Western Elite Hockey Prospects

Bantam Draft Study Feature
With the 2012-2013 bantam season nicely underway, I thought it would be we take a look at some interesting reading to take a look at some previous bantam draft statistics

We will take a look at a snapshot of the WHL scoring leaders and where they were drafted. It proves that sometimes you don’t need to be a high draft pick to be an elite player at the WHL level. Also, we will take a look at the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft, as those players would now be in their final eligible bantam season. Who may it to the NHL, who is still producing at the WHL level and who is out of hockey? Which talents were taken after the first round but are now stars?

Further, we will take a look back at the past 6 WHL bantam drafts and determine which provinces were strong in a given season. In addition to that, we will determine which province had the most picks in the top 2 rounds and which province has the strength in the draft per year!

What does the Bantam Draft really mean?

Every year there are several players over-looked in the WHL bantam draft who go on to become big stars in the WHL. The list is long and includes names such as Jarome Iginla, Darcy Tucker, Jeff Friesen, Dan Hamhuis, Scotty Upshall, Joffrey Lupul, Jeff Woywitka and Shane Doan. Many of these names not only were World Junior hockey players for Canada, but also went on to All-Star type careers in the NHL in most cases.

Current Top 20 Scoring Leaders and Where They Were Drafted
1.   JC Lipon - Listed
2.   Colin Smith - 7th overall in 2008
3.   Mitch Holmberg - 21st overall in 2007
4.   Tim Bozon - Import selection in 2011, 27th overall
5.   Brendan Ranford - 15th overall in 2007
6.   Brooks Macek - 43rd overall in 2007
7.   Sam Fioretti - Listed
8.   Myles Bell - 17th overall in 2008
9.   Michael St. Croix - 4th overall in 2008
10. Alex Gogolev - 63rd overall in 2011 import draft
11. Nic Petan - 16th overall in 2010
12. Alessio Bertaggia -33rd overall in 2011 import draft
13. Josh Nicholls - 27th overall in 2007
14. TJ Foster - 35th overall in 2007
15. Colin Jacobs - 67th overall in 2008
16. Ryan Pulock -136th overall in 2009
17. Justin Feser - 194th overall in 2007
18. Curtis Valk -Listed
19. Adam Lowry -78 overall in 2008
20. Brady Brassert -43rd overall in 2008

Synopsis - So in this year's top 20 scoring leaders, we see 6 former first round picks. We also see 5 players who were selected in the 4th round or later, which includes 3 listed players.  Two of the current top 7 scorers were listed, not even drafted players.


Brief Summary of drafts 2007-2010
2007 Bantam Draft Summary
Players who failed to make in impact Round 1
2nd overall - Luke Moffatt - Never came to the league.
8th overall - Ryan Aasman - 1 goal in 166 games. Journeyman 6-7 dman.
11th overall - Conner Redmond - 10 goals in 122 games. No longer in the league.
12th overall - Mike Betz - Just 1 goal in 32 games. Depth BCHL player now.
17th overall - Brandon Regier - OUT OF HOCKEY, never played in the league, just 4 games.
18th overall - Mark Reners - Scored just 23 goals in 117 games. Not in the WHL right now.
19th overall - Mitch Spooner - No longer in the league. 3-14-17 in 84 games.

Players who were Top talents.
1st overall - Quinton Howden - Pro
3rd overall - Mark Pysyk -Pro
5th overall - Brad Ross -Pro
7th overall - Kevin Sundher -Pro
10th overall - Brett Connolly - NHL
14th overall - Austin Madiasky - Pro
15th overall - Brendan Ranford - WHL
21st overall - Tyler Bunz - Pro
22nd overall - Kent Simpson - Pro

Players who are Secondary talents
4th overall - Charles Inglis - WHL
6th overall - Alex Therieu - WHL
20th overall - Drew Czerwonka - WHL
Players who are Depth talents
9th overall - Christian Magnus - Jr A
13th overall - Dominik Favreau - Jr A

Top Talents selected in subsequent rounds:
27th overall - Josh Nicholls - WHL
33rd overall - Alex Petrovic - PRO
38th overall - Calvin Pickard - PRO
46th overall - Dylan McIlrath - PRO
55th overall - Brendan Kichton  - WHL
86th overall - Max Reinhart - PRO
92nd overall - Mark Stone - PRO
115th overall - Emerson Etem - PRO
168th overall - Cody Sylvester - WHL
195th overall - Brendan Gallahger - PRO
303rd overall - Ty Rimmer - WHL
Last pick of the draft - Greg Fraser

Synopsis
- It could be argued that many of these picks after the first round could've in fact been first rounders. Just goes to show that it isn't the be all and end all to be ranked in the first few rounds.

2008 Bantam Draft Summary
Players who could've been first rounder’s looking back:
30th overall - Dalton Thrower
67th overall - Colin Jacobs
78th overall - Adam Lowry
121st overall - Joel Edmundson
129th overall - Jaynen Rissling

First Round Bantam Draft – Study
2006 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 10
Alberta - 3
Saskatchewan - 6
Manitoba - 2
Forwards - 14
Defence - 6
Goalies - 1
After Cowen picked 1st overall, the next defenseman taken was 11th. Saskatchewan had 4 of the top 9 selections. Alberta was remarkably low on draft picks with 3 players taken and 2 of them - Penner and Chaffin never did anything of note in the WHL.

2007 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 8
Alberta - 8
Saskatchewan - 3
Manitoba - 2
USA - 1

Forwards - 14
Defense - 6
Goalies - 2
At the top of this draft both Manitobans were selected and the lone American selected Luke Moffatt never played in the league. Just 3 defenseman were taken in the top 13 picks with Aasman and Theriau failing to live up to big expectations. Just one Albertan in the first 14 picks (Brad Ross). Again, another season with not much high end depth in Alberta. Saskatchewan was very weak for high end talent as Magnus, Czerwonka and Favreau have all become secondary type players only.

2008 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 4
Alberta - 13
Saskatchewan - 3
Manitoba - 1
USA - 1
Forwards - 12
Defense - 10
Goalies - 0
Alberta continues to rise in terms of draft picks from the province. British Columbia continues to drop off but produce easily the best player in the draft in Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Manitoba again with under 3 picks and having just Michael St. Croix in the first round picked. 4 players were picked from the Sherwood Park team including 3 defenseman in Siemens, Scarlett and Busenius.

2009 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 9
Alberta - 6
Saskatchewan - 5
Manitoba - 1
USA - 1
Forwards - 12
Defense - 10
Goalie - 0

In what will become known as the "year of the defenseman", the top 4 picks were all dmen. And 7 of the first 11 players picked were dmen. The first and only Manitoban in the first round went 16th overall - Reid Gow. The lone American once again hasn't come - Seth Jones. Saskatchewan had just 1 players selected in the first 12 picks.

2010 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 5
Alberta - 12
Saskatchewan - 5
Manitoba - 0
USA - 0
Forwards - 11
Defense - 10
Goalie - 1
The first 3 players were all forward selected as Forsberg, Lazar and Merkley went 1-2-3. After that, just 2 of the next 11 were forwards. Alberta was very strong once again with 5 of the top 7 being Albertans. Manitoba continues to be limited in the first round with no picks and Saskatchewan had a better than normal showing with 5. Nobody takes a chance on an American this time! Just two B.C. players in the top 14 selected.

2011 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 3
Alberta - 12
Saskatchewan - 6
Manitoba - 1
Forwards - 14
Defense - 7
Goalie - 1
Perhaps this will go down as the "year of the forward", with the most selected in the past 6 years. However, that may be all thrown out the window cause picks 2, 3 and 4 were all defenseman. Hicketts, Gropp and Virtanen were the only 3 B.C. players picked in what was a very strong year in Alberta. Saskatchewan also had a strong year in the bantam ranks. Jordan Thomson was the lone Manitoban selected at 4th overall.

Summary of selections accumulated
Average Picks for province
British Columbia - 10, 8, 4, 9, 5, 3, 11 = 8.33
Alberta - 3, 8, 13, 6, 12, 12, 5 = 9.8
Saskatchewan - 6, 3, 3, 5, 5, 6, 4 = 5.33
Manitoba - 2, 2, 1, 1, 0, 1, 2 = 1.50
USA - 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0 = 0.50

Average Picks by position
Forwards - 14, 14, 12, 12, 11, 14 = 12.8
Defenceman - 6, 6, 10, 10, 10, 7 = 8.16
Goalies - 1, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1 = 0.83

2012  First Round Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 11
Alberta - 5
Saskatchewan - 4
Manitoba - 2

Forwards - 12
Defense - 9
Goalie - 1

Past Six WHL Bantam Draft First Round Picks
Alberta - 53
B.C. - 43
Saskatchewan - 27
Manitoba - 7
- It is interesting to note that although Alberta has dominated the bantam draft in the first round over recent year's in terms of top talent, the last first overall pick they have produced was KYLE CHIPCHURA back in the 2001 WHL Bantam Draft. It has been 10 full Bantam Drafts since Alberta has had a first overall pick.
During that span, here is the number each province has had:

Top 2 Rounders by Province
2006 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia -10 + 8 = 18
Alberta - 3 + 6 = 9
Saskatchewan - 6 + 3 = 9
Manitoba - 2 + 3 = 5
USA - 0 + 1 = 1

2007 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 8 + 7 = 15
Alberta - 8 + 9 = 17
Saskatchewan - 3 + 3 = 6
Manitoba - 2 + 3 = 5
USA - 1 + 0 = 1

2008 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 4 +7 = 11
Alberta - 13 + 9 = 22
Saskatchewan - 3 + 5 = 8
Manitoba - 1 + 1 = 2
USA - 1 + 0 = 1

2009 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 9 + 5 = 14
Alberta - 6 + 9 = 15
Saskatchewan - 5 + 7 = 12
Manitoba - 1 + 1 = 2
USA - 1 + 0 = 1

2010 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 5 + 5 = 10
Alberta - 12 + 9 = 21
Saskatchewan - 5 + 5 = 10
Manitoba - 0 + 2 = 2
USA - 0 + 0 = 0
NWT - 0 +1 = 1

2011 WHL Bantam Draft
British Columbia - 3 + 5 = 8
Alberta - 12 + 4 = 16
Saskatchewan - 6 + 8 = 14
Manitoba - 1 + 5 = 6
USA - 0 + 0 = 0

2012 WHL Bantam Draft

British Columbia - 11 + 9 = 20
Alberta - 5 +7 =12
Saskatchewan - 4 + 4 = 8
Manitoba - 2 + 1 = 3
USA - 0 + 1


2006 WHL Bantam Draft
Province by round
British Columbia
1 - 10
2 - 8
3 - 9
4 - 8
5 - 3
6 - 2
7 - 7
8 - 3
9 - 5
10 - 3
11 + - 4
Total - 62

Alberta
3
6
4
7
9
7
3
8
7
7
9
 Total  - 70
Sask.
6
3
6
3
5
6
5
5
4
3
0
 Total -46
Manitoba
2
3
2
3
3
3
4
5
4
1
6
 Total - 36
USA
0
1
0
0
1
3
1
0
0
3
6
 Total -15

2007 WHL Bantam Draft
Province
B.C.
8
7
4
7
5
8
7
7
2
3
8
 Total - 66
Alberta
8
9
6
8
5
7
5
6
7
4
9
 Total - 74
Sask.
3
3
7
5
6
1
5
7
7
2
5
 Total - 51
Manitoba
2
3
4
2
3
2
3
2
3
5
3
 Total  - 32
USA
1
0
1
1
2
4
3
0
2
4
4
 Total - 22

2008 WHL Bantam Draft
Province
B.C.
4
7
7
4
6
3
4
4
3
3
2
 Total - 47
Alberta
13
9
6
9
6
3
9
8
7
3
4
Total - 77
Sask.
3
5
5
4
6
4
4
3
6
5
0
 Total - 45
Manitoba
1
1
2
2
4
8
4
6
3
2
3
 Total - 36
USA
1
0
1
3
0
4
1
0
2
5
4
 Total - 21

2009 WHL Bantam Draft
B.C.
9
5
5
5
3
7
7
2
5
5
3
 Total - 54
Alberta
6
9
11
4
10
7
5
6
3
9
4
 Total - 80
Sask.
5
7
1
3
6
4
3
8
3
4
2
 Total - 46
Manitoba
1
1
4
6
4
3
3
2
3
2
3
 Total - 32
USA
1
0
1
1
2
0
3
3
5
5
3
 Total - 24

2010 WHL Bantam Draft
Province
B.C.
5
5
7
4
5
3
7
4
6
3
5
 Total - 54
Alberta
12
9
10
7
6
10
7
8
6
11
7
 Total - 91
Sask.
5
5
3
7
4
5
0
3
3
3
4
Total - 42
Manitoba
0
2
1
2
7
2
5
6
1
2
1
 Total - 29
USA
0
0
1
0
0
1
2
4
4
1
2
Total - 15

2011 WHL Bantam Draft
Province
B.C.
3
5
9
4
4
3
6
4
5
7
3
 Total - 53
Alberta
12
4
7
9
7
9
8
11
7
3
4
Total - 81
Sask.
6
8
5
4
6
5
4
3
3
0
1
Total - 45
Manitoba
1
5
0
3
3
2
2
0
5
4
3
Total - 28
USA
0
0
1
2
2
3
2
3
2
2
4
Total - 21


2012 WHL Bantam Draft
Province
B.C.
11
9
3
7
3
5
5
8
4
3
5
 Total - 63
Alberta
5
7
3
8
9
9
7
6
6
6
1
Total - 67
Sask.
4
4
8
3
1
3
4
3
7
5
5
Total - 47
Manitoba
2
1
4
3
5
4
2
0
4
2
3
Total - 30
USA
0
1
4
2
2
3
4
4
2
3
4
Total - 29



Summary
Average Picks Per Season - Provincial
B.C.
62
66
47
56
54
53
63
Total - 57.2
Alberta
70
74
77
80
91
81
67
 Total - 77.1
Sask.
46
51
45
46
42
45
47
Total - 46.0
Manitoba
36
32
36
32
29
28
30
Total - 31.8
USA
15
22
21
24
15
21
29
Total - 21.0