The Prince George Cougars finished 19th out of 22 teams in the Western Hockey League this season and will certainly be among the first six teams to pick in the WHL bantam draft.
Each of the six non-playoff teams, based on winning percentage, is eligible for the draft lottery on and depending on how that shapes up, the Cougars could pick as high as second or as low as sixth in the order.
The draft is scheduled for Thursday, May 7 in Red Deer, and will unfold with each team participating online. The Cougars (20-34-4-4) posted a .387 winning percentage to finish 19th overall in the 22-team league.
Swift Current finished last in the league with a .198 winning percentage and will have the most lottery balls placed in the barrel on Wednesday to try to secure the first overall pick in what is widely considered a rich bantam talent pool.
Moose Jaw (.258) and Tri-City (.317) placed 21st and 20th respectively in the standings. Regina (.429, 18th) and Red Deer (.437, 17th) are the other non-playoff teams and each finished ahead of Prince George.
The Cougars have three first-round picks, including their own, as well as Medicine Hat's (17th overall) and Portland's (22nd).
All players eligible for the draft reside in Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
The WHL will stage its inaugural U.S. prospects draft online next Wednesday and each team is eligible to draft two players. The draft order was chosen by lottery and the Red Deer Rebels, Tri-City Americans and Edmonton Oil Kings have the first three picks. The Cougars will pick 19th and 26th in the draft.
2019-20 WHL regular season standings
GP W L OTL SOL PTS PCT
1 xyz Portland Winterhawks 63 45 11 3 4 97 0.770
2 x Everett Silvertips 63 46 13 3 1 96 0.762
3 xy Edmonton Oil Kings 64 42 12 6 4 94 0.734
4 xy Kamloops Blazers 63 41 18 3 1 86 0.683
5 x Spokane Chiefs 64 41 18 4 1 87 0.680
6 x Medicine Hat Tigers 63 41 19 2 1 85 0.675
7 x Lethbridge Hurricanes 63 37 19 2 5 81 0.643
8 xy Prince Albert Raiders 64 36 18 6 4 82 0.641
9 x Winnipeg ICE 63 38 24 1 0 77 0.611
10 x Brandon Wheat Kings 63 35 22 4 2 76 0.603
11 x Calgary Hitmen 64 35 24 4 1 75 0.586
12 x Saskatoon Blades 63 34 24 2 3 73 0.579
13 x Vancouver Giants 62 32 24 4 2 70 0.565
14 x Victoria Royals 64 32 24 6 2 72 0.563
15 x Kelowna Rockets 63 29 28 3 3 64 0.508
16 x Seattle Thunderbirds 63 24 32 4 3 55 0.437
17 Red Deer Rebels 63 24 33 3 3 54 0.429
18 Regina Pats 63 21 34 6 2 50 0.397
19 Prince George Cougars 62 20 34 4 4 48 0.387
20 Tri-City Americans 63 17 40 4 2 40 0.317
21 Moose Jaw Warriors 62 14 44 4 0 32 0.258
22 Swift Current Broncos 63 10 48 2 3 25 0.198
x = Clinched playoffs
y = Clinched division title
z = Clinched Scotty Munro Memorial Trophy (WHL regular season champions)
