Graduation: Carter MacAdams

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WHL Tri-City Americans

Graduation: Carter MacAdams

April 22, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Tri-City Americans News Release


Carter MacAdams always loved hockey as a child, but there came a time when he had to choose.

Juggling both hockey and baseball as a kid, he was faced with a dilemma on what sport he was going to focus on moving forward.

I was about five-years-old when I started playing hockey, and I was playing hockey and baseball back then, he said. Once spring hockey started to ramp up, it was a tough decision on whether to keep doing baseball or not. But I just loved the game of hockey, so I went all in on it.

He says when he was around nine years old, he started playing spring hockey, which consisted of multiple tournaments comprised of teams from around British Columbia and Alberta.

Those tournaments featured countless players who would go on to the WHL just like MacAdams.

Born in St. Albert, Alberta, MacAdams moved to the Lower Mainland at a young age and said his love for hockey was magnified by going to Vancouver Giants games.

They play out of Langley now, but back then going down to the Pacific Coliseum and watching them play, that really became the league I wanted to play in.

MacAdams said Ty Ronning was a player he watched closely during those games. Ronning is second all-time in Giants history for career goals at 127, behind only Montreal Canadiens forward Brendan Gallagher (136).

Playing in spring hockey tournaments over the years further fueled MacAdams's desire to play in the WHL, and when he reached the U15 level he made the jump to the Canadian Sport School Hockey League at Delta Hockey Academy.

Despite living just 15 minutes away from Delta, it was a tougher transition than he was expecting.

It was hard at the start, he admitted. You have to ride the bus, and you start doing all the travelling. That's when you start doing trips without parents, but I think it was a big part of growing up. You become a young man at that age because you're learning what it's like be on your own and take care of yourself when you're on the road.

In 30 games in the 2017-18 season MacAdams posted 12 points (7-5-12) with Delta's U15 White team.

His WHL Draft year was the following season, and MacAdams made it count by nearly quadrupling his production with 43 points (24-19-43) in 29 games with Delta's U15 Green Prep team.

He credits his teammates for his success.

We had a very strong team, and I was playing with some really good players, he said. I think we all made each other better. We played really well together and helped each other along the way.

Fourteen players on that 2018-19 Delta U15 Prep Green team went on to be drafted in the 2019 WHL Prospects Draft, including Lukas Dragicevic who was drafted by the Americans the following year.

MacAdams was taken with the 70th overall pick by the Prince George Cougars, but didn't find out about it until a little while later.

We were doing one last spring tournament in Philadelphia that year, he said. A bunch of guys from my team were on a plane together and we were all watching in the airport. Kyle Chyzowski, one of my good friends, was taken by Portland and then our plane took off and we lost service. It was kind of nerve wracking for me, but as soon as the plane landed the texts started rolling in and it was a really cool day.

Living in B.C., MacAdams was thrilled at the thought of playing for a team in the B.C. Division.

Right away I thought if I end up going there, I'd be playing in Vancouver a lot, he said. That was really cool for my family to see those games. Playing in Victoria, Kamloops, those kinds of trips are very doable.

He says he recalls going up to Prince George for his first training camp and sitting on the bench next to players who had beards as an eye-opening experience.

MacAdams played the following season back at Delta but had surgery on his shoulder in January and missed the remainder of the year.

As the pandemic brought hockey to a standstill a few months later, he says it was a small silver lining that his recovery from surgery lined up with it.

As the calendar turned to 2021, the WHL was preparing for a shortened season with each Division having a different plan. The B.C. Division converged on Kamloops, where all games were held at the Sandman Centre, home of the Kamloops Blazers.

MacAdams wasn't signed by the Cougars at the time, and they hadn't seen him play a lot due to his injury. Skating with a few other players at Delta in the weeks leading up to the season, MacAdams's coach, Milan Dragicevic, asked him if he felt he was ready to make the jump to the WHL.

They called him and then he talked to me a few days later, asking if I felt like I could do it, he said. I signed with the contract with Prince George shortly after that and went to meet them in Kamloops.

MacAdams played in 14 of the Cougars 22 games during that shortened season, scoring once and adding two assists.

No fans were allowed in the building during those games in Kamloops, making his first WHL experience an interesting one.

It was weird living in a hotel a few months with guys you didn't really know, he admitted. It was a big jump, but it was nice to go in and start with a short season to see what it was all about before my first full season.

He said he was roommates with Ethan Samson during that time in Kamloops and credits Samson with helping him adjust to the WHL. Samson just wrapped up his second season with the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Now more prepared for the WHL, MacAdams was finally able to return to Prince George for the beginning of the 2021-22 season.

Being able to have a normal WHL experience was something he had been looking forward to for years.

It was everything you had looked forward to and dreamed of, he said. Getting the full WHL experience that year was really cool, getting to play back home in Vancouver, travelling to the U.S. and playing against the teams down there. It was a lot better of a year.

There's no question the Cougars are the most remote team in the WHL, with their nearest opponent being 327 miles away in Kamloops.

That makes for long travel days, but MacAdams says those trips are something you miss once they're gone.

We had actually gotten a new bus the year before, so we had a really nice one to travel on, he said. People talk about how tough it can be, but when you've got a group that you're close with, they kind of flew by. You're either sleeping or chopping it up with the boys, so you kind of miss them after you leave.

In his first full season MacAdams picked up 24 points (11-13-24) while skating in 67 games, helping Prince George reach the playoffs.

The following year MacAdams got off to a strong start with 21 points (6-15-21) through the team's first 36 games, before being told he was traded to the Calgary Hitmen.

He says the trade wasn't totally unexpected.

I kind of saw it coming a bit, he admitted. Just knowing what teams need in certain situations. They got an older guy for me and that worked out well for them. I liked it in Calgary a lot. I was still just 18 at the time and certain things happen over your career that you just have to deal with and find the positives.

The Cougars traded MacAdams to Calgary, along with a 2023 2nd and 2nd and 4th round picks in 2024, in exchange for forward Zac Funk.

Funk went on to score 67 goals for the Cougars during the 2023-24 season, a franchise record, and signed an entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals.

MacAdams says the WHL experience in Calgary is completely different than what he had in Prince George.

You're in a bigger town where you're not the main attraction because they have so many other teams there, he said. It was really cool to get both sides of the WHL experience. I met a lot of great people there.

MacAdams played 36 games with the Hitmen over the end of 2022-23 and the beginning of 2023-24 before he was on the move again, this time to the Tri-City Americans.

Once again it was something he anticipated, he just wasn't sure where he was going to end up.

That one I saw coming for sure, he said. They made a lot of moves that year with guys my age, going with a younger group. I wasn't sure where I was going to go, but Tri-City worked out so well for me. I knew so many of those guys down there already.

Once again, the day-to-day experience was very different compared to what MacAdams had seen in Prince George and Calgary, but different for all the right reasons.

Just playing in the U.S. is completely different, he stated. You think about the crowds during the games down there, you don't see that in many of the Canadian markets. It seemed like the sun was always shining in Tri-City, the guys could go out golfing all the time. I think the lifestyle down there was just terrific. I came into a very tight knit group, and they welcomed me right in. I was so happy to be a part of that.

On the ice, MacAdams fit in well with the Americans by scoring 26 points (10-16-26) over the 46 games he played in during the 2023-24 season.

The Americans stumbled out of the gate to start the 2024-25 season, dropping four of their first five games, but then went on their 12-game winning streak that captivated the Canadian Hockey League.

From October 12 to November 29 the Americans won 17 out of their 19 games, with MacAdams being a focal point of that run.

We just got into a flow state I think, he said. All the forwards were contributing, the defense was playing so well, we were blocking shots, special teams were clicking. I think there are times throughout a season where everything is just going perfect, and that's what it felt like for us. We were never out of a game, no matter how much we were trailing. It was pretty cool to be part of that run.

The Americans outscored their opponents 93-66 over that run, and in 10 of those 17 wins they came from behind at some point during the game to win.

MacAdams played a huge role in that run thanks to his 24 points (9-15-24) in those 19 games, but so too did his linemates Brandon Whynott (11-17-28) and Gavin Garland (12-14-26).

He said the chemistry just seemed to be there instantaneously.

It was pretty crazy because Whynott and I had played together so many times over the years, but we never played on the same line with both of us being left wingers, he said. Garland was new, and we got thrown together for a game and it just clicked. It felt like we just knew where each other was going to be at all times and we played with so much confidence.

Americans fans know full well that the 2024-25 season was full of ups and downs, something that is to be expected over a long season.

It's tough, it's a 68-game season, MacAdams said. You're not getting a ton of breaks. We had that really hot streak but it's just hard to keep that up for the whole season. I was proud of how we came back. We had a really tough stretch, but we stuck with it and made sure we held that playoff spot for the rest of the season.

Tri-City matched up against a strong Victoria Royals squad in the first round of the 2025 WHL Playoffs, and after a strong showing in a game three loss, forced a game five with a 6-4 win in game four.

But the season came to an end with a disappointing 7-0 defeat in game five.

I think you have to give them a lot of credit, MacAdams said. They were blocking shots and playing such a strong game against us. It's tough when you go down three games like that. I was proud of how we gave them a run in a couple of those games, and I think it was closer than the numbers showed.

After the handshakes were finished the Americans players saluted their fans for the final time.

It was a moment of reflection five years in the making for MacAdams.

It was emotional for sure, he said. Having a group that was as close as we were, knowing that you're not going to see a lot of those guys again for a long time. Seeing the fans stick around to the end even though it was a disappointing game was really awesome. That really outlined what my experience was like there, and what Tri-City is all about.

MacAdams says the friendships he made over his five years in the WHL are what will stand out to him the most when he looks back on his career.

Despite only being a Tri-City American for a year and a half, he says his time with the organization is something he's forever grateful for.

The guys, the coaches, the fans, just the people down there are so awesome, he said. It felt like I had played there for four years with the way I was close with all the billets and the boys on the team.

He finished by singing the praises to the fans who make Tri-City Americans hockey possible.

I just want to thank them for making my time down there so special, he said. Thank you for all the memories you've given me. I just ask that they keep cheering the boys on. I have a lot of confidence that they're going to keep doing great things.

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