The WHL Prospects Draft begins this evening at 6:00 Central Time, and the Brandon Wheat Kings face a question to which there may not be a wrong answer.
The team comes in holding a lot of cards in the game, with two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and the first overall pick in tomorrow’s U.S. Prospects Draft. So, do they move those picks for immediate help, or use them to usher in another window to win?
“Winning that lottery in the U.S. draft changes your philosophy a bit, it basically gives you another first-round pick,” said Wheat Kings head coach and GM Marty Murray. “The way we look at it, we kind of have three first-round picks and two seconds. We’re front-heavy in this draft, which is where you’d want to be heavy. We have some options. One might be to draft throughout, but we are talking to some teams regarding players, maybe pushing out picks later that we can utilize too.”
The new NCAA rules permitting CHL players to play college hockey makes conversations with American players easier. Teams are rapidly finding the new rules to be a bit of a double-edged sword, however. On one hand, you do have the ability to attract more American talent than ever before, and several NCAA-committed players have already made their way north of the border.
“That’s one thing that has yet to be seen but if we start losing some players a little early, that’s going to be tough but it might open up some doors to players that might not have looked at the WHL in the past,” Murray said. “There are some negative parts to it, and some positive ones too that could help your team.”
On the other hand, however, teams have to be wary of the potential of older players leaving early for the NCAA ranks. Several 2005-born players from around the league have already indicated they won’t return for their 20-year-old year, and a handful of 2006-born players are making the jump as well. This means that while the Wheat Kings are interested in making trades, there are some caveats to any deal.
“It takes two to tango and it depends who is out there,” said Murray. “In May, we’re talking about players that are a little older and you’ve got to protect yourself from hearing in July that he’s not going to be back. With this new landscape, there’s kind of a whole new world we’re living in.”
Another unusual aspect of this year’s draft: the Memorial Cup. The Kelowna Rockets haven’t been coy about the fact they’re looking to make trades to supplement their roster, and they’ve got a salvo of first-round picks they’re willing to part with to make it happen. This can mean a pricier entry to the trading floor.
“I don’t think it’s going to get any cheaper,” Murray said. “Especially in a Memorial Cup year, prices tend to be a little higher. It’s going to be, combining that with uncertainty about who’s going to be in the league… there are a lot of things that go into it. Kelowna has to acquire some players, there’s no denying that. They were able to obtain a lot of draft inventory with the (Andrew Cristall and Caden Price) trades, but we have some in the hopper as well.”
So what will the Wheat Kings do? It depends in part on who’s willing to talk with them and make moves, but their goal is to strike a balance between widening the current window to win (anchored by a strong core of 2006-born players) and opening an entirely different window down the line.
“In a perfect world, you want to try to do a little bit of both,” said Murray. “I don’t think we’ll ever be a team that completely sells the farm and starts from rock bottom. I don’t think that appeals to us, our ownership, or our fanbase, but at the same time there are opportunities to make the team better right now.”
Tonight, only the first round of the prospects draft will take place in a style similar to that used by the NHL. The U.S. draft will take place at 10:00 Central Time tomorrow morning, after which the league will resume the prospects draft, starting with round two.
