Head scout Gunville chats about Raiders’ draft day; pair of P.A. kids picked
CALGARY—In a draft in which they had the first overall pick, and two choices in each of the first three rounds, the Prince Albert Raiders knew Thursday’s 2017 WHL Bantam Draft was vital to building the contending team of tomorrow.
Raiders director of player personnel Ron Gunville believes his club did exactly that. “We think we did great. We’re really happy.”
They kicked it off the draft proceedings in Calgary by selecting Kaiden Guhle, standout defenceman and younger brother of former long-time Raider Brendan Guhle. The Raiders now are stacked on the blueline in terms of young, promising talent. Last year, the Raiders drafted Rhett Rhinehart 12th overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft, then took Adam Herold in the second round.
“That was our plan once we determined Kaiden was the first pick overall. Once we settled him on him, we knew we had to go 17 and 25 on our forward group,” Gunville said. “We’re really happy with Adam Herold’s development and Rhett’s taken massive strides. In two or three years, teams are going to have to have a hard time getting pucks in our zone with those guys skating.”