The Everett Silvertips find themselves in uncharted territory.
They’re sitting out the first round of the bantam draft.
When the WHL bantam draft takes place Thursday, Everett will have to bide its time as for the first time in franchise history, the Tips head into the draft without a first-round pick.
The draft, which takes place in Calgary, Alberta, this year distributes the rights to players born in 2000 from western Canada and the western United States among the WHL’s 22 teams.
This is the 13th bantam draft Everett has participated in. In each of the previous 12 the Tips went into the draft with a first-round pick. The Tips didn’t pick in the first round in 2010, but only after trading out of the first round after the draft was underway.
But barring a late trade, Everett won’t be taking part in the first round this year. The Tips gave up this year’s first-rounder to Saskatoon last September in the trade that brought winger Nikita Scherbak to Everett. Scherbak led the Tips in scoring and helped Everett win its first U.S. Division title and first playoff series since 2007.
Without a first-rounder, Everett won’t be picking until 40th overall in the second round. Nevertheless, despite being without a first-rounder, the Tips are not approaching the draft any different than past years.
“I don’t think it makes any difference,” Everett general manager Garry Davidson said about not having a first-round pick. “We still build our draft list, rank the players, and we’ll be patient as picks go by. Last year we had a first-rounder and no second, so after our first pick we still had some time before our next pick and in the third round there were players we had ranked higher. So there’s no difference.”
There’s still the possibility the Tips could make a deal to get back into the first round, but Davidson sounded reluctant to do that.
“Not very aggressively,” Davidson responded when asked if he was trying to acquire a first-rounder. “It’s way too costly and it wouldn’t make any sense, to be honest. We’d like to have a first, but we decided to make the trade for Scherbak. To acquire a first would be too complicated and probably require giving up something we’re not prepared to give up.”
While the Tips are without their premium pick, they have plenty of quantity through the middle rounds. Because of previous trades, Everett owns two picks in both the fourth and fifth rounds, then has three in the sixth round. The Tips have their own pick in every other round other than the first.
“We like the fact that between the second and seventh rounds we have 10 picks, so it’s a good stockpile of picks,” Davidson said.
That stockpile could serve the Tips well in a draft that isn’t considered strong at the top.
“There’s certainly lots of good players out there, so in the second round we have a shot at a pretty good pick,” Davidson said. “I’m not sure there’s as many top-end kids as there’s been in the past. But still, in the second, third and fourth rounds there should still be some good players to select. I think it’s just an average group overall.”
Everett made a team-record 15 picks last season, selecting nine forwards, six defensemen and no goaltenders. The Tips also shopped heavily in the U.S., taking eight Americans. A year later it appears that the strength of that draft was in the forwards.
Davidson said the Tips are not targeting any particular position in this year’s draft.
“No, we never do that,” Davidson said. “These players are two years out and they can’t play for us next year. So we go into it and pick the best player available no matter what the position. I think it’s a mistake when you try to start picking by position instead of the best player available.”
Last year was also a record-breaking year for Snohomish County players in the bantam draft. Four county residents — Lake Stevens defenseman Wyatte Wylie (Everett), Mukilteo winger Brendan Studioso (Everett), Snohomish goaltender Dominick Vlaha (Tri-City) and Monroe forward Luke Ormsby (Seattle) — were picked. Just three county residents were selected in all the previous bantam drafts combined.
However, this year is not expected to see as many locals drafted. Edmonds forward Sam Myers is considered the likeliest local product to hear his name called.
The Spokane Chiefs own the first-overall pick in this year’s draft, having acquired the pick from Saskatoon in January of 2013 in exchange for workman winger Collin Valcourt. Defenseman Ty Smith, who was the defensive partner of Everett’s 2014 first-round pick Jantzen Leslie with the Lloydminster Heat bantam team in 2013-14, is considered the likely first-overall pick.
Check out Nick Patterson’s Silvertips blog at http://www.heraldnet.com/silvertipsblog, and follow him on Twitter at @NickHPatterson.
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