Prince George Cougars head scout Bob Simmonds had a strong feeling it was going to be a lucky day for his hockey team when he woke up on the day of the WHL bantam draft lottery.
Three balls bearing the Cougar logo were among the 21 placed in the draft barrel and that gave Prince George a one-in seven chance of winning that lottery. A Cougar ball dropped into the slot and that moved the Cats up two spots in the order and they will get to pick second overall next Wednesday.
“Last year we had nine balls in that drum and the best odds to win and didn’t, and this year we only had three and we won, so go figure,” said Simmonds. “In what is a very deep draft, certainly at the high end, to move up to two overall is exceptionally fortunate for us.”
There’s one certainty. The Cougars will not get a crack at West Vancouver forward Connor Bedard. The Regina Pats, owners of the first-round pick of the Swift Current Broncos, who finished the COVID-19-shortened season with the league’s worst winning percentage, have stated publicly they will pick Bedard first overall.
Bedard played for West Vancouver Academy and led the Canadian Sports School Hockey League midget prep division in scoring with 43 goals and 84 points in just 36 games. He was granted exceptional status by the CHL which will allow him to play major junior hockey as a 15-year-old next season.
The Cougars still have a good shot at selecting a potential franchise player and don’t be surprised if he comes from Dundurn, Sask. (pop. 647) - the hometown of forwards Brayden Yager and Riley Heidt. They both lit it up this past season as midget rookies for the Saskatoon Contacts.
Yager finished third in team scoring with 18 goals, 24 assists and 42 points in 44 games while Heidt (17-20-37) was the fifth most productive point-producer on the team. Each averaged a point per game or better in seven playoff games. Both applied for exceptional status, which was denied, which means they are limited to just five WHL games next season.
The Cougars hold three first-round picks, including Medicine Hat’s 17thoverall. The Saskatoon Blades included that in a January deal with the Cougars that sent defenceman Rhett Rhinehart to Saskatoon. The Blades acquired that pick in an earlier trade from the Tigers. The Cougars also will select 22ndoverall, taking Portland’s spot on the first-round order as a result of the January 2018 trade that sent defenceman Dennis Cholowski to the Winterhawks.
“To move up in that lottery is huge, it was a huge day for the Prince George Cougars,” said head coach and general manager Mark Lamb. “Three first-rounders in a deep draft, we’ve got lots of picks and it’s great.”
Lamb said there’s a “good chance” either Yager or Heidt will be welcomed into the Cougars’ fold next Wednesday. Both want to play major junior hockey, rather than pursue NCAA college opportunities in junior A, and that will help simplify the Cougars’ choice.
“That’s good for the whole league, not just us,” Lamb said. “We have that second pick and can pick whoever we want. It’s nice to know that these high-end players want to come to the league. We know the other guy is off the table so everybody is available behind Bedard now.
“(Yager and Heidt) both have really good traits of becoming real high-end WHL players and hopefully they can move on and become NHL players. They have a little bit of everything. When you get rated that high to apply for special status you’re not just good at one thing, you’re pretty much an all-around hockey player.”
Among the defencemen expected to go high in the draft are Tanner Molendyk of Kamloops, who had nine goals and 55 points in 27 games for Yale Academy bantam prep; Austin Zemlak of Fort McMurray (8-28-36 in 27 games for OHA Edmonton bantam prep); and Saige Weinstein of Edmonton (4-16-20 in 23 games for Northern Alberta bantam prep). Molendyk’s father Jamie is a former Spruce King forward and his grandfather Gord Molendyk worked in Prince George as a prominent RCMP officer.
Kalen Lind of Shaunavon, Sask., whose brother Kole is a Vancouver Canucks prospect, will likely be drafted in the top-10. Lind scored 68 goals and had 120 points in just 27 games with the Swift Current bantam double-A Broncos. Sam Oremba of Regina (75-58-133 in 31 games) also put up big numbers for the Regina Pat Canadians double-A bantam squad. Another highly-touted forward is Brayden Dube (17-17-34 in 32 games for the Parkland (Man.) Rangers.
The Cats also have the 26thoverall pick (their own second-round selection) and two third-rounders.
The draft will be online for the first time ever, due to COVID-19. Unlike previous drafts where teams get to watch the top prospects play in provincial select tournaments in the spring, those tournaments were all canceled. The opportunity to mingle with other GMs and cook up trades will also be limited and those deals, if any, will have to be done over the phone.
“We’ve had the opportunity to watch all those kids multiple times and we’ll be in a good situation and at the end of the day we’ll pick the player that’s best for the Cougars,” said Simmonds, now in his sixth season heading the Cougars’ 10-person scouting staff.
“We’re in a good situation. I don’t know if there’s any other team that has six picks that early in the draft.”
