Helena defenseman Whited signs NAHL tender

The Helena Bighorns of the NA3HL are pleased to announce that defenseman Padraic Whited has signed an NAHL tender agreement with the Maine Nordiques of the NAHL’s East Division.

Whited, 17, just completed his first season in the NA3HL and first in junior hockey. The hometown Helena native played in 37 regular season games for the Bighorns, scoring twice and dishing 13 assists for 15 points. He also had an assist in 6 games in Helena’s run in the Fraser Cup Playoffs. 

Both goals coming from the 5’11/170 lbs. defenseman turned into game winning goals, his first in the league coming against the Butte Cobras on November 26th. He found his 2nd of the season in a 5-0 victory on January 28th against the Great Falls Americans.

Prior to playing in the NA3HL, Whited was a member of the NAPHL in the 16U division for the Des Moines Buccaneers. There, Whited tallied 19 points (6 goals, 13 assists) in the regular season and had four points in the 2022 Dixon Cup Playoffs. 

Click here to see a list of NA3HL tenders for the 2022-23 season

A tender is a contract, of sorts, a player signs announcing his intentions to play for that particular NAHL team and that NAHL team only. Once a player signs a tender with an NAHL team, his playing rights belong to that team within the NAHL and he may not be recruited by any other NAHL team. Each team is granted ten (10) tenders, which include two (2) tenders exclusively used on players from the NA3HL - plus or minus any trades - which became active on November 1st. Tendered players are not eligible for the 2023 NAHL Draft.