While the Vancouver Canucks won’t be winning much hardware this offseason, one of the organization’s top prospects will be.

On Wednesday afternoon, the WHL announced that Canuck prospect and current Prince Albert Raider Braeden Cootes has won the Brad Hornung Memorial Trophy. The honour is awarded to the player as the WHL’s Most Sportsmanlike Player of the season.

The Canucks drafted Cootes in the first round (15th overall) in the 2025 NHL Draft. The 18-year-old turned heads at Canucks training camp, so much so that he earned a lengthy audition in the preseason. He appeared in four of the Canucks’ seven exhibition games, in which he picked up a point in each of his outings, finishing with two goals and two assists.

These efforts from the 18-year-old earned him a spot on the opening night roster, but he did not find the same success. In his three outings, Cootes failed to pick up a point, finished as a minus-two rating, won just 38.5% of his faceoffs, and averaged 10:47 minutes per game. After this, he was sent back down to the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds for the remainder of the season.

With the Thunderbirds, Cootes started strong, scoring 10 goals and 13 assists for 23 points in 17 games before heading off to represent Team Canada at the World Junior Championships. There, Cootes played in a bottom-six role, but contributed two goals in seven games en route to a Bronze Medal.

The Sherwood Park, Alberta, native was then traded from Seattle to Prince Albert while at the World Juniors. Since transitioning to a new team, Cootes has found his stride, scoring 14 goals and 26 assists for 40 points in 28 games. His contributions helped the Raiders finish as the first seed in the WHL’s Eastern Conference and have them off to the Conference Finals, where they will take on the Medicine Hat Tigers. Through nine playoff games, Cootes has five goals and six assists for 11 points.

Cootes was one of six nominees for the award, along with Ryden Evers (Penticton Vees), Jordan Gavin (Brandon Wheat Kings), Markus Ruck (Medicine Hat Tigers), Matias Vanhanen (Everett Silvertips), and Alex Weiermair (Portland Winterhawks).