The WHL’s annual pair of drafts, the U.S. Priority Selection and the Prospects Draft, take place on May 8 and 9, and it makes for a hectic, exciting, and extremely busy time for scouts. The scouts of the Brandon Wheat Kings are no exception.
“It’s the culmination of all the work myself and my staff put in every year,” said Wheat Kings director of hockey operations Chris Moulton. “It’s an exciting time, it’s a scary time sometimes but it’s definitely fun for our group.”
Holding the 14th overall pick in the draft, the Wheat Kings are confident they’ll add an impactful player to their lineup, as the last several players drafted in that spot have gone on to strong careers. The biggest question right now is who that pick is going to be. There are no shortage of candidates.
“We’ve identified 17 players in the 14th spot, and we’re comfortable with any of those players,” Moulton said. “That’s a good feeling. Sometimes, you’re stretching yourself to say, ‘This is the guy, if he’s there we’re going to have to take him at 14.’ Right now we’re very excited about the 17 we’ve identified.”
If 17 seems like a high number of players, it’s because the Wheat Kings need to be prepared for a high number of outcomes. Defenseman Landon Dupont, granted exceptional status, seems certain to be the first overall pick, but beyond that the draft order begins to get delightfully chaotic.
“After the top two or three or four, it’s going to be all over the map,” said Moulton. “There are a lot of good players and it will be about what each team wants or what they need to fill the holes in their organization. After those initial few at the top, it’s going to be all over the map and that’s what makes it fun and exciting.”
Moulton added they would take the best player available rather than drafting for need, and part of that has to do with the breathing room their previous picks have given them. With so many prospects coming off banner seasons, there’s not as much of a need to chase players at a specific position.
“The success that some of our prospects have had, that’s allowed us to kind of breathe a little bit and not be in the panic mode where we have to fill holes,” Moulton said. “We know we can be patient with some of our younger guys.”
Owning their own first, second, and third round pick, the middle rounds of the draft are where the Wheat Kings have the most picks to work with. Through several trades over the last two seasons, they’ve added extra picks in the fourth, fifth, and sixth rounds.
“We had seven or eight picks in the first 123 if we decide to stay the course and keep them,” said Moulton. “When you have all those picks, that’s just the (number) 123, we might get seven or eight guys in our top-80 on our list. When you have that, it’s exciting for us.”
The later round picks, those in the eighth or ninth round, for instance, might seem like afterthoughts but scouts don’t treat them that way. The Wheat Kings just signed former eighth round pick Cam Allard and know they can still find gems deep in the draft.
“Those are the fun ones when you basically pick guys that you identified that you just like,” Moulton said. “There are a lot of guys that we say would be a great late-round pick, a kid may not be where he needs to be right now but there’s something about him that says he might be really good two years from now. I enjoy the late-round picks.”
(Article courtesy of the Brandon Wheat Kings)
