Regina Pats rookie Maddox Schultz wants to forge his own path

The comparisons are natural, but Maddox Schultz doesn’t see the need to be the second coming of Connor Bedard.

While the newest potential Regina Pats star has oodles of respect for the famous graduate of his WHL team, Schultz won’t be trying to put himself in Bedard’s skates in his rookie season.

“He can play an unbelievable offensive game. I think I’m there to support the d-men and help in my own zone, but to also attack as well. I think we’re two different players,” the well-spoken Schultz, 15, said in an interview earlier this summer.

Schultz, who is represented by the same agency/advisory group that looks after Bedard’s business, was picked first overall by his hometown Pats in the WHL Draft five years after Regina took the current Chicago Blackhawks star in the same spot. Bedard taped a video to welcome Schultz to the Pats.

“I just kept smiling. Obviously, he’s one of my heroes,” Schultz said. “It was amazing to hear that from him.”

But there is one major difference between the two. Bedard was the first WHL player to be granted exceptional-player status by Hockey Canada, allowing him to play a full season in the league a year earlier than his counterparts. He went on to be picked first overall by the Blackhawks in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Schultz opted not to go down the exceptional-player route, choosing instead to enter the new Western Canadian Development Model. The program allows accepted players who played above their age group in their draft year to play a maximum of 34 games with their WHL team and the rest of the season with a club team outside major junior.

This year, Schultz, new Regina teammate Liam Pue and Everett Silvertips forward Reid Nicol are the WHL players in the model program.

When the Pats won the WHL draft lottery and took Schultz, it meant he could stay at home and continue playing half the year with the Regina Pat Canadians of the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League. The five-foot-10 forward led the Pat C’s to a Telus Cup national under-18 title last season, registering 93 points (43 goals, 50 assists) in 44 games. Pue, a B.C. native, will join Schultz for the back-and-forth between the Pats and Pat C’s this year.

“I think when you play with the Pats, it’s going to be some good hockey, some fast-paced hockey,” Schultz said. “If you’re coming back to the Pats C’s and you want to perform the same, you’ve got to bring it every night. I think it’s just kind of finding that routine.”

Schultz is off to a good start. He scored the Pats’ lone goal in a 2-1 loss on the road against the Swift Current Broncos on Wednesday to open the pre-season. Schultz could make his home debut Friday night when the Pats take on the Brandon Wheat Kings in their second exhibition game.

The Pats’ season opener is Sept. 19 in Swift Current.

If Regina had been guaranteed of winning the draft lottery, would Schultz have tried to earn exceptional status?

David Schultz, Maddox’s dad, says the family is more than content with the development-model decision. Being picked by Regina was just a bonus.

“We just feel like he’s going to to have opportunity to make mistakes, that’s how you learn,” David said. “He’s got to have the opportunity to find his footing

“… Looking at some of the other guys who’ve gotten it (Connor McDavid, Bedard and John Tavares are the biggest names to have received exceptional status), those are players he idolizes and he’d love to play like. I think it was just a personal, family decision to let him arrive on time, let him find his way and be able to make mistakes. I can completely understand in hindsight people would suggest he’s probably ready for the jump, but for us we still as a family talked about it again and we’re OK with (this path).”

Pats general manager Dale Derkatch has what might seem like the difficult task of devising a schedule for Schultz.

But after crunching the numbers, it didn’t turn out to be too much of a challenge. When blocking off time for Schultz to potentially play in the World Under-17 Challenge international tournament, the Circle K Classic December tournament with the Pat C’s in Calgary and the under-18 playoffs in March, it left just the right amount of time for the Pats.

“When we went through it, there were only 36 games possible for him to play. It made it pretty easy,” Derkatch said. “You’re going to have other things like illness, injury, sickness and who knows what where eventually he’ll miss (some games, too).”

The daily schedule will follow a basic formula.

“If he’s going to be playing for us, the day before that game he’ll practise with us,” Derkatch said. “If he’s playing for the Pat C’s, we try to allow that he practises the day before (a game) with them. It’s not perfect, it doesn’t always work, it doesn’t line up exactly, but that’s how we went about it.”

Maddox and his younger sister Sydney were born in Medicine Hat, Alta., where his parents David and Vicki called home after retiring as touring professional figure skaters.

Sydney is now a competitive figure skater, while David and Vicki continue to teach the sport.

Maddox and Sydney both were on the ice early in life.

“If we wanted to see them in the evening, they had to (be on the ice) because we were teaching every night,” David said. “We put them in every program we could and even built some programs to help their development.”

Growing up in such a sporting family made things interesting from an early age.

“We’re as competitive as anybody you’ve ever met,” David said. “Maddox and his sister have always had that. Like board games in our family — they’re tough. It’s not a night you want to be around. It starts really great and it just ends in a fight. I say that lovingly but it can get nasty because no one wants to lose and no one wants to give an inch. He’s always had that personality from the time he was little. He’s a sweet, caring kid but at the same time if you’re playing something, it doesn’t matter what it is … there’s just no room for being a nice guy about it.”

The family moved to Regina about 10 years ago and in their early years in Saskatchewan, Maddox figure skated and played hockey.

“I could not do a triple axel,” Maddox said with a laugh. “I think the highest I got was a single axel.”

However, figure-skating skills do translate to hockey, Maddox said.

“Obviously, it really helped my edges and really contributed to the player I am today,” he said.

It’s no coincidence that former figure skating stars like Barbara Underhill (a skating coach consultant with the Tampa Bay Lightning) and David Pelletier (an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars) are now working with NHL players.

Maddox continues to find time to skate with his parents.

“Even today when he comes on to a power skating session, our first 15-20 minutes is always edge work, which isn’t figure skating jumps but it’s definitely turns, agility, understanding your edges, where your weight needs to be,” David said. “He has that at the front of his brain whenever he’s skating — ‘where am I supposed to be, where am I pushing from, where’s my speed.’ He’s not figure skating, but he’s still working on figure-skating-type stuff.”

While many eyes will be on Schultz this season as one of the trail-blazers for the model program, it doesn’t stress him out.

“I think coming into the league is going to be fun. More fun than pressure,” said Schultz, who had three goals in a pair of rookie games to open training camp last week.

“Obviously, I have personal goals, but team goals are what matter most. Hopefully we can build up for the coming years and win a championship.”

Derkatch has a son the same age as Schultz and coached him in some of his minor hockey years. He feels Schultz is well-equipped to handle any pressure.

“Honestly, I don’t even think any of that bugs him. He just plays the game,” Derkatch said. “The best thing I can say about Maddox is as good as he is as a hockey player, he’s also that good as a person outside the game. He’s a natural leader by being competitive but also by being normal. When I say normal, he still likes to hang out with his friends and he has friends who aren’t playing at the same level anymore, but he still has time for that.

“I don’t think pressure really affects him. I think he’s just a special, ready-to-roll type guy.”