YORKTON, SK — The Yorkton Kinsmen Maulers were well represented during Tuesday’s SJHL Draft.
A total of eight Yorkton Kinsmen Maulers were selected during Tuesday’s 2026 SJHL Draft, joining two more who were auto-protect picks announced on Saturday. The 2026 SJHL Draft included two rounds of picks by clubs for players born in 2011, while an additional six rounds were for 2010 born players, along with up to three auto-protected players.
Kicking things off Saturday, both goaltender Seth Bennett and forward Bryer Loose were chosen by the Humboldt Broncos as auto-protected players.
Tuesday, Defenceman Bridger Unchulenko was chosen first out of the eight Kinsmen Maulers in the 2011-born portion, getting a call from the Warman Wildcats. Warman picked Unchulenko second in the second round, 14th overall. The Esterhazy product also heard his name called in the 2011 WHL Draft just a few weeks ago, picked by the Moose Jaw Warriors.
Next up was Prince Albert’s Luke Trann, another Kinsmen Mauler recruit who heard his name in this year’s WHL Draft, picked by the Kelowna Rockets. He was the first of a pair of Kinsmen Maulers chosen back-to-back at 21 and 22, with Trann joining the Nipawin Hawks and White City’s Jackson Bray picked right after by the Melville Millionaires.
Bray was the first of three Kinsmen Maulers chosen by Melville during the day, which led all SJHL teams in Kinsmen Maulers draft picks.
In the 2010 portion of the SJHL draft, the first Kinsmen Mauler recruit selected was Saskatoon’s Jack Prosofsky, picked in the second round, 21st overall by the Kindersley Klippers. Right after Prosofsky, York Lake’s Ty Rusnak was picked. Rusnak joined Bray in Melville with the selection, with the two players both picked 22nd overall in their respective draft years Tuesday. Rusnak was with the Kinsmen Maulers in 2025-26, winning the Josh Campbell Memorial Award for “Mr. Hustle,” as well as the team’s most sportsmanlike player.
The third player picked by the Mils Tuesday was forward Cruz Aebig, chosen in the third round, 31st overall.
Defenceman Carter Downey, a Yorkton product, was chosen in the fifth round, 57th overall to Nipawin, while Lincon Evans was picked 60th overall and joins Unchulenko in Warman.
ABOUT THE YORKTON KINSMEN MAULERS: The Yorkton Kinsmen Maulers are a U18 AAA Hockey Club playing out of the Saskatchewan Male AAA Hockey League (SMAAAHL). The club was founded in 1983 and formed a partnership with the Kinsmen Club of Yorkton in 2024 with a three year naming rights agreement.
FOR MEDIA INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT: Jeremy Palanuik, General Manager and Associate Coach | gm@maulers.ca | (306) 527-3435
