Charting Blake Fiddler's path from skates with his dad to the 2025 NHL Draft

FRISCO, Texas Blake Fiddler is standing inside Comerica Center, a bronze medal around his neck, when hes asked how many times he guesses he has skated at this arena.

Oof, he says, shaking his head and chuckling, I dont know.

It feels like thousands.

Its not the medal he came back home to get with Team USA, but hell still remember these two weeks in Frisco.

Hell remember playing tour guide and showing his teammates around the mall and the Cowboys practice facility.

Hell remember going to his mini golf spot with them.

There were 150 people in attendance for him at USAs first game of the tournament.

Advertisement It was pretty special to join this group of guys.

It was super special to create a bond with them, Fiddler said after defeating Slovakia in overtime of the bronze medal game.

It wasnt the medal we wanted but Im proud of our group for being resilient and battling some adversity.

I think we deserved better in the semis against Sweden but thats how it goes sometimes.

It doesnt always go your way, so Im proud of the guys for battling back and at least getting a bronze.

When it was over, Fiddler had led Team USA in average ice time for the tournament, playing 20:46 per game.

He played 21:28 in the bronze medal game and scored the 1-0 goal.

He finished plus-8, the Americans outscoring the opposition 17-9 with him on the ice at even strength for the tournament.

It wasnt always a given that hed play for Team USA, either.

He won gold playing for Canada White at the 2023 World Under-17 Hockey Challenge.

But he made up his mind that hed commit to USA Hockey when he captained Team USA at the 2023 U17 Five Nations tournament and the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.

He was also invited to Team USAs selection camp for the 2025 World Juniors the lone player on this U18 team who was.

It wont be the last time he plays for Team USA, or the last time he skates at the Comerica Center.

Asked when hed be back, he laughed again.

Definitely going to take a couple of weeks off but right after the combine Ill be right back out here, he said.

And then hell be off to Los Angeles for the 2025 NHL Draft, where he could be a first-round pick.

Vernon Fiddler is standing on the concourse at the Tribute Communities Center before puck drop on the second game of the inaugural CHL USA Prospects Challenge.

He asks to move up a few steps so that he can see the ice, not wanting to miss Blake warming up.

Vernon retired in 2017 after a 14-season NHL career.

Blake was born in 2007, so he grew up around the dressing rooms of the Predators, Coyotes, Stars and Devils.

Advertisement In the early days of his pro career in Nashville, before he and his wife, Chrissy, a yoga and fitness instructor, had Blake, Vernon remembers watching the teams veterans bring their kids around the rink and thinking This is something I want to do.

He remembers coming home from the rink one day and telling Chrissy, I want to start having kids and hopefully I can play long enough where they can follow me.

Some of Vernons most cherished memories are from when he was with Phoenix from 2009-11, and a toddler Blake would come to morning skates and hang out with the trainers while he was on the ice.

Once Blake was a little bigger, he remembers sitting in the cold tub in Dallas while Blake would sit nearby and go over the game sheet.

Whats this? Blake would ask.

Whats this? He really had no choice but to be a hockey player, Vernon said, chuckling.

He played most of his minor hockey in the Dallas area but Vernon didnt realize Blake had a future in the sport until he took a coaching job with the Kelowna Rockets and they moved back to Canada in 2020.

Vernon is from Edmonton and played his junior for the Rockets, but Blake was born in Nashville and raised mostly in Dallas.

During his two years as an assistant with the Rockets, Blake played at the Okanagan Hockey Academy and Vernon saw his passion and drive for the game blossom.

His skill level was very good and he just needed to get stronger as a big lanky kid, Vernon said.

I knew then that if he continued to have as much passion as he did that with his skill level there was something there.

And then I decided to get out of coaching and I wanted to really put all of our efforts into it and I sacrificed a little bit of my career to try to help him attain his goals and it has definitely helped and been working.

After leaving the Rockets, the Fiddlers returned to Dallas and Vernon started working as a skills coach with the top young players locally.

In the offseason, he and Blake are on the ice together every day.

Vernon credits Stars owner Tom Gaglardi and president and CEO Brad Alberts for supporting him and giving him the opportunity to skate players at the practice facility.

Whenever he needs an hour of ice, he can message the rink manager and get it.

Dallas has become home.

Advertisement They want to have players come out of Dallas so theyre really pushing it and I skate about 20 kids in the summer every day, Vernon said.

In those skates, Vernon goes from dad to coach.

Blake knows when Im on the ice that Im an intense guy and it doesnt matter if its him or if its someone else, Im pushing these boys as hard as they can go because were seeing results out of it, Vernon said.

If I get on Blake, I get on Blake.

And if I get on a different boy, its the same thing.

Everybodys equal out there.

Im a players coach Id like to call myself but I also know how to push buttons and I dont waste time because I want to push these boys in the right direction.

So he knows.

And if he barks at me, when we get home, its over.

There are times where Im like I know I was hard on the boys today, but they know its coming from a good heart and I just want to see the best from them.

Those around Fiddler describe him as quiet but confident, religious, well-spoken and personable.

He loves to play golf and pickleball.

Oil Kings general manager Kirt Hill first met Fiddler when he was 14.

Even back then, he was an extremely respectful young man, according to Hill.

At the time, Hill and the Oil Kings had the first pick in the WHLs U.S.

draft.

After getting to know him pretty well through the draft process, they felt he checked all of their character boxes with emphasis.

Hes got the habits, doing all the extra stuff before and after games and practices.

The way he treats himself away from the rink with his sleep schedules, everything from that standpoint is dialed in.

A lot of times when you get kids into organizations at 16, youve got to start them from scratch and get them into a routine every day.

He certainly came with all of the routines and knows what its going to have to take to make it in pro, Hill said on a recent phone call.

Advertisement Greg Moore, Team USAs head coach for the U18 Worlds, has only known him for a couple of weeks but was immediately impressed by how he engaged with him.

He articulates himself well, he seems very self-aware as a person in general, and thats a really strong attribute that you dont always find in hockey players off the ice, Moore said.

Ive watched him play not as his coach but now that Ive had (a few) games with him under my belt, you can tell hes a naturally smart and gifted player and with his size, and frame, and pedigree he projects really well.

NHL Central Scouting have him listed at 6-foot-4 and 209 pounds.

They ranked him 26th on their final list of North American skaters eligible for the draft.

Their report reads as follows: A big offensive D that can skate and handle the puck with composure and confidence, capable to skate it up ice and make the play.

Good agility, quickness and awareness to defeat forecheck pressure.

Strong play along the offensive blue line with the ability to create his own passing and shooting lanes.

Jumps down and makes plays in the offensive zone.

Activates and joins the attack.

Offence driving D.

Reads the play well defensively, jumps lanes for interceptions and steps up at the right times.

A leader on his club team.

Excellent combination of size, skating, and skill who can play and contribute in all situations.

With the Oil Kings, Hill said his development has been significant over the last two years.

As a rookie in the league, he registered 15 points in 63 games.

This year, he registered 10 goals and 33 points in 64 games, which led all Oil Kings defensemen.

He also went from playing 16-17 minutes per game to averaging more than 22.

Because of his July 9 birthday, hes also on the younger side of the draft, giving him more runway to continue to develop.

I think one of the biggest things over the last couple of years is how much he has continued to grow.

I think when we first met him, he was 5-foot-11 and now hes 6-foot-4, and thats been a big transition over the last couple of seasons, Hill said.

And then obviously filling out physically and the amount of weight and mass he has put on.

From an on-ice perspective, hes become so consistent.

He had a pretty good season last year as a 16-year-old being put in a lot of situations at a young age but this year I certainly found that for a guy who was playing over 20 minutes a game that his consistency was off the charts.

Advertisement Though Hill said he doesnt necessarily project him as a power-play guy in the NHL, he said he might be able to grow into that role someday and that if youre projecting Fiddler youre projecting a player that is going to be able to play in the top two pairs and be a really good partner for somebody.

Hes a very fluid skater and his puck-moving ability is extremely good too.

He plays with a little bit of physicality in his game but his feet and his IQ in moving pucks is his strength.

Theyre really good.

He will still be able to provide you with some secondary offence.

He thinks it well.

Hes got a pretty good shot in the o-zone.

He has a little bit of an offensive mindset at times too, Hill said.

Hes 6-4, hes a right-shot D man, which is extremely attractive to teams in the National Hockey League, but his ability to move the way he does at his size, I think is pretty special.

With reporting in London and Oshawa, Ont.

Top photo: Steven Ellis / Daily Faceoff.

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