Exit Interviews 2024-25: #38 Wyatte Wylie

With the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs well underway and the Belleville Senators wading into the offseason, David Foot sat down with the players to reflect on a year filled with challenges, growth, and standout moments. In this exclusive series of year-in-review interviews, players open up about their personal journeys, team milestones, and what it meant to represent Belleville and the Bay of Quinte this season. From locker room highlights to on-ice battles, these conversations offer a behind-the-scenes look at the season that was — and a glimpse at what’s ahead.

Today, we check in with defender Wyatte Wylie, who brought a veteran presence to the blueline in his first season with the Senators.

DF: It was your first year in Belleville, and we talked back in training camp about making the move here, from Ontario, California and Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, before that. How was your first season as a Senator?

WW: It was great, I loved my time here. I had a really fun year. It was honestly one of the closest teams I’ve been on, we were really close off the ice and its unfortunate we weren’t able to make it to where we wanted to go.

DF: It was an exciting stretch run to say the least, and you just missed out on the Calder Cup Playoffs, but what was it like to play those meaningful games and battle with this group, to try and qualify in a really tough division?

WW: If you look at our points, in any other division, we’re up there and in the mix. So, it’s not like it was a bad year, but that’s what makes it even worse because I think we could have made some noise.

DF: Is that frustrating, to play well and find results, but still not be able to get over that threshold?

WW: Yeah. It just comes down to those smaller games throughout the year that you may not think matter. Earlier in the year, those one or two points you missed out on would come up big in these late games.

DF: You equalled your point total with Ontario last year with 13. Were you happy with the offensive side of your game this year?

WW: Yeah. Offence comes when you’re playing the game right, and I felt like this year, my defensive game took a big step. That’s what I came here for, to lock down the third pairing and move up the lineup here and there. But I just came to play good “D” and shut down as much as I could.

DF: And you’ve got to move up the depth chart with a couple of young guys coming in behind you. We chatted with Djibril Toure and Jorian Donovan about what they were able to learn from guys like you. What kind of things were you able to pass along to those first-year guys, and how do you think they handled themselves in their first AHL seasons?

WW: Those guys were great. They got whisked into some bigger roles here and there, and I thought they handled themselves well. The main thing I was telling them is that there’s going to be bad moments and bad shifts, but you can’t let that affect the rest of the game. I thought they played great, and I’m excited to see what they can do.

DF: What’s the summer look like for you?

WW: I’m heading back to Seattle with my wife to just hang out, get some good relaxation time in, see my parents and my brother, and all my friends. We’ll see where it takes us.

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