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Raiders win draft lottery, have 1st overall pick

Mar 22, 2017 | 11:29 AM

The Prince Albert Raiders will have their pick of the litter in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.

The Raiders, who finished ahead of the Kootenay ICE and the Vancouver Giants, won the draft lottery and have the first overall pick for the draft on May 4. They also have another pick in the first round that they received from the Kelowna Rockets in the Reid Gardiner trade.

The Raiders also have two picks in the second round and three choices in the third.

“I saw the Raider crest. It’s real exciting for us,” Raiders general manager Curtis Hunt said while watching the lottery live. “We’re in a position to get a real good hockey player. There are so many choices and options. We can continue to build as we are right now… This is another step towards getting where we want to be, and that’s playing this weekend and in future years.”

When asked if he would consider trading the first overall pick, Hunt joked that nothing on his roster was safe after he led the WHL in trades with 16 in the past season.

“My track record proves that I’ll trade just about everything,” Hunt quipped. “I haven’t thought about [trading] it, but if it worked for us now and in the future, I think you have to consider everything moving forward.”

The last time the Prince Albert Raiders picked first overall was in 2001, when they selected Kyle Chipchura.

In the 2011-12 season, the Raiders finished last in the WHL but lost the lottery and had the second overall pick. They traded down to No. 3 to select Brendan Guhle.

 

Jeff D’Andrea is paNOW’s sports reporter. He can be reached at jdandrea@jpbg.ca or tweet him @jeff_paNOW.