It can be like shooting craps with one hand while playing the roulette wheel with the other.
Western Hockey League teams restock themselves through the annual Bantam draft, which takes place today in Calgary, with the Victoria Royals selecting 11th in the first round based on their 12th-place overall finish among the 22 teams.
Yet it is as instructive to look at the list of players not drafted as Bantams. It includes Jamie Benn and Matt Irwin of Victoria, Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Shea Weber, Darcy Tucker, Jeff Friesen, Scottie Upshall and Joffrey Lupul among numerous other NHLers.
“You never know. [Bantams] are only 15-years-old,” mused Royals general manager Cam Hope.
Late developers overlooked today — and there will be plenty — can be added to the WHL teams’ 50-player protected lists in future years to replace those who were drafted out of Bantam but didn’t pan out.
But Bantam draft first-rounders, at least, should eventually make the rosters of the WHL teams that select them.
The flash-quick and elusive forward Steven Hodges, the Royals franchise’s first-round pick in the 2009 Bantam draft taken ninth overall, was eventually selected by the Florida Panthers in the third round of the 2012 NHL draft. The Royals franchise’s 2010 and 2011 first-round bantam picks were Keegan Kanzig and Joe Hicketts, both now regulars on the Victoria blue line. The Royals’ top Bantam pick last spring, forward Tyler Soy, is expected to make the team next season as a 16-year-old.
As hit-and-miss as the Bantam draft can be, you have to at least make the first round count.
“It looks like a strong group in the top of the first round this year,” Hope said.
“It looks strong through the top-three rounds.”
That’s important to the Royals, who have nine picks in the first five rounds.
Grant Armstrong, the first-year Royals director of player personnel, is the guy who, during his previous posting in Portland, built the current powerhouse roster of the Winterhawks. Armstrong and the Royals director of scouting, Gary Pochipinski, spent the winter scouring Bantam games throughout the western part of North America. Binders of information will be brought with them today to the Victoria draft table in Calgary.
“The ultimate responsibility to pull the trigger [on picks] is mine, but I’m not going to make any selection unless both those guys [Armstrong and Pochipinski] are on board with it,” Hope said.
The Royals had the most Americans on the roster last season with six. Their scouts again hit the U.S. hard, with many eyes on Bantams tournaments in Southern California.
“The U.S. has been lucky for us,” Hope said, indicating that might be a source the Royals look to again today.
The 2012-13 WHL-worst Vancouver Giants will select first today and are expected to take the consensus No. 1-rated Tyler Benson from the Edmonton South Side Athletic Club Southgate Lions, whose adding-machine total of 146 points came in just 33 games this season.
The top Island prospect for the draft is defenceman Josh Anderson of Cowichan, touted as a first-round pick.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Thunderbirds announced Wednesday they have finally signed the No. 1 pick of the 2012 Bantam draft. Forward Matthew Barzal of Coquitlam had been leaving his options open regarding the U.S. collegiate NCAA but has decided on going with the WHL.
