2018 whl bantam draft

[Canadian Canuck]

Kamloops fans are excited for Stankhoven.....he could of just as easily went 1st overall as well.

I’m really good friends with him and his family, went to school with him(although he’s 5-6 yrs younger than me. His work ethic is unbelievable and his skill is through the roof. He’ll absolutely be an NHL player there’s no denying that. Imo, he’ll be a star. Also family friends with Tyson Galloway, dman that went to the Hitmen. Also great work ethic and has a solid chance of developing into an NHL dman. But Logan is just jaw dropping amazing and he’ll be a star. What a steal for Kamloops. He would have went the US route if not selected by Kamloops though, he didn’t want to leave his family, unless it was for the US college program.

 

[lfunk]

After following WPG B1 all season, that was what I was watching for. No surprise in WPG B1 league's top pick Connor Roulette from the best team in league and then Justin Lies from the worst. Some would disagree on Lies being the top rural MB player, but he is one of the best 2-way forwards in the draft because he didn't have a choice.
Edit: Lies is also the 2nd youngest player in the first 4 rounds and 4th youngest overall. Add 10 months to his development, give him good line mates to work with, and I say he is a top ten player (eg. top 16 picks were born in the first 6 months of 2003.) And no, I don't know him or his family personally.

 

[Deif]

After following WPG B1 all season, that was what I was watching for. No surprise in WPG B1 league's top pick Connor Roulette from the best team in league and then Justin Lies from the worst. Some would disagree on Lies being the top rural MB player, but he is one of the best 2-way forwards in the draft because he didn't have a choice.
Edit: Lies is also the 2nd youngest player in the first 4 rounds and 4th youngest overall. Add 10 months to his development, give him good line mates to work with, and I say he is a top ten player (eg. top 16 picks were born in the first 6 months of 2003.) And no, I don't know him or his family personally.

His younger brother will be a draft pick in a few years, as well.

 

[Steele]

A parent just informed me that Moose Jaw listed Degraves. Anybody know what the point of not drafting a kid is only to list them a couple weeks later?

 

[Capitals03]

You are right, it does not make sense, The only reason I could see is if they drafted a player, and he (Parents) have told them they will not go WHL route.
or a player has decided to leave and they like the kid. But something seems odd.

And speaking of odd What Team drafts WHL kids and scouts all season long, then right after the draft fires or moves everyone.
So you might get a Coach that does not like the style or has a different agenda. Seems odd

Kamloops clean house - Everyone

Don Hay, the winningest coach in Western Hockey League history, has indicated he will retire.
* General Manager Stu MacGregor will also depart, taking a scouting position with Gaglardi's NHL Dallas Stars.
( OK this I get the owner also owns the Dallas Stars - So he gets a Promotion)
Assistant Coach Mike Needham and Director of Player Personnel Matt Recchi are also leaving the team.

 

[Maddox]

It does seem odd, but has happened in the past as well. But I am hearing from a few friends that their kid is in the process of getting listed by teams after not getting drafted. There has to be some reasoning for this method other than they overlooked the player during the draft. Is there possibly a benefit to listing someone outside of the draft? You have to wonder why the final rounds of the draft saw so many teams "PASS" but then three weeks later they are listing players. There must be some loophole or benefit to it.

 

[e14]

Could be that the team's list was full at draft time? Now that draft is over they delist a kid or he commits elsewhere and so they go back and add him.

Also could be done as a favour...First year kids in BC can't tryout for major midget if not listed... They would be limited to the new minor midget

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

A parent just informed me that Moose Jaw listed Degraves. Anybody know what the point of not drafting a kid is only to list them a couple weeks later?

Cause MJ probably drafted the amount of guys allowable to stay within their 50 man protected list limit and then most likely dropped a player after the draft for certain reasons which then opened up a spot. Many many teams do this after the draft

Or maybe they drafted a couple guys at certain positions that they assumed they wouldnt be able to get which in turn allowed them to drop a lesser player at same position. Then they decided to add Degraves to add more depth at his position.

Its all about having equal depth at all positons. There is quite the process making sure teams have depth at every position in every birth year

 

[Steele]

Could be that the team's list was full at draft time? Now that draft is over they delist a kid or he commits elsewhere and so they go back and add him.

Also could be done as a favour...First year kids in BC can't tryout for major midget if not listed... They would be limited to the new minor midget

I could see that as a possibility, but in this particular case the player is Albertan and from what I’m told is already playing acedemy 15s.

 

[Steele]

Cause MJ probably drafted the amount of guys allowable to stay within their 50 man protected list limit and then most likely dropped a player after the draft for certain reasons which then opened up a spot. Many many teams do this after the draft

Or maybe they drafted a couple guys at certain positions that they assumed they wouldnt be able to get which in turn allowed them to drop a lesser player at same position. Then they decided to add Degraves to add more depth at his position.

Its all about having equal depth at all positons. There is quite the process making sure teams have depth at every position in every birth year

Also is a possibility, just not sure why they wouldn’t wait until camp to find out whether they like the kid. What can change in a week to go from passing on a kid in the draft to listing them in your organization. Just a bit confusing.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Also is a possibility, just not sure why they wouldn’t wait until camp to find out whether they like the kid. What can change in a week to go from passing on a kid in the draft to listing them in your organization. Just a bit confusing.

Also u never know if he would even come to camp. If hes a good player, maybe he had 20ish camp invites and he can pick and choose his destination... Worse comes to worse MJ just drops him at camp if he doesnt impress

 

[Capitals03]

So here is who has signed,


First round:
Allan - Prince Albert
Dach - Saskatoon
Guenther - Edmonton
Lajoie - Tri-City
Lambos - Kootenay
Slaney - Edmonton
Stringer - Lethbridge
Sward - Spokane
Tschigerl - Calgary

Second round:
Bruce - Kootenay
Prosofsky - Kootenay
Galloway - Calgary

Third round:
Haynes - Tri-City

Whats bigger is the few Top Tens who have not. That could get ugly. Does not make any sense for a 2nd or 3rd to sign right away. Since they cant play any games for at least a year. No point in looking at all options. As Kamloops just cleaned house with the coaching staff. Who knows what the new coach wants or likes.

1. Kamloops Blazers: C Logan Stankoven
2. Red Deer Rebels: C Jayden Grubbe
3. Lethbridge Hurricanes: C Zack Stringer
4. Prince George Cougars: C Craig Armstrong
5. Seattle Thunderbirds: C Kai Uchacz

 

[Hotwheels]

I know one player is heading out to meet their draft team tomorrow. Not sure who else that got drafted is waiting for their meeting/introduction to their team but maybe that is why so few players have signed so far. I have heard WHL teams like to get players signed at these meetings as it is a pretty exciting time/experience for the players as well as their parents.
I am surprised that Sward signed with his father being a teacher I would have thought NCAA would have been his route for sure. His dad is a super nice guy from my little bit of time spent around him anyhow.

 

[Maddox]

I actually know of a few more kids that have signed already but have not been disclosed yet. Some are of the request of the players and some are the request of the WHL teams. One example was Ostapchuk, he signed earlier but it was announced last night on his birthday.
I know firsthand of one other player that signed last week but it has not been announced yet due to the team wanting to wait in regards to some player movement. I guess although the players are excited to sign and announce, some teams like to hold their cards to announce at the right time.
As for signing too early or teams wanting to sign early, I guess it depends on the situation. I can remember being talked to by a GM at the Alberta Cup regarding my son. This team in particular wanting verbal agreement from my son to sign before June... that wasn't happening in our minds until we knew where he was going and what the opportunities were. Needless to say, that team did not draft my son, maybe they did not like that we would not commit to signing so early, or maybe it just wasn't in the cards, who knows?

 

[Hotwheels]

Could be that the team's list was full at draft time? Now that draft is over they delist a kid or he commits elsewhere and so they go back and add him.

Also could be done as a favour...First year kids in BC can't tryout for major midget if not listed... They would be limited to the new minor midget

Where is this information from? I know of 2002's that were not drafted or listed, as far as I know, that played Major Midget last year as first years. I will ask one of the players tomorrow to double check. Is this something new?
Is BC Hockey in bed with the WHL this year? Are there more players wanting to go the NCAA route? I am sure the BCHL would not be happy about that. I looked around the BC Hockey website but could not find anything about what you have mentioned. Any chance you could steer me in the right direction to find this info please?
I found this BC MML - Frequently Asked Questions but nothing in regards to having to be drafted or listed by a dub team?

 

[e14]

I got this from the mouth of a bc mml coach. He said that they are trying to funnel first year kids to the new minor midget
He also added that being listed was not enough to play mml

It is new from this year...also why first year kids weren't "allowed"to go to the regional camp to get selected out of their zone by another mml team

Using whl draft list is not ideal maybe but it's a list and it avoids having to scout kids which takes time etc...

 

[Hotwheels]

I got this from the mouth of a bc mml coach. He said that they are trying to funnel first year kids to the new minor midget
He also added that being listed was not enough to play mml

It is new from this year...also why first year kids weren't "allowed"to go to the regional camp to get selected out of their zone by another mml team

Using whl draft list is not ideal maybe but it's a list and it avoids having to scout kids which takes time etc...

Very interesting. Makes sense in a very general aspect in order to cut down on time and money for scouts. The BC HOCKEY AGM was this weekend as well. I wonder if there was any discussion about it?
Makes me wonder though about kids that told WHL teams they were going the NCAA route and therefore weren't drafted by WHL teams. What if an undrafted player turns out to be better than a WHL drafted player or a Major Midget Team needs a Minor Midget player due to injuries during the season what will they do?
I'm sure this is bound to make some people very unhappy since up until now no such rule has been in place. Last season for instance I know of a player that was drafted by the WHL and a player that wasn't as 2002's. The player that wasn't drafted made the Major Midget team and the drafted player did not make the team. When I told him about this a week or so ago he told me it was bullshit. He didn't get drafted by a WHL team and played Major Midget as a first year.
Really narrowing the choices for BC Hockey's Major Midget League teams if they want the best players that's for sure and if as a player you want to play the highest level you can as a first year in Midget. Ouch that's really gonna piss some people and players off I'm sure. Makes me wonder why BC Hockey would do this? Or maybe I don't want to know why. LOL
Will be interesting to see how this all unfolds this season. I wonder how it works in Alberta and Saskatchewan if they have adapted this or maybe already had this new rule in place or if they have stayed the hell away from it all? I can't see the BCHL, SJHL OR AJHL being happy about it but there could very well be a lot more to it than I know obviously.

 

[e14]

Very interesting. Makes sense in a very general aspect in order to cut down on time and money for scouts. The BC HOCKEY AGM was this weekend as well. I wonder if there was any discussion about it?
Makes me wonder though about kids that told WHL teams they were going the NCAA route and therefore weren't drafted by WHL teams. What if an undrafted player turns out to be better than a WHL drafted player or a Major Midget Team needs a Minor Midget player due to injuries during the season what will they do?
I'm sure this is bound to make some people very unhappy since up until now no such rule has been in place. Last season for instance I know of a player that was drafted by the WHL and a player that wasn't as 2002's. The player that wasn't drafted made the Major Midget team and the drafted player did not make the team. When I told him about this a week or so ago he told me it was bull****. He didn't get drafted by a WHL team and played Major Midget as a first year.
Really narrowing the choices for BC Hockey's Major Midget League teams if they want the best players that's for sure and if as a player you want to play the highest level you can as a first year in Midget. Ouch that's really gonna piss some people and players off I'm sure. Makes me wonder why BC Hockey would do this? Or maybe I don't want to know why. LOL
Will be interesting to see how this all unfolds this season. I wonder how it works in Alberta and Saskatchewan if they have adapted this or maybe already had this new rule in place or if they have stayed the hell away from it all? I can't see the BCHL, SJHL OR AJHL being happy about it but there could very well be a lot more to it than I know obviously.

I think the theory is ok... i.e. you try to encourage kids to play minor just as academies would tell most kids to play e15. The question will be how many top end first year kids would actually be good enough to make an mml team AND not be drafted. I'm sure there are some but they would be exceptions... and if there is a mechanism for exceptions everything works fine... the problem is usually when you define these policies and you remove people from decision making down the road.

 

[Labrador]

Anyone know much about how the teams are looking for the CSSHL Bantam Prep this coming season?

 

[e14]

Anyone know much about how the teams are looking for the CSSHL Bantam Prep this coming season?

 

[Jeff V]

Does anyone on here ever attend the rookie camps?

 

[Hotwheels]

I think the theory is ok... i.e. you try to encourage kids to play minor just as academies would tell most kids to play e15. The question will be how many top end first year kids would actually be good enough to make an mml team AND not be drafted. I'm sure there are some but they would be exceptions... and if there is a mechanism for exceptions everything works fine... the problem is usually when you define these policies and you remove people from decision making down the road.

Well said and I would have to agree with you!!

 

[Hotwheels]

I have no idea at this point other than there are definitely some amazing 2004 born player's.

 

[Hotwheels]

Does anyone on here ever attend the rookie camps?

Just out of curiosity what kind of a rookie camp are you asking about? NHL, Junior A, B or something else?

 

[Jeff V]

WHL Rookie camps.