In the wake of the World U-17 Hockey Challenge’s concluding with a victory for Canada-White in the gold medal game against Canada-Red (with White captained to this triumph by one of our favorite prospects, Keaton Verhoeff), I think it is time to give this series yet another revival. This will begin a “series within a series” of sorts, as my aspiration will be to cover a few names which popped out at me during the WHC-17 that I was either already quite cognizant of and was given another, strong look at that left another impression on me or names that really stood out to me for the first time. This first entry stands more in the latter category, as this sniper from the WHL (who is usually Verhoeff’s rival, but played alongside him this time around) wowed many viewers across the hockey world with his offensive prowess in this tournament in a way that made me wish I had been paying him more mind. Let us take a look at this brilliant product of the British Columbia youth system’s career to this point, as well as his profile.

Mathis Preston was born in Penticton, BC on July 21st, 2008. His generation of the Preston family has done quite well for themselves on the ice, as his elder brother, 2005-born goaltender Nathan Preston, made it into the WHL, as well, and currently plays for rivals the Tri-City Americans. Mathis, however, went down the path of a terrific right-shooting forward with a propensity for scoring goals. His prolificacy there can be seen as far back as his tracked statistics go. His earliest impression was made, like many others before him, at the Brick Invitational Tournament, scoring 5 goals in 8 games with the BC Junior Canucks in the 2018 edition of the tourney. With Okanagan Hockey Academy’s U15 Varsity team in CSSHL U15 AAA, Preston recorded 10 goals in 9 games in 2020-21. The following season, he made the jump to U15 Prep and registered 15 goals in 22 games, then ran it back in 2022-23 and recorded 46 goals in 26 games in U15s before getting a 2-game taste of the U16s and some playoff time in U18s (where he recorded a goal and an assist in his 1 appearance). That same year, OHA also participated in the John Reid Memorial Cup AAA tournament and acquired a silver medal. While their aspirations fell just shy with a hard-fought 7-4 defeat to the vaunted Shattuck-St Marys, they were competitive all throughout until the very end of the road, with Preston being a major reason why. He scored 6 of their 7 goals in a 7-2 victory against the Red Deer Rebels to kick things off. After that, he scored 9 more throughout the tournament to finish with a whopping 15 in 6 games (along with 4 assists for 19 points). Truly, a remarkable, “stuff of legends” performance from the Pentincton native. On the back of his incredible season, Preston was selected third overall in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft by the Spokane Chiefs. He would spend most of the following year in U18s, registering 30 goals and 21 assists in 23 regular season games in addition to 7 goals and 6 assists in 4 postseason appearances. That same season, he would also be on another runners-up run in a tournament, finishing in second place in the B division (the second tier of the tournament as seeded by pool stage performance, with A being the highest and C and D being below) of the Circle K classic with OHA Penticton and tallied 4 goals and 5 games along the way.

Most importantly, however, Preston made a historic statement in his affiliate stint in the WHL with Spokane in 2023-24. In his 5 game cup of coffee, he recorded five goals, making him just the fourth 15-year-old in WHL history to score 4 goals in less than 8 games (NOTE: the article mistakenly refers to this as having occurred in the 2024-25 season; however, this feat was accomplished in 2023-24 during Preston’s affiliate look). As you can tell by his results and how he speaks in a very self-aware manner about his game and his approach (all the way down to being able to break things down on a shift-by-shift basis), his game between his ears and his pose are both quite remarkable. That undeterred focus and prowess has continued into this season. To this point in the 2024-25 campaign, Preston has recorded 7 goals and 3 assists in 14 games with the Chiefs. He entered the WHC-17, therefore, on great form, and what transpired next should surprise no one. Preston led the entire tournament in goals with 6 in 5 games. This was primarily driven by his hat trick in the semifinals against Sweden (in which he also registered an assist, making for a four-point night and marking a game high in both goals and points), but it was also supplemented in an all-too important moment: The final against Canada-Red (the first all-Canada final for the WHC-17 since 2009, when Team Ontario took on Team Pacific). His tally on a one-timer set up by Verhoeff on a terrific cross-ice pass ultimately stood as the game-winning, and therefore tournament-winning, goal. As was described in his Stars of Tomorrow article, Preston lives for the big moment. We can assuredly expect more of this going forward from the BC native, who was rightfully placed on the tournament All-Star Team. He has everything you want from a pure goal-scorer: Speed, high-end skill, ability to find soft ice, terrific shot mechanics and accuracy. This is all intersecting with a terrific mental game that is only going to mature more in the coming seasons. You have to like his stock for the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, particularly if he grows a bit in the coming year and a half (he is currently listed at 5’11”). Even at his current build, though, he has that true “you cannot coach that” combination of offensive instinct and ability. That is something that should be coveted no matter what.