Published: Thursday, April 29, 2010
Will Silvertips make a deal on draft day?
Team short on picks in today’s WHL bantam draft
For the Everett Silvertips, the theme of this year’s Western Hockey League bantam draft is quality over quantity.
However, the Tips aren’t averse to the idea of altering that equation.
Everett enters today’s draft with a dearth of picks, owning just five selections in the draft’s first eight rounds. But Tips general manager Doug Soetaert expressed a willingness to wheel and deal to alleviate that shortage.
“We have two picks in the first two rounds and there’s the possibility of picking up another pick later on,” Soetaert said. “I’m not opposed to moving back and picking up a pick later on.”
Past trades left the Tips short on picks in this year’s draft, which will distribute the top 1995-born players from western Canada and the western United States among the WHL’s 22 teams. The good news for Everett is it still holds its first-round pick (18th overall) and its second rounder (40th overall). The Tips also have a pair of seventh rounders. The bad news is Everett doesn’t own a pick in the third, fourth, sixth or eighth rounds.
Therefore, if things remain the same, Everett will have to watch 65 players come off the board between its second and third picks in the draft. In comparison, the Kootenay Ice picks eight times before the Tips’ third selection.
Will things change once the draft begins? Soetaert said he is willing to trade down from the 18th overall to pick up an additional selection.
One of the reasons why Soetaert is open to trading down is because he believes this year’s draft has good depth and a lot of players roughly equal in ability.
“This year is all over the board,” said Soetaert, who has had informal talks with some teams about trade possibilities. “If you took the lists of all 22 teams, the top 25 would be all over the place. I think a good player is going to be sitting there wherever we pick.
“We’re willing to sit tight and see where it goes,” Soetaert added. “If it makes sense, we’ll (make a trade). If it makes sense we’ll use our pick at 18. We’ll see how everything shakes out on draft day.”
The 18th pick overall, which came as a result of finishing tied for first in the Western Conference with 97 points, is the latest first-round pick Everett’s had since 2007. But the late positioning doesn’t bother Soetaert. In 2007, the Tips selected goaltender Kent Simpson with the 22nd and final pick of the first round, and that one turned out just fine. Simpson finished second in the league in goals against average this season and is set to take over full-time starting duties next season as an 18-year-old.
And if the Tips don’t pick up any additional picks, they’re confident they can still unearth some gems later in the draft.
“We’ve been very successful drafting players in the late rounds, and we’ve done a good job picking up players who weren’t drafted,” Soetaert said. “There are guys who won’t be drafted who will turn out to be good players. We’d like to have more picks, but there’s no guarantee third and fourth rounders are going to play on the team. So we’ll deal with it.”
Saskatchewan-based center Alex Forsberg is expected to be selected first overall by the Prince George Cougars. Forsberg, who excelled while playing up a level in midget hockey this season, is generally considered the top player in the draft class. Prince George has a history of having difficulty getting top players to commit, but Forsberg’s older brother Jesse is a defenseman for the Cougars.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
However, the Tips aren’t averse to the idea of altering that equation.
Everett enters today’s draft with a dearth of picks, owning just five selections in the draft’s first eight rounds. But Tips general manager Doug Soetaert expressed a willingness to wheel and deal to alleviate that shortage.
“We have two picks in the first two rounds and there’s the possibility of picking up another pick later on,” Soetaert said. “I’m not opposed to moving back and picking up a pick later on.”
Past trades left the Tips short on picks in this year’s draft, which will distribute the top 1995-born players from western Canada and the western United States among the WHL’s 22 teams. The good news for Everett is it still holds its first-round pick (18th overall) and its second rounder (40th overall). The Tips also have a pair of seventh rounders. The bad news is Everett doesn’t own a pick in the third, fourth, sixth or eighth rounds.
Therefore, if things remain the same, Everett will have to watch 65 players come off the board between its second and third picks in the draft. In comparison, the Kootenay Ice picks eight times before the Tips’ third selection.
Will things change once the draft begins? Soetaert said he is willing to trade down from the 18th overall to pick up an additional selection.
One of the reasons why Soetaert is open to trading down is because he believes this year’s draft has good depth and a lot of players roughly equal in ability.
“This year is all over the board,” said Soetaert, who has had informal talks with some teams about trade possibilities. “If you took the lists of all 22 teams, the top 25 would be all over the place. I think a good player is going to be sitting there wherever we pick.
“We’re willing to sit tight and see where it goes,” Soetaert added. “If it makes sense, we’ll (make a trade). If it makes sense we’ll use our pick at 18. We’ll see how everything shakes out on draft day.”
The 18th pick overall, which came as a result of finishing tied for first in the Western Conference with 97 points, is the latest first-round pick Everett’s had since 2007. But the late positioning doesn’t bother Soetaert. In 2007, the Tips selected goaltender Kent Simpson with the 22nd and final pick of the first round, and that one turned out just fine. Simpson finished second in the league in goals against average this season and is set to take over full-time starting duties next season as an 18-year-old.
And if the Tips don’t pick up any additional picks, they’re confident they can still unearth some gems later in the draft.
“We’ve been very successful drafting players in the late rounds, and we’ve done a good job picking up players who weren’t drafted,” Soetaert said. “There are guys who won’t be drafted who will turn out to be good players. We’d like to have more picks, but there’s no guarantee third and fourth rounders are going to play on the team. So we’ll deal with it.”
Saskatchewan-based center Alex Forsberg is expected to be selected first overall by the Prince George Cougars. Forsberg, who excelled while playing up a level in midget hockey this season, is generally considered the top player in the draft class. Prince George has a history of having difficulty getting top players to commit, but Forsberg’s older brother Jesse is a defenseman for the Cougars.
Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog: http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog
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