Here are the relevant offseason dates between now and the start of training camp in August:
– Apr. 14-24: U-18 World Championships. Everett should have one player (Ryan Murray for Canada) and one prospect (Seth Jones for the U.S.) participating at the tournament in Germany.
– May 5: Ba
ntam Draft. Everett holds the seventh pick overall.
– June 24-25: NHL draft. The Tips might not have anyone selected in this year’s draft, which is being held in St. Paul, Minn.
– approx. Jun. 29: CHL import draft. I can’t find an exact date for this, but it always comes the week following the NHL draft. Everett will pick somewhere around 20th, and there’s a good chance the Tips will use their second-round selection, too.
One other thing to keep an eye out for in the near future is the announcement of the Chilliwack Bruins being sold and relocated to Victoria. Though this hasn’t been announced officially yet, reports have it being a done deal. Past indications have been the WHL wouldn’t return to Vancouver Island unless there were two teams there, thus containing travel expenses. However, I’d expect to see teams go to Victoria for back-to-back games much like the U.S. Division teams do for Prince George. Can you say weekend road (ferry) trip? Also, this may just be the first domino as I’ve heard rumblings about the possibility of other struggling franchises replacing the Bruins in Chilliwack.
So it could be an eventful offseason in the WHL.
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