First Light - An Exclusive Q&A with Riley Heidt

ST. PAUL, Minn. –

‘On the Horizon: First Light’ is a summer Q&A series with select Minnesota Wild prospects.

Riley Heidt became a prospect in the Minnesota Wild Development System at the 2023 NHL Draft in Nashville. He was selected in the 2^nd round at 64^th overall. The forward from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan spent the better part of the past 4 seasons with the Prince George Cougars of the WHL. He signed an Entry Level Contract with Minnesota back in March. Wild.com caught up with Heidt in Development Camp this summer in St. Paul:

Wild.com: How’s your summer going so far?

Heidt: “Yeah, it's going really well. I've been super busy, as usual. As the summer goes, it flies by for sure and I’m just trying to enjoy it with my family and friends. I've been working out and doing all the fun stuff that hockey players do. I’ve been golfing a little bit and trying to get a couple of fishing trips in with my dad and brother.”

Wild.com: How have things changed for you since being drafted by Minnesota?

Heidt: “I think I've grown a lot as a person and matured a ton. I feel great and so honored to be with this organization. I like it more and more every time I come here. I’m just super grateful and trying to take in as much as I can and keep improving.

Wild.com: “37 goals and 80 assists for a total of 117 points last season with Prince Georges. Plus a couple more points in the postseason. How did you find offensive success last year?

Heidt: “Yeah, I think it honestly just came from rounding up my whole game. I thought I made huge improvement on becoming an all-around player and being counted on any situation. I became a lot better and more aware defensively and that helped my offense. I was playing with good players and had a great staff around us to help us out as players to get to that point. The biggest thing, I just tried to focus on little things and try to improve every single day. It can be tough during the season when you're playing a lot, but yeah, I just tried to get better at the little things.”

Wild.com: On top of that, you became Prince George’s franchise leader in points. What does it mean to hold that title?

Heidt: “Yeah, I’m super honored for that. There's been a lot of really good names through there. (Prince George) has welcomed me in from Day 1. I've loved every moment playing there. And yeah, like I said, it's my work ethic. I'm just trying to improve every day and really take advice from people around me. I have a ton of good resources and it's benefiting me.”

Wild.com: How did you celebrate that accomplishment with Prince Georges?

Heidt: “Yeah, so my media guy (from Prince George) Cole Waldie sent me a text that said, ‘Come in, we’ve got to get you to do something tonight.’ I went in at five o'clock at night and thought I was doing some typical signing jerseys or whatever it was. I walked into the locker room and it was pitch black. There was a chair sitting there in front of the tv, so then I kind of knew it was about. (They played) this video from my family and close friends congratulating me on the accomplishment. It meant a lot. It hit me pretty hard because I wasn't expecting it at all. To see the people (who have been) my number one support system--I wouldn't be here today without 'em--it was pretty emotional for me.”

Wild.com: You signed a 2-year entry level deal with Minnesota at the end of last season. How does that help your confidence moving forward?

Heidt: “It's just a starting point, obviously for me, and I have a much higher goal to reach than that, I believe. And it's good though, a lot of hard work that has paid off. You’ve got to start somewhere and that's the first step to doing it. So yeah, super proud of that and for the people around me who believe in me and put me in the right spot to succeed. At the end of the day, I want to play in the NHL and I want to be here.”

Wild.com: How hungry are you for training camp and to get things going for the season?

Heidt: “It seems like the summer has flown by, but that’s good for me, honestly. I think I am in a comfortable spot when I'm playing hockey. I love it so much. So I think just super hungry every day to try to get better. I work on little things that I'm trying to improve on and being more aware of the things that I have to work on and I think that's going to benefit me the most to be ready to get the season started.

Heidt will be in Minnesota this week preparing with other Minnesota Wild prospects for next weekend’s Tom Kurvers Prospect Showcase, which is in St. Louis this year. After that, it’s a short break in Minnesota before Training Camp gets underway next week.