Brandon will pick 3rd, 4th, 22nd

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This article was published 02/06/2021 (1799 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A bounty awaits the Brandon Wheat Kings.

The Western Hockey League club will pick third, fourth and 22nd when the annual draft is held on Dec. 9. It was pushed back six months from its usual May schedule because scouts didn’t get much of a look at players before seasons were cancelled across Western Canada due to COVID-19.

Wheat Kings general manager Doug Gasper said he’s fine with how things worked out with the lottery, which the league held on Wednesday morning.

“It’s the glass-half-full, glass-half-empty theory but any time you can get two picks in the top five, you’re extremely happy,” Gasper said. “I think of the other 21 Western Hockey League teams, I’m fairly certain any one of them would trade places with us. We have to keep it in perspective. We would always like one or two but three, four and 22 is a very good day for us.”

The first overall pick went to the Spokane Chiefs. Forward Berkley Catton of Saskatoon is widely projected to be the top prospect in what’s thought to be a good draft.

The challenge that lies ahead is sorting out who to take.

Normally Brandon would have a list ranking the top eligible players, but with scouts restricted to their own provinces and unable to see games elsewhere to compare, that didn’t happen. Players also played varying amounts based on the different provincial regulations.

Some summer showcases are planned for the 2006-born class, which should be big draws for WHL scouts, but the work will begin in earnest when seasons launch in the fall.

That could lead to unprecedented movement in the rough rankings.

“Where you start next year and where you end up on Dec. 9, your list could change,” Gasper said. “This could be a year where your list changes considerably more in that short time period than any other year. We may only have one or two viewings on certain players just based on where they lived and where they played from last year, and now we’re taking instead of a full year’s work, we’re condensing it down to three or four months.”

Gasper said scouts will certainly earn their money this year. He noted that the challenge won’t be in getting good players at the top of the draft — it isn’t hard to pinpoint the elite talents — but instead it might be more difficult to find the best guys in the later rounds.

“Knowing the top 25 players and sorting them out, I wouldn’t want to say it’s the easy part but that’s what we do on a normal basis,” he said. “My fear is the middle to late rounds where we steal a guy. We have to make sure we get enough viewings on those guys. I worry not so much of making a mess of the first-round picks as the third-, fourth-, fifth-round picks where we would normally get real solid players.”

He noted every team faces the same challenges.

At least there is a lot of good talent out there. Gasper said there are high-end players available at every position so teams will be able to draft based on need rather than the best player available if they choose.

“To me, the first round and a half to two rounds will be good rounds and everyone will be happy,” Gasper said. “After that I think it drops off a little bit. It’s not as deep as some in the past but again, take that with a little bit of a grain of salt because of the limited times (scouts saw them), and some kids didn’t show as well because they were on and off the ice.”

Brandon can thank a pair of trades on Jan. 10, 2018 for Wednesday’s haul because it obtained extra first-round picks in both 2019 and 2021 from the Victoria Royals and Moose Jaw Warriors.

The Tanner Kaspick deal also landed Ty Thorpe and Jonny Lambos from Victoria, while the Kale Clague transaction landed a second-round pick in 2018 from Moose Jaw — used to select top prospect Brett Hyland — and two players, forward Luka Burzan and defenceman Chase Hartje.

Hartje was subsequently dealt to the Kootenay Ice on Jan. 10, 2019 for a third-round pick in 2019 that was used to take prospect Owen Harris of Wawanesa.

Brandon earned the third pick when Victoria’s ball came up in the lottery, moments after Moose Jaw’s ball dropped out of the bingo roller for the fourth selection.

At the 2019 draft, Brandon dealt the rights to Sean Comrie and the 10th overall pick, which originally belonged to Victoria to the Kelowna Rockets for the fifth overall pick. They promptly grabbed highly touted Nate Danielson.

Tyson Zimmer was taken one pick later and Roersma 16th with Moose Jaw’s pick as the team grabbed the three young forwards expected to eventually lead the franchise.

The three picks in December should make Brandon an attractive target for trade offers. Gasper is certainly willing to talk to other general managers.

“I don’t think I would be doing my job thoroughly and with due diligence if we don’t listen to everything,” Gasper said. “It doesn’t mean we are going to do anything, it doesn’t mean we aren’t going to do anything but to do due diligence in the process, you always listen and then make decisions based on what is best for the club.”

It’s the third time since the draft started in 1990 that Brandon will make three selections in the first round.

Aside from 2019, it also happened in 1992 when Brandon grabbed defencemen Wade Redden second, Justin Kurtz sixth and forward Joel Korenko seventh. Redden and Kurtz were a pair of the defensive cornerstones as the team won the league championship in 1996.

Besides Redden, Brandon has picked in the top four just six times, selecting Stelio Mattheos (first, 2014), Nolan Patrick (fourth, 2013), Darren Van Oene (second, 1993), Redden (second, 1992), Colin Cloutier (second, 1991) and Bobby Brown (fourth, 1990).

Gasper recognizes the opportunity.

“This is a chance right now where we stand to really add and cement our future and our progress as an organization for a lot of years to come,” Gasper said.

ICINGS: The WHL will announce the results of the U.S. priority draft lottery today at 10 a.m. Each team will have an equal chance of getting the top pick, with the draft order flipped for the second round.

 

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