Intrigue has been thrown into today’s Western Hockey League draft lottery by a hometown Victoria product rated the No. 1 pick
The Victoria Royals currently hold the third slot. They are able to climb up two spots and guaranteed not to drop more than two spots, so the Royals will select anywhere from first to fifth overall in the WHL prospects draft May 11.
The lottery is open to the six teams that missed the playoffs, based on the inverse order of final standings from the 2022-23 regular season, but two of those teams earlier traded their first-round selections. The Edmonton Oil Kings hold the first slot but traded it to the Prince Albert Raiders. The Swift Current Broncos hold the sixth slot, which had been traded to the Vancouver Giants.
Prince Albert (six from Edmonton and three with its own pick) will have nine of the 21 balls that will be put into the hopper today, the Spokane Chiefs five balls, the Royals four balls, the Brandon Wheat Kings with two and Vancouver (from Swift Current) one.
The Elite Prospects website has Pacific Coast Hockey Academy centre Noah Kosick ranked No. 1, defenceman Keaton Verhoeff from Rink Hockey Academy in Kelowna No. 2, forward Dayne Beuker of the Humboldt, Sask., Broncos U-15 AA at No. 3, forward Jesse McKinnon of the St. Albert, Alta., Sabres U-15 fourth, forward Mathis Preston of the Okanagan Hockey Academy fifth and forward Kash Alger-East of the Northwest Stars of the Saskatchewan AA U-15 League sixth.
In another Elites Prospects listing, Kosick is No. 1, forward Brett Olson of the St. Albert Raiders program No. 2, forward Mathis Preston of the Okanagan Hockey Academy No. 3, defenceman Daxon Rudolph of the Northern Alberta X-Treme fourth, Verhoeff fifth and Markus Ruck of Okanagan Academy sixth.
The only top-six constant is Kosick at No. 1 and Verhoeff in the mix.
“Noah is as advertised,” said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price.
And Kosick wants to stay home.
“Noah has been a fan of the Royals growing up and wants to play for his hometown team,” said dad Mark Kosick, speaking for the family on Tuesday.
“He has obvious interest [in the Royals]. A lot of big NCAA schools are interested in him, as well.”
Mark Kosick came out of the Victoria Salsa (now Grizzlies) to win an NCAA Frozen Four championship with the University of Michigan Wolverines to have a long pro career in the ECHL and Germany. So his son is a well-rounded 14-year-old in the Langford-based PCHA who knows well that there are different routes. If you are the Raiders, Chiefs, Wheat Kings or Giants, do you take that huge gamble on selecting a player who may never play a game for you? The cards are all in the Kosicks’ hands.
“We think [Victoria GM and head coach] Dan Price has done a good job with the players he has had,” said Mark Kosick, of a Royals team that has missed the playoffs the past two seasons.
The only glimmer is that the Royals selected apparent star-in-the-making Cole Reschny third overall with a lottery pick in last year’s WHL draft. Combine that with a Canada Winter Games Team B.C. captain Grant Reid, another recent Royals draft pick, and a line of Reschny-Reid-Kosick looks pretty enticing for the future.
Price is hesitant to talk about all this. The WHL has rules against showing overt expressions of interest in particular players ahead of the draft.
“It’s definitely a good sign of the perception [the Kosick family] has of our organization,” Price did allow.
“This speaks to the understanding that Victoria and Island fans have of what we are trying to build and the patience we have shown,” said Price.
Many would argue with that assessment, considering the horrendous record of the Royals the last two seasons of playoff-less hockey preceded by a dead-last finish in the bubble season.
But the gauntlet has been tossed. Knowing what they know about his Victoria preference, and his NCAA options if not taken by his hometown Victoria club, will the Raiders, Wheat King, Chiefs or Giants take a massive gamble on selecting Kosick in May, regardless of how the balls bounce today?
