North Stars sign goaltender Nathan Claydon for 2026/27 season

In his lone playoff appearance, Claydon recorded a .933 save percentage and a 3.00 goals-against average.

North Stars head coach and general manager Connor Logan said after reviewing multiple candidates with goaltending coach and former North Stars netminder Taryn Kotchorek, they knew Claydon was the goalie they wanted between the pipes at the Access Communications Centre.

“I had Taryn watch hours and hours of videos. He has a really good eye for goaltenders. He had a bunch of names in front of him, and Claydon was the guy that came out of the pile the first time,” said Logan.

“(Taryn) had a lot of high praise for him. I obviously watched him and liked what I saw. Very structured goalie, can make big saves when he’s needed to.”

When looking at potential goaltending candidates, Logan said he makes sure he is thorough so he knows who he may be bringing into the locker room.

“I’m the kind of coach that asks 100 questions. What does he like at practice? What does he like in the locker room? How does he respond to criticism? How does he respond to different adversities,” he said.

“It sounded like he had a high compete, puts good positive pressure on himself to perform. For us, really ticked a lot of the boxes that we were looking for.”

Asked about his compete level, Claydon said effort is one of the few things a player can control in a game.

“There’s some bounces that obviously won’t go your way in situations, but as long as you’re giving your all and your 110% and everything you can, that’s all you can control.”

Claydon said he knows some people who have previously played for the North Stars, and he has only heard good things about the organization.

“I just hear it’s a good culture, good locker room, good high-intensity practices, and just a compete culture that seems really good,” he said.

“It’s just an all-around good place to be.”

Having played in the SJHL before, Claydon knows the type of playing style to expect.

“From what I remember back in my rookie year, a super competitive league. Super gritty and hard. Every game was a hard game. There are no easy nights. It was a very physical league compared to others I’ve seen.”

While he has seen SJHL action before, Claydon believes his experience in other premier western Canadian junior leagues will help him moving forward.

“I’ve been on a lot of teams and learned a lot of stuff from different coaches, teammates, and just people around the team. So, I just try and take all the good things and the wealth of information I’ve got from that and just try and bring it to Battlefords.”

When asked about his goaltending style, Claydon said he likes to keep opposing players on their toes.

“Just high compete, aggressive at times. Not afraid to get out of the comfort zone, not just be a conventional goalie, change it up a bit, give players different looks and just change up the game so it’s hard to read.”

Claydon will suit up for his third SJHL club when the North Stars open the 2025-26 season in September.

—

Ryan.Lambert@pattisonmedia.com

by Ryan Lambert

North Stars sign goaltender Nathan Claydon for 2026/27 season

What's Trending