Owner Brent Sutter says future is very bright for Rebels

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Despite that, Sutter said there’s plenty to improve on heading into next season, including specialty teams.

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“But moving forward, we’ve got a good group of players coming back and a really good group of young prospects to come in and push to be on the team next year,” Sutter said.

He added that the Western Hockey League is no longer a 19-20-year-old league anymore, amidst several of the league’s top players leaving for NCAA scholarships.

As a result, Sutter explained your 17-18-year-old players now have to be among your top contributors to have success.

He’s looking forward to the skill set they can bring next season, as well as the group of 16-year-olds who could crack a roster spot.

“The future here is very bright for this team, and there’s going to be more skill involved for sure, which we needed to have,” he said.

With no 19-year-old players on the current roster, the Rebels will have no 20-year-olds heading into the 2026-27 season.

However, he’s not too worried about it.

“The 20-year-olds aren’t elite players anymore. Those guys are playing the NCAA now. If there’s 18 or 19-year-olds who are just flat-out better players, then why do you have to have a 20-year-old on your team?” he said.

“If there’s somebody I think is a good fit and can add to our group, we’d take a look at it.”

Next year, they’ll have 10-11 forwards and six of seven defencemen returning, with the likes of 17-year-old defenceman Graeme Pickering coming to town.

Sutter added that goaltender Matthew Kondro has established himself as a starting goalie, so there will be a battle for the backup position with Peyton Shore and whoever else comes in.

Next on the priority list is preparing for the 2026 WHL Prospects Draft in May, where American players are now eligible to be selected.

The Rebels will also get ready for the CHL Import Draft in July, where they’ll look to replace forward Matej Mikes, who Sutter said will not return.

Defencemen Matus Lisy and Jiri Kamas will both return to occupy two of the three import roster slots.

“Mikes is going back and will need major knee surgery again, and that’ll be two surgeries he’s had on the same knee. It’s just going to be too high-risk for us. He’s an awesome kid, and it’s just unfortunate.”

When asked about the job that the coaching staff did this season, including head coach Marc Habscheid, who completed his first season in Red Deer.

He said he wasn’t happy with the team’s home record of 13-18-3-0, but the fact that they were a better road team, he said, speaks for itself. He felt that they needed to play a lot better at home, which comes down to preparation.

“If there was an area that I would like to think that they would have learned from throughout the year was how you need to prepare at home,” he said.

Sutter said he’s currently evaluating the coach’s performance and explained he’s met with them individually. He said it’s all about the right fit for the roster they’ll dress next season.

“At this point, I’m not planning on making changes, but you go through it and dissect it all, and I’m a very thorough thinker on things… I want us to be a competitive team all the time, a team that’s chasing and playing hard every night. Our work habits need to continue to improve.”