Edmonton Oil Kings defenceman Blake Fiddler forging his own path to first round
LONDON, Ontario – Early in the first period, right after puck drop, Blake Fiddler drifted to his right and planted an American forward after an attempted zone entry.
It was part of a tone-setting opening minute for Team CHL, which clobbered the United States National Team Development Program Under-18 Team 6-1 in Game 1 of the CHL-USA Prospects Challenge on Tuesday.
For Fiddler, the game was a bit of an oddity against the United States, because eventually he’ll likely be wearing red, white, and blue in IIHF events, maybe as soon as this spring in the Under-18 World Championships.
In fact, of all the Americans in the CHL-USA challenge, Fiddler will likely go the highest in the 2025 NHL Draft in June.
Fiddler, who ranked 14th in Elite Prospects most recent rankings, grew up in and around NHL locker rooms because of his dad, Vernon Fiddler, who played 14 NHL seasons. Blake Fiddler was born in Nashville, but spent most of his early childhood in Dallas while his dad played for the Stars.
“Yeah I remember it vividly, like from a young age going to the rink, like on days we didn’t have school I’d go there for morning skate, actually I’d hang out with Will Horcoff because his dad (Shawn Horcoff) also played for the Stars, it was a pretty cool experience.”
Fiddler said he was hooked on hockey from a young age, but has taken a different path and role on the ice than his dad did, who was a reliable two-way center who went from undrafted to playing 877 NHL games.
Unlike his 5-foot-11 dad, Blake Fiddler towers over others with a 6-foot-4, 210-pound frame. He’s a dynamic skater for his size and effectively controls the flow of the game for the Edmonton Oil Kings with how he manages breakouts and disrupts entries for the opponent.
For Fiddler, his game is the result of blending things he’s seen up close as a kid who closely watched the Dallas Stars. More recently he’s tried to emulate elements of Miro Heiskenan’s game, while he also said watching John Klingberg closely was beneficial to how he became a better skater maneuvering in the offensive zone.
And Fiddler still lives in Dallas, and continues to work with Stars players, he now skates in the offseason with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, who live in Texas year round, and also frequently skate with fellow NHL Texans Blake Coleman, Seth Jones, and Caleb Jones.
It’s one of the reasons it’s fitting that the Under-18 World Championships are in Fiddler’s hometown this season, with games split between Frisco and Allen. Barring a deep WHL playoff run by the Oil Kings, Fiddler will likely be available to play with some of the Americans he competed against last night in London and tonight in Oshawa in the Prospects Challenge.
Fiddler also isn’t shy about the nationality question, while he’s represented both Canada and the United States before, he was the captain of the American team at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, he talks about the United States as “my country,” and said he embraces his American roots in Texas.
Fiddler could have played for the NTDP, it’s an option that was on the table, but wanted to go through the WHL for development similar to his dad, who also spent time as an assistant coach for a couple seasons with the Kelowna Rockets after retiring from the NHL.
And for Blake Fiddler, that path has him on a collision course for a first-round selection.
