ECHL: Fort Wayne Signs Jake Willets and Max Patterson, Two Goaltenders Invited To Camp

The Fort Wayne Komets have announced that they’ve signed defenseman Jake Willets and forward Max Patterson to ECHL contracts for the 2025-26 season. Fort Wayne has also invited two goaltenders to training camp. The Komets now have 24 players on their preseason roster.

Komets Sign Max Paterson and Jake Willets

Jake Willets

Jake Willets, 26, began last season with the Maine Mariners, where he put up a goal and two assists for three points in 16 games before heading overseas to Romania. In 23 games with CSM Corona Brasov, he put up four goals and seven assists for 13 points.

The Erie, Michigan, native is entering his fourth season in the ECHL, and the Komets will be his fourth ECHL team. Willets began his career with the Toledo Walleye, where he would put up four goals and nine assists for 13 points in 49 games before being traded to the Atlanta Gladiators in March 2024. In 12 games with Atlanta, he would put up three assists.

Max Patterson

Patterson, 25, spent six games with the Komets at the end of last season after playing four years at the University of Calgary. During his time with the Dinos, he put up 27 goals and 44 assists for 71 points in 91 games. He would add five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 19 USports Playoff games. The Dinos would capture the USports (West) Championship in 2023.

Prior to playing in USports, the Kamloops, British Columbia, native spent parts of five seasons in the WHL with four different teams. He would put up 46 goals and 70 assists for 116 points in 320 games. Patterson would add seven goals and eight assists for 15 points in 36 WHL Playoff games. In 2018, he would put up nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points in 72 games. He would add five goals and two assists for seven points in 26 WHL playoff games as the Silvertips won the WHL Championship.

Goaltenders Invited To Camp

Dylan Ernst

Ernst, 21, has spent the last six seasons in the WHL with the Kamloops Blazers, where he went 85-61-7 with a 3.17 GAA, .897 SV%, and six shutouts in 165 games with the Blazers. He would also have four assists during his WHL career. The Weyburn, Saskatchewan, native would put up a 10-3-1 record with a 2.57 GAA, .913SV%, and three shutouts in 14 games during the 2023 WHL Playoffs. He would also add two assists.

Henry Graham

Graham, 25, began his junior career in the NAHL, where he played in just five games with the Springfield Junior Blues. In those five games, he would put up a 1-3 record with a 3.11 GAA and .882SV%. The New York City native would finish his junior career in the NCDC with the P.A.L. Junior Islanders. During his time with the Islanders, he would play in 22 games while posting an 11-6-2 record with a 2.85 GAA, .924SV%, and three shutouts. Once his junior career was over, he would head to the NCAA. In just three years of NCAA experience, he put up a 1-4-1 record with a 2.54 GAA and .910SV% while playing with UMass, Boston University, and, most recently, Lindenwood University.