Oilers prospect 1 of 4 players “suspended indefinitely” in surprise announcement.

An Edmonton Oilers prospect appears to have landed himself in a heap of trouble, but the details are still fuzzy at this time.

On Saturday night, the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League made a surprise announcement when they revealed that 4 members of their organization had been suspended indefinitely effective immediately. The players in question are 16 year old defenseman Marek Howell, 16 year old center Lyden Lakovic, 21 year old goaltender Conor Ungar, and Oilers prospect Maximus Wanner, a 19 year old defenseman.

Global Saskatoon's Scott Roblin appears to have been the first to break the news although many have now reported receiving an email directly from the Moose Jaw Warriors regarding the official announcement of the suspensions.

Update: The WHL has now released a statement via their official website:

The Western Hockey League announced today that four Moose Jaw Warriors players – Connor Ungar, Max Wanner, Lynden Lakovic, and Marek Howell – have been suspended indefinitely pending an investigation into possible violations of team rules and the WHL Standard of Conduct policies.

As you can see from the official announcement the details of this suspension are being left very vague and this may be due to the fact that some of the players involved are currently minors. There has of course been rampant speculation regarding the motivation for such a significant and harsh suspension of multiple players all at once, but that is all purely speculation at this time.

Wanner is a former 7th round draft pick (212th overall) of the Oilers and was selected at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. Although we don't have the full details of this suspension, it's hard to see an outcome where this won't have a significant impact on his chances of making it to the National Hockey League.