Viliam Kmec of the Prince George Cougars and Tanner Molendyk of the Medicine Hat Tigers are among six candidates named Thursday as nominees for the WHL’s Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as top defenceman of the year.
In his fourth season with the Cougars, Kmec finished sixth in league scoring among defencemen, posting career-high marks for goals (18), assists (43), points (61) and plus-minus rating (+43).
The native of Kosice, Slovakia signed earlier this season as a free agent with the Vegas Golden Knights.
Molendyk, a native of McBride, started this season with the Saskatoon Blades and was traded at the January deadline to the Medicine Hat Tigers. In 49 games split between the two teams he collected nine goals 38 assists for 47 points and had a plus-25 rating.
Molendyk was selected 24th overall in the 2023 NHL draft by the Nashville Predators.
Now in his fifth WHL season, Molendyk was also picked as an Eastern Conference first-team all-star.
Tyson Jugnauth of the Portland Winterhawks (13-76-89) and Mazden Leslie of the Vancouver Giants (21-51-72) were the other Western Conference nominees for the Hunter award, while Luke Shipley of the Brandon Wheat Kings (20-37-57) and Noah Chadwick of the Lethbridge Hurricanes (13-40-53) were also named from the Eastern Conference.
The WHL award winners will be announced between April 22 and May 7.
