The WHL bantam draft is less than a week away and this is the final weekend for the Prince George Cougars to assess what's available to refill the talent pool.
Cougars general manager Todd Harkins and his scouting staff have been sipping plenty of coffee the past couple days watching the top 2001-born players skate in the Alberta Cup tournament, which wraps up Sunday in Canmore, Alta.
The Cougars hold the ninth overall pick in the 2016 draft, which starts at 9 a.m. Thursday in Calgary. The Cats have picks in all but the fourth round, a selection they sent to Regina in the Jesse Gabrielle trade in a swap for the Pats' seventh-rounder in 2017. Prince George has multiple picks in the seventh and final round.
"I think you win championships with solid goaltending and defencemen and you need guys who can compete and have offensive ability up front - it's a mixture of that, and you try to mix it through the draft," said Harkins, heading into his second draft as the Cougars' GM.
"We'll likely have anywhere between three and five players each time we pick that we have to make a choice on based on position, compete level and by character."
Harkins says there is no consensus No. 1 prospect in this year's draft. The draft order is determined by the regular-season points standings and the Kootenay Ice, who finished last overall this season, hold the top pick.
WHL draft-eligible players are from the four western provinces and 20 U.S. states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
"There's a lot of good players - it's a very deep draft, which excites every team here," Harkins said.
Harkins figures three graduating bantams from Prince George who played for the Farr Fabricating Tier 1 team - forwards Corey Cunningham and Declan MacEachern and defenceman Colton Kitchen - could see their names on the 2016 draft list.
Undrafted players can still be added to the 50-player protected lists of the WHL teams. Several NHL stars, including Dan Hamhuis, Jarome Iginla, Shea Weber and Shane Doan, weren't drafted as bantams but still had long careers in the WHL.
Harkins will be in Calgary Wednesday for the WHL awards banquet.
