East Wenatchee, Washington native Cade Littler is settling in with his new college hockey team.
The 22-year-old Littler was drafted in 2022 by the NHL’s Calgary Flames. He wants to play out his final two years of college hockey and see what his options are after that. Littler said that after he was drafted by the Flames in 2022, he went to three straight development camps.
After two seasons at the University of North Dakota, Littler entered the transfer portal and ended up in Tempe, Arizona, with the Sun Devils.
The 6-foot-4, 205-pound forward previously played in the Junior-A British Columbia Hockey League with the Wenatchee Wild and Penticton Vees. Both of those teams have since moved up to the major junior Western Hockey League. He also spent time with the Junior-A Cedar Rapids RoughRiders of the Junior-A United States Hockey League.
“I think those were big years to help develop much of my body to be able to come into college and try to be an everyday player,” Littler said of his time playing junior hockey.
He wanted to develop his body in his junior career so he could be more physical in college and have it not be a big change. Littler also noted that he worked on his skating a lot during his junior career so he wouldn’t be behind when he got to college.
Littler explained that he’s a big power forward and two-way center who plays below the dots, loves to go to the net, and loves to win.
Looking back on his days in Wenatchee, he said the best memory was probably scoring a hat trick for his hometown team. In his days with Penticton, he said his best memory was probably a comeback in the playoffs against Salmon Arm.
In the last two years at North Dakota, Littler had 12 goals and 10 assists.
During his time as a Fighting Hawk, Littler said he kind of bought into a role and is hoping to grow that with more minutes during his time with Arizona State.
As far as transferring to Arizona State, it came down to a coaching change and looking at the room around him. He decided the best thing for him was to change schools and that the setup and structure in Arizona was the best option.
He said ASU knowing what it takes to be a contender was a big part of his decision as well. Littler noted how the Sun Devils played fast and were offensive. He said when the Fighting Hawks went to Tempe to play the Sun Devils, he said he noticed how the atmosphere was always unreal.
“I wanted to go to a team that could win,” Littler said. “I don’t think it’s just about playing time, I think it’s I want to go win too.”
He said the team has a really good roster on paper and now it’s about bringing it together.
“I hope to be one of the guys that you can lean on and place more minutes than I did,” Littler explained.
He said the energy at the rink has been great with the other guys and that they’re looking forward to starting the year.
Littler said he spent most of the summer in Arizona working out so he was familiar with everything.
Going into Sunday’s game against Denver, Littler has a goal and three assists for four points. The Sun Devils sit sixth in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) with a 5-4 overall record and 1-2 in NCHC play.
