The Western Hockey League Bantam Draft Lottery was held in Calgary this week and the Spokane Chiefs came up winners and as a result will have the first overall selection in the 2021 WHL Draft. The Brandon Wheat Kings participating in the draft, will pick 3rd, 4th and 22nd overall in the 1st round.
The 3rd overall pick originally belonged to Victoria Royals which was acquired as part of the Tanner Kaspick trade while the 4th overall pick originally belonged to the Moose Jaw Warriors and was acquired during the Kale Clague trade.
Doug Gasper, Brandon Wheat Kings general manager said “This is huge for the organization to get building blocks for the future. Any time you pick in the top 10 you have a chance to get a franchise player.”
As nice as it is to have the picks, Gasper knows gaining them wasn’t easy. “When you have to trade heart and soul guys like Tanner Kaspick or Kale Clague it’s hard. You need to set aside personal feelings and do what’s best for the organization in the future, and we are seeing that now. Thanks to those 2 trades we had 5 roster players this past season, 2 prospects and now these upcoming picks.”
Since the draft was introduced in 1990, the Wheat Kings have chosen fourth overall on two occasions and both turned out to be outstanding selections.
In 1990 the Wheat Kings opted for Winnipeg forward Bobby Brown and in 2013, the WHL club selected future WHL Rookie of the year Nolan Patrick of Winnipeg.
The last time the Wheat Kings had 2 picks in the top 10 was 2 years ago when they selected Nate Danielson 5th and Tyson Zimmer 6th overall.
The WHL Bantam draft is scheduled to be held virtually Wednesday December 8th 2021.
Following is the first round order of this year’s bantam draft:
WHL Bantam Draft Lottery Order
1st – Spokane Chiefs
2nd – Tri City Americans
3rd – Brandon Wheat Kingss ** (via Victoria)
4th – Brandon Wheat Kings * (via Moose Jaw)
5th – Red Deer Rebels
6th – Swift Current Broncos
7th – Swift Current (via Portland)
Players eligible for the 2021 WHL Bantam Draft will be 2006-born players who 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.