Bantam draft week is upon us as the annual event that disperses the rights of players from Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Western United States to Western Hockey League teams begins Thursday at 7:30 a.m. in Calgary.
From what I’ve been able to gather it sounds like the draft is very strong at the top.
Tyler Neisz, who is the head scout in Western Canada for Western Elite Hockey Prospects said via email that “…the first 10-12 picks (are) all players being (considered as) cornerstone type assets to teams. Even up in to the 3rd round a very good player can be had this year. Overall the draft has a good mix of everything, which makes it a great draft. You have puck-moving defenseman, big and tough defenseman, high-end forwards and it is a great year for goaltenders.”
Neisz also said it looks like the top three picks will come out of Alberta. The website www.westernelitehockeyprospects.com has Peyton Krebs of the AMBHL’s Rocky Mountain Rough Raiders ranked No. 1, although Neisz speculates the Kootenay Ice could take Cranbrook native Bowen Byram who put up 22 goals and 37 assists in 34 games as a defenseman for the Lethbridge Golden Hawks. Krebs, a forward, led the AMBHL in scoring with 46 goals and 56 assists. The likely third Alberta pick is Kirby Dach, who played at the midget AAA level with Fort Saskatchewan after scoring more than 100 points as an AMBHL rookie.
Those three figure to be long gone, however, by the time the Silvertips make their first pick at No. 14. These players are at least two years away from being eligible to play for Everett full-time, so the organization drafts on what it deems the best player available rather than any perceived need.
According to my count (not necessarily accurate) the Tips have two picks in the fifth and seventh rounds, and none in the second or the sixth. The extra fifth-rounder was conditional based on Andrew Fyten signing with the Calgary Hitmen (he did) and playing in at least a dozen games (he played in 52). The seventh-rounder came when the Tips traded away Carter Cochrane.
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