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Royals’ scouts to be put to the test in WHL bantam draft

If regular-season success has any drawbacks, it’s on draft day.

If regular-season success has any drawbacks, it’s on draft day.

Because of their fifth-best record in the Western Hockey League in 2013-14, the Victoria Royals will pick 18th today in the first round of the WHL’s annual draft of bantam players in Calgary.

The Brandon Wheat Kings, in a trade with the Saskatoon Blades, will have first choice, with the top-five selections rounded out by the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Kamloops Blazers, Moose Jaw Warriors and Prince George Cougars.

The Royals pick 39th overall in the second round and 56th overall in the third. Because of trading picks mid-season which netted Travis Brown, Axel Blomqvist and Jack Palmer, Victoria has no picks in the third, fourth or fifth rounds. The Royals next select in round six, 111th overall, and conclude the latter rounds with the 139th, 149th, 160th, 193rd and 215th overall picks for nine in total for 2014.

Eligible are bantam players born in 1999 from B.C. Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and the U.S. states west of Minnesota.

The players selected today won’t really be heard from for a couple of years, but they represent the long-term futures of the clubs taking them.

“Our scouting staff works hard all year, and this is a big day for them,” said Royals head coach Dave Lowry.

They will have a draft to mull over that is not considered as deep as in past years. There is no consensus overall No. 1 pick this year as Tyler Benson, Mathew Barzal and Jake Virtanen the past three years or Derrick Pouliot in 2009, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in 2008, Jonathan Toews in 2003, Gilbert Brule in 2002, Jay Bouwmeester in 1998 or Jarret Stoll in 1997.

It’s wide open. Some of the top-rated bantam players for 2014 include forwards Jordy Bellerive from North Shore Winter Club, Zane Franklin from Lloydminster, Brendan Semchuk the Kamloops Blazers Bantams, the six-foot-one Stelio Mattheos of Winnipeg Monarchs Bantam AAA. The more touted defencemen include Max Gildon of Dallas Stars U-16, Nolan Kneen of North Shore, Ayden Roche-Setoguchi of the Calgary Bisons and Jake Harrison from Pursuit of Excellence in the Okanagan.

“We have a nine-member [scouting/management] staff [including Royals director of player personnel Grant Armstrong, who built the current Portland Winterhawks powerhouse] meeting in Calgary right now [as the Royals finalize their draft board],” said Victoria GM Cam Hope.

Since the franchise has been in Victoria, the Royals first-round bantam draft picks have been defenceman Joe Hicketts, 12th overall in 2011; forward Tyler Soy, eighth overall, and defenceman Chaz Reddekopp, 13th overall (by trade) in 2012; and forward Dante Hannoun, 11th overall in 2013. In the last two years the franchise was located in Chilliwack, defenceman Keegan Kanzig was the first-round selection in 2010 and forward Steven Hodges in 2009. Your first rounders have to count. Hodges, Kanzig, Hicketts, Soy and Reddekopp were roster players last season and Hannoun is expected to be next season.

But it’s never an exact science. Being overlooked in the bantam draft is not a dream-killer for young players. The Royals had five players last season not taken in the bantam draft — Logan Nelson, Ben Walker, Jack Walker, Logan Fisher and Brandon Fushimi. Eventual NHL players not selected in the WHL bantam draft include Jamie Benn, Shea Webber, Jarome Iginla, Shane Doan, Tyler Ennis, Dan Hamhuis and Joffrey Lupul.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com

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