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Spokane Chiefs

NHL draft: Spokane’s Will McIsaac, Nathan Mayes hear names called in Las Vegas on Day 2

Spokane Chiefs defenseman Will McIsaac, right, competes for control of the puck during a WHL hockey game on Dec. 3, 2022, at the Spokane Arena. (Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review)
Spokane Chiefs defenseman Will McIsaac, right, competes for control of the puck during a WHL hockey game on Dec. 3, 2022, at the Spokane Arena. (Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review)
By Dave Nichols daven@spokesman.com(509) 459-5441

Add two more Spokane Chiefs players to the list of prospects selected at the NHL Entry Draft at the Sphere in Las Vegas.

Defensemen Will McIsaac and Nathan Mayes were both taken in the latter rounds of the draft on Saturday. McIsaac went in the fifth round, 145th overall, to the St. Louis Blues and Mayes was taken with the last pick in the draft, No. 225 overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

McIsaac, a 6-foot-3 defenseman from Vancouver, British Columbia, is the first blueliner taken out of Spokane since Graham Sward was drafted in the fifth round by Nashville in 2022. He becomes the 27th Spokane defenseman selected in the NHL draft and just the second Spokane Chiefs player selected by the Blues, following Maxim Bets in the 1993 draft.

He was ranked 93rd among North American skaters in the NHL’s Central Scouting Service’s final rankings.

McIsaac, 18, finished his second full season with the Chiefs with new career highs across the board – six goals and 21 assists for 27 total points – and improved from a minus-15 last season to a plus-15 this season. He was Spokane’s third-highest-scoring defenseman for the 2023-24 campaign.

Originally drafted by Spokane 28th overall in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, McIsaac made his debut in the 2021-22 season.

Mayes was the second Chiefs defenseman taken on Day 2 and is the third player drafted by Toronto out of Spokane, following Filip Kral (2018) and Jared Hope (1996). He was ranked 107th in the final rankings.

Mayes, an 18-year-old 6-foot-4 blueliner out of Salmon Arm, B.C., was Spokane’s third-round pick (51st overall) in the 2021 WHL Prospects Draft, making his debut in the 2021-22 season. He finished his rookie year with one goal and 15 assists, bringing his career total to 17 points in 74 games.

A total of 34 WHL players were taken in the 2024 NHL draft.