Herein, we continue down the short list of players in this recent WHC-17 that I wished to write about. In this instance, I have been beating the drum for this player quite often on the Black Stitch Hockey podcast and in social conversations. However, I did not find the time right to commit an article to him until now. He has accomplished many things at the AAA level and looked strong in the CHL to this point, for which I have sung his praises many times. It is time now to spell those accomplishments out further.

Jaxon Jacobson was born in Brandon, Manitoba on December 11th, 2008. If you think it was in his blood to be a Wheat King based off of that statement alone, you would be correct, but that is only scratching the surface of his deep relationship with the team. Keystone Centre/Westoba Place was somewhere he knew all too well just as a fan growing up, being raised as an absolute diehard. His father, Jared, was a product of Brandon’s minor hockey association and additionally had a prolific stint with the Wheat Kings U18 team. The relationship only grew that Jaxon had with BWK only grew when Jared, as noted in the sources, became owner of the club in September of 2020.

Jacobson’s elite hockey career began, as you would anticipate, in the Brandon Wheat Kings U15 AAA squad. He registered an absurd 50 goals and 53 assists for 103 points in 32 games played in 2021–22. The following season, he played for the U18 AAA team in the BWK system, which made him just the second player in program history to play for the U18 squad as an underager. He did not disappoint, as he was the team’s points leader at 60 points in 44 games, and additionally put up 8 points in 8 playoff games. Jacobson was drafted 5th overall in the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft by BWK, bringing the story full circle.

He would run it back in the U18s in 2023-24, and when all was said and done, he was named CEHL Player of the Year after recording one of the greatest seasons any AAA player has ever had in Canadian hockey history. He tallied 49 goals in 48 games played and a whopping 136 points total, a run which included a 14-game regular season ending point streak in which he recorded 47 points. Jacobson was the focal point of an incredibly dominant season by BWK U18 in the Manitoba U18 AAAs, wherein the team posted a regular season record of 43 wins and 1 overtime loss and outscored their opponents 270-82. They ultimately won the regional final to pick up a spot in the TELUS Cup. Their national championship aspirations ultimately came up just short in the final, a game in which Jacobson was injured early and did not return, but that does not diminish their incredible accomplishments.

Jacobson additionally had his seven game affiliate stint in the WHL in 2023-24, recording 4 goals and 2 assists. His debut came against eventual WHL champions the Moose Jaw Warriors on December 8th, 2023, when he was still 14-years-old, and he scored two goals in that game as Brandon would win 5-4 in a matchup that was resolved in a shootout, accounting for one of the most memorable moments of the entire WHL season. Throughout his cup of coffee, he looked like a complete and versatile offensive weapon and he had the confidence level beyond his years necessary to do something with them. Through a good stretch of this season (2024-25), he has had to step it up due 2025 NHL Entry Draft eligible talisman Roger McQueen being out with a long-term injury. Jacobson has answered this challenge pretty well, with 3 goals and 9 assists in 14 games to this point. He had a somewhat subdued performance in the WHC-17 with Team Canada Red, but was still a PPG at 1 goal and 3 assists in 4 games and made respectable contributions to their silver medal campaign.

What perhaps all of this is a testimony to is that Jacobson is not just talented as both a goal scorer and playmaker depending on which part of his game he taps into, but he has incredible maturity, as well. He already has a number of great signs about him and what he can be as a D-2 player who has not even played a full CHL season yet. You have to wonder what conversation we will be having about the young forward in two seasons. I have to imagine he will be a top name on 2027 NHL Entry Draft boards when time gets closer.