Nolan Bentham, who grew up watching the Victoria Royals play at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, won’t have to stray far in his Western Hockey League career.
The Royals, for the first time in franchise history, picked an Island player in the first round of the WHL bantam draft. The six-foot-two blueliner, out of the Racquet Club of Victoria, was selected 13th overall by the Royals in the 2018 draft held Thursday in Red Deer.
“It’s surreal, and a great bonus, to be picked by my hometown team,” said Bentham, by phone from Philadelphia, just after getting off the ice from playing Sweden in the U-15 World Selects Invitational tournament.
“It’s special knowing my family can be in the crowd for every home game. It’s awesome and it will be great motivation for me.”
The young Islander watched and learned in the stands on Blanshard Street.
“I studied players like [Royals defencemen] Chaz Reddekopp and Scott Walford,” Bentham said.
Montreal Canadiens third-round NHL draft pick Walford, who coached Bentham in spring hockey, became a mentor.
“I want to play fast and make quick decisions just like Scott [Walford],” Bentham said.
“I’m a two-way defenceman who jumps up into the rush to create offence.”
The Islander had five goals, 22 points and 34 penalty minutes in 30 games this season for Yale Academy Bantam Prep in Abbotsford. He has returned to Grade 9 at Spectrum following the hockey season.
Royals GM Cameron Hope described it as a “happy coincidence” that Bentham is from the Island, but said it wasn’t the deciding factor in choosing him. Hope said the Royals had the Islander targeted for a number of reasons and were even willing to trade up to nab him.
“We had made some furtive attempts to move up to get him, but were thrilled when he fell to us. He is an all-round defenceman with a full toolbox and can skate, shoot and defend well. He is already big and is only just learning how to use his body.”
It was part of a draft that could be described as old-home week as the Royals picked a franchise-high four Island players among the 12 they selected. The other three are Cage Newans of Parksville, 147th overall in the seventh round; goaltender Keegan Maddocks of Langford, 165th overall in the eighth round; and defenceman Ross Roloson of Victoria, 200th overall in the 10th round. (See complete list at the end of this story of the Royals' 2018 bantam draft picks.)
“All our selections fell to us and were the ones we would have taken at each of those points, regardless,” Hope said.
It highlighted a banner day for Island players, with two chosen among the first 23 selections and three in the first three rounds. Winger Kobe Verbicky of Victoria was the first player selected in the second round, 23rd overall to the Edmonton Oil Kings, while defenceman Ty Gibson of Victoria went in the third round, 64th overall to the Everett Silvertips.
A trio of Campbell River products were also selected: forward Parker Bell, 102nd overall in the fourth round to the Tri-City Americans; defenceman Brayden Ross, 139th overall in the sixth round to the Kamloops Blazers; and forward Brian Majic, 175th overall in the eighth round to the Swift Current Broncos.
Without second- or fourth-round selections this year due to trades, Victoria’s third-round pick, at 52nd overall, is destined to be key in the years ahead.
It is forward Matty Hodson from the Saskatoon Outlaws bantam team. Hodson is just five-foot-seven, but that should sound familiar to Royals fans, because of the success achieved in Victoria by undersized forwards such as Matthew Phillips and Dante Hannoun.
“We have a history with this type of player,” Hope said.
“[Hodson] is smart, agile and brings a high-tempo offensive game. Missing a second-round pick, we knew we had to maximize our third-round selection. We believe we have done just that with Matty Hodson.”
Bentham, meanwhile, became the Royals’ seventh first-round selection since the franchise moved to the Island in 2011. Joe Hicketts was taken 12th overall in 2011, Tyler Soy eighth and Reddekopp 13th in 2012, Hannoun 11th in 2013, Walford 18th in 2014 and Eric Florchuk 13th in 2015.
Mobile blueliner Hicketts has a gold medal with Canada from the world junior championships and is in the Detroit Red Wings system. Soy and Reddekopp graduated from the Royals this season as over-age 20-year-olds. Hannoun is eligible to be an over-ager next season.
The 19-year-old Walford will return to Victoria and underachieving centre Florchuk was traded this season to the Saskatoon Blades.
Because of trades, the Royals did not have first-round selections in both 2016 and 2017. Victoria’s first pick last year wasn’t until the second round, where they took forward Dallon Melin from Camrose, Alta., with the 32nd overall selection.
Much of the team’s success in the next few years will hinge on how the Royals’ later-round selections from 2016 and 2017 pan out.
The word “crapshoot” has often been used to describe the bantam draft. “You are basically selecting 14-year-olds,” Hope said.
“You never know what you really have until two years down the road.”
The list of players overlooked in the WHL bantam draft is legendary and includes Jamie Benn, Jarome Iginla, Shea Weber, Shane Doan, Dan Hamhuis, Joffrey Lupul, Tyler Ennis and several other future NHLers.
Meanwhile, in keeping with the hometown theme, the Oil Kings made forward Dylan Guenther of Edmonton the first overall selection in the 2018 WHL bantam draft.
A total of 223 players born in 2003 were taken Thursday, with 124 forwards, 76 blueliners and 23 goaltenders. Alberta led with 68 players selected, followed by 50 from B.C., 42 from Saskatchewan, 33 from Manitoba and 30 from the U.S.
ROYALS 2018 WHL BANTAM DRAFT PICKS
• Round One, 13th: Nolan Bentham, Victoria, D.
• Round Three, 52nd: Matty Hodson, Saskatoon, F.
• Round Five, 103rd: Trentyn Crane, Morden, Man., F.
• Round Six, 117th: Braden Smith, Kamloops, D.
• Round Seven, 147th, Cage Newans, Parksville, F.
• Round Eight, 165th: Keegan Maddocks, Langford, G.
• Round Eight, 167th: Karsten Senden, Anchorage, D.
• Round Eight, 168th: Chris Alexander, California, F.
• Round Eight, 170th: Roux Bazin, Treherne, Man., F.
• Round Nine, 189th: Graeme Hampton, Sturgeon, Alta., D.
• Round Ten, 200th: Ross Roloson, Victoria, D.
• Round Eleven, 223rd: Brett Huxley, Calgary, F.
