The Victoria Royals have expressed preliminary interest in hosting the 2019 Memorial Cup, which means the Western Hockey League bantam draft classes of 2014, 2015 and 2016 will form the nucleus of that possible 2018-19 Royals host team.
The middle portion of that potential project arrives today when Victoria selects 13th overall in the 2015 WHL bantam draft in Calgary. It began last year when the Royals chose defenceman Scott Walford 18th overall in the first round of the 2014 draft.
“That’s a long way off,” said Royals GM Cam Hope, when reminded in which situation these players could be placed in four years time.
That’s made even trickier when trying to navigate the ins and outs of deciding on the talents of 15-year-olds. The list of NHL players overlooked in the bantam draft in almost legendary.
“It’s hard drafting players so young,” said Hope, by phone from Calgary.
“It’s harder than the NHL draft because there is less to work with in terms of information and track record,” added the former assistant GM of the New York Rangers.
“You can’t draft for need in bantam.”
It’s part of a hockey system skewered toward identifying players at a very formative stage. Critics say it’s unrealistically young. The NHL drafts at age 18 compared to the NBA and NFL, which draft mostly 21- and 22-year-olds after their NCAA collegiate careers.
This year’s WHL bantam draft seems flatter than recent years with players of similar talent level spread more evenly down the draft list. There is no consensus overall No. 1 like there was in 2013 with Tyler Benson, who went to the Vancouver Giants, and in 2012 with Mathew Barzal, who went to the Seattle Thunderbirds. Hope said this is a good year for the Royals to have accumulated nine picks in the first seven rounds. That leaves myriad choices, with defenceman Ty Smith from Delta building support as a possible top overall selection. Last year’s top pick was centre Stelio Mattheos, taken by Brandon.
Potential 2015 picks from the Island include six-foot-five defenceman Kyle Pow from Nanaimo, forward Lach Hadley of Victoria, who played bantam for Delta Hockey Academy, and forwards Keaton Mastrodonato, Quinton Waitzner, Joe Stafford-Veale, Ted Brennan, defenceman Brett Humberstone and goaltender Keenan Rancier from the B.C. bantam triple-A runner-up Victoria Racquet Club Kings.
“In past years, we reached a consensus more quickly. This year, it’s more difficult as changes keep coming [to the Royals draft board],” said Hope. “Every team seems to be on its own page, depending on its [scouting analysis].”
Hope heads a nine-member Royals contingent in Calgary that includes head coach Dave Lowry, assistant GM of hockey operations Jeff Harris, director of player personnel and assistant GM Grant Armstrong and director of scouting Gary Pochipinski.
Although Lowry’s job is to coach the players he’s given, his advice is valued in the draft room.
“Dave has a good eye,” said Hope.
But it’s Armstrong and Pochipinski who do most of the heavy lifting in assembling the draft board.
“They put in a lot of hours and a lot of miles over the course of a year,” said Hope.
Today’s first-round Royals selection will join a closed club.
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; forward Dante Hannoun, 11th overall in 2013 and blue-liner Walford, 18th overall in 2014. As the Chilliwack Bruins, the franchise took defenceman Keegan Kanzig as the first-round selection in 2010, forward Steven Hodges in 2009, defenceman Mitch Topping in 2008 and forwards Kevin Sundher in 2007 and Ryan Howse in 2006.
Third-overall 2006 bantam pick Howse is now out of hockey; Sundher was traded to Brandon and has played pro in the AHL and ECHL; Topping was traded to Tri-City and plays for the University of Alberta Golden Bears; Hodges signed an NHL contract with the Florida Panthers and has played in the AHL and ECHL; Kanzig was signed by the NHL’s Calgary Flames but traded by the Royals to the Hitmen; Hicketts is signed by the Red Wings and won gold with Canada at the world juniors; Soy and Reddekopp are ranked 78th and 82nd, respectively, among North American skaters for the 2015 NHL draft; Hannoun completed his rookie season with the Royals; and Walford is expected to crack the Victoria roster next season.
DRAFT ORDER
Order of selection for the first round of today’s WHL bantam draft
1. Spokane (from Saskatoon)
2. Lethbridge
3. Vancouver
4. Moose Jaw (from Kamloops)
5. Prince Albert
6. Moose Jaw
7. Tri-City
8. Prince George
9. Spokane
10. Swift Current
11. Edmonton
12. Saskatoon (from Kootenay)
13. Victoria
14. Regina
15. Seattle
16. Red Deer
17. Portland (forfeit)
18. Medicine Hat
19. Saskatoon (from Everett)
20. Calgary
21. Prince Albert (from Kelowna)
22. Brandon
