Saskatoon Blades forward Rhett Melnyk has seen a lot in his 220-game career in the Western Hockey League, but playoffs have eluded the 19-year-old.
After stops in Tri-City and Edmonton, the latter of which he captained to begin the season, Melnyk was acquired by the Blades in late October in exchange for young forward Smyth Rebman in an effort to add more veteran experience to the locker room.
That’s resulted in Melnyk becoming a key depth piece for Saskatoon over the course of the 2023-24 WHL season, which will lead to his playoff debut on Thursday night with the Blades facing the Prince Albert Raiders in Game 1 of their opening round series.
Melnyk spoke with Global Sports’ Scott Roblin about the excitement for playoff hockey, looking up to Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Toews and how he picked up the game from his family in the latest episode of ‘Blades Bio.’