s not the end of the season we wanted but you take the positives from it and use that going into next season. Everyone learned a lot about themselves and the team. That’s a positive for us.”

He believes the team is poised to take another step forward in the 2026-27 campaign.

“I think we are going to be unbelievable,” Hamilton added. ” You look again, obviously, we’re a young team with good chemistry and a good room. I only see this group going up and with us building together it’s a huge offseason for everyone. I’m excited to see what we can do when we get back.”

When Hamilton returns to Red Deer in August/September he’ll most likely be freshly selected in the National Hockey League Draft.

Hamilton was ranked 75th among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings in January. A number of his teammates were also ranked including Jiri Kamas (128th), forward Kalder Varga (164th), defenceman Cameron Dillard (195th), and forward Cameron Kuzma (211th).

“I haven’t thought about [the draft] too much. It’s been a tough couple of days here just saying bye to everyone. Losing out, it’s never easy, but it’s in the back of my mind a bit,” he said. “I’m just trying to not worry about it too much.”

Hamilton had a team leading 62 points in 67 regular season games, including 24 goals and 38 assists. In the playoffs, he was tied for the team lead with five points in five games alongside forward Kalder Varga.

Hamilton said he couldn’t have done it without his teammates and the coaching staff. He also said in his second WHL season, he had more confidence in his abilities.

“One thing goes right and you might just get on a roll and I give a lot of credit to everyone in there and the coaches for helping me,” Hamilton added. “There was a stretch there where I wasn’t doing too well but everyone helped me and I got back on track.”