Quiet first day of WHL Bantam Draft ahead for Raiders

Without that pick in the first two rounds of the draft for the Raiders, General Manager Curtis Hunt knows it is going to be a different looking draft this year, but it doesn’t change the way they prepare.

“We’ll still rank 1 to 46, and then of course we will rank all the way to 200, just depending on how the draft goes. There may be opportunities to move up or not, but this year’s draft, and it’s changed since COVID, we just bring in two guys, everyone else is on a call and we access the guys in each province as we need the support or reassurance or maybe someone that says, no, that’s not the guy we want.”

The Raiders this year’s first and second round picks to Seattle in the deal for Braeden Cootes, and Hunt jokingly confirmed how happy he is to not have a pick in those round as a result.

“So yeah, tonight we have off and that’s fine. I was pretty excited when Cootes scored the power play goal the day before. Well deserved to have tomorrow off in round one, but we’ll be ready for round three through 15 on Thursday morning when it’s time.”

Recent third round picks for the Raiders include the likes of highly touted prospects Liam Myhre and Kyle Obobaifo from 2024, current Raiders backup goaltender Steele Bass in 2023, Oli Chenier and Dayce Derkatch in 2022, and current Raiders assistant captain Max Heise in 2021.

With that in mind, the Raiders scouting staff will still be looking closely at their lists as the draft progresses on. While the number of the draft pick may not say ‘superstar’ right away, Hunt knows important pieces for the future are still going to be picked up be his team.

“Certainly we go back and reflect a little bit on guys like like Hayes or Parker Kelly. Parker’s a 20-goal scorer in the NHL, I think he was a seventh round pick. I think some of it is you take some chances, Parker was probably four feet tall when he was drafted, but we always tell the kids, the draft is a moment in time, and if you get picked on that day, it means that’s where the rankings were on that particular day. Development is a moving curve, I guess.”

In the midst of a deep playoff run, the draft serves as a fun day for Hunt and the rest of the scouting staff to welcome in the next crop of Raiders. Hunt looks forward to some of those first phone calls with families.

The WHL Draft will be streamed for free on Victory+ starting at 5:30 p.m. Saskatchewan time on Wednesday for the first round, and then pick up for round two and the rest of the draft starting at 10 a.m. on Thursday.

by Nick Nielsen

Quiet first day of WHL Bantam Draft ahead for Raiders

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