With the 2022-23 NHL season on the horizon, we’re putting a focus on current and former WHL players looking to make their mark at the next level.
The 2022 NHL Prospect Watch series will feature some of the current and past WHL talent recently drafted or signed to NHL contracts, and having appeared in fewer than 50 NHL games.
Our final episode looks at the prospect pool of the Winnipeg Jets.
Tyrell Bauer
A sixth-round pick by the Winnipeg Jets in the 2020 NHL Draft, defenseman Tyrel Bauer captained the Seattle Thunderbirds to a Western Conference Championship in 2022. Bauer, who was limited to 32 regular season contests in 2021-22 due to injury, returned prior to the 2022 WHL Playoffs and posted a +16 rating in 23 post-season contests this past spring. Bauer, who hails from Cochrane, Alta., has totaled 210 regular season and playoff contests over the course of his WHL career, all with the Thunderbirds.
Bauer and the Jets! Today, defenseman Tyrel Bauer has signed a three-year entry level contract with the @NHLJets.
Congratulations Captain 💙💚 https://t.co/vApiCZFY6G pic.twitter.com/G9f39p1uV7
— Seattle Thunderbirds (@SeattleTbirds) May 31, 2022
Christian Reichel
Forward Kristian Reichel made his NHL debut for the Winnipeg Jets during the 2021-22 season, appearing in 13 games and totaling two points. The Czech forward tallied his first NHL goal on January 2 in a road contest at Vegas, while also chipping in with 13 points in 30 games for the AHL’s Manitoba Moose. Reichel spent one season in the WHL, collecting 57 points in 63 games for the Red Deer Rebels in 2017-18.
First NHL goal for Kristian Reichel! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/ArIA0iVaYw
— NHL (@NHL) January 2, 2022