The Thunderbirds just won the Bantam Draft lottery and will select 1st overall in the upcoming 2012 Bantam Draft.
In my mind, Seattle was already under a tremendous amount of pressure to improve their drafting of players and the pressure just got a tad bit higher.
The pre-draft speculation was that any team winning the lottery would likely select Burnaby Winter Club forward Mathew Barzal. We'll have to wait and see what Seattle decides to do.
The 2012 Bantam Draft will be held in Calgary on May 3rd.
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43 comments :
They'll probably go with a big stiff defenseman.
Did they ever sign Ryan Gropp?
Do we get Portland's draft pick this year and next year or next year and the year after?
I hope they draft offense. We have quite a few young D-men who will hopefully pan out.
I don't think Gropp has signed yet, get it done Russ, we need him in here next season. Connor Honey and Branden Troock can't score all the goals next season.
1. Seattle
2. Prince Albert
3. Prince George
4. Lethbridge
5. Swift Current
6. Red Deer
7. Everett
8. Victoria
9. Kelowna
10. Kootenay
11. Prince George (from Regina in Marincin/Blidstrand deal, Jan 10/12)
12. Victoria (from Brandon in Kevin Sundher deal, Jan 9/12)
13. Brandon (from Saskatoon in Brayden Schenn deal, Jan 10/11)
14. Spokane
15. Vancouver
16. Medicine Hat
17. Calgary
18. Lethbridge (from Moose Jaw in Cam Braes deal, Jan 9/12)
19. Kamloops
20. Seattle (from Portland in Marcel Noebels deal, Jan 10/12)
21. Tri-City
22. Edmonton
Will Portland still be good next season? They have nine 19 year old's this season, they have to come back to earth a bit right?
Portland has a good pool of talent and will remain competitive even with the departure of a few veterans for the season to come.
just think. The Hawks had 2 19 - year old playing in the NHL this past year!! The hawks will be just fine next year, maybe not 100 points but over .500 team!
Let's assume that none of the 19's make an NHL roster next season. They still lose at least seven guys or a third of the roster.
I'm not saying they won't be good, just that they may be younger, which may lead to fewer wins.
I think it will be a down year in the U.S. Division next season but Portland would probably still be the favorite to finish on top. More then the T-birds vastly improving, I think the pack (teams like Portland, Tri and Spokane) fall back towards us in the standings.
Lockhart,Swenson and Jacobs will lead the scoring as top veterans; Honey and Trook as 94s will add the depth to the scoring. It looks to be a great offensive year! Can't wait for the new season!
This years theme should be skill , skill and more skill in this years draft!!
Swenson is still pretty new to regular ice time. A good addition but not some one you'd expect to lead the team in scoring. Lockhart and Jacobs aren't really leading scorers, never have been and never will be. Jeez they were drafted by Russ what did you expect.
I don't know what you saw this year that made you think that Lockhart, Swenson & Jacobs can be top scorers or top veterans. Lockhart seems to always work hard but the scoring just hasn't been there. Jacobs seems to have really been set back by the September injury. I hope you are right....but it will take a big leap in productivity for that to happen.
I agree with the two prior comments above. Jacobs was MIA the second half of the year, I would be surprised if he scores anything above 15 goals. Lockhart is a grinder and hard worker but I don't see anything more from him next year(if we keep him) than he did this year. Swenson is who I am looking forward to next year, he gets those greasy goals and is a hard worker.
Swenson and Honey are the forwards who can lead the way next year. They both came in mid season and made an showed their talents.
..that was to say both Swenson and Honey made an impact and showed their talent!
I'm not sure Lockhart is a lock for next years team. I personally would rather see Rouse and Lund as the 20yr forwards. I'd look to see Jacobs to get back where we was last year (22,22), he missed a large part of this year recovering from shoulder surgery. I think we might be able to see 30+ goals from Troock and 20+ from Honey and Swenson.
Hopefully we can get Gropp signed and in the mix and get a least one impact Euro forward (I think both Euros will be forwards). I think overall the T-birds could score a lot more than this year (I know that is not a very high bar). I think our defense really has to improve. I think Theodore will be a lot of fun to watch. I'd also like to see Hauf and Green develop into stay at home physical D-men.
Marc
I agree Marc, I'd rather see Rouse and Lund as well with Deagle being the other 20. I figure at least one of our import players has to be a good D man.
I think Lockhart brings more than people think, not only is he a solid faceoff man but he makes smart plays. He's one of the few Birds that can actually make solid passes and set up plays which would benefit a Troock who has a great shot but tries to make it himself. And he is a leader, it's a tough choice we have decent 20yr old options next year... Also i'm not sure if Cotton is ready for a full season I see us bringing in another goaltender to share time who knows who that will be right now
Gropp is one of the few Canadian born players to express going the NCAA route instead of CHL. I was told by a member of the organization that Gropp has little to no interest in signing with the birds. Would be a huge loss.
Actually many Canadian players go the NCAA route. Check the rosters of most NCAA teams.
Although Lund had his best year this past season I don't think he is a good candidate for one of our 20's. He was MIA for most of the second half of the season and was probably one of the vets that coach k called out this year.
If Gropp has no interest in the birds then can we trade his rights to let's say Kamloops where he lives or some other BC team so that we can get something for him?
Not buying that he has no interest in playing for Seattle. On his facebook page he lists the Seattle Thunderbirds among his "likes and interests". No other team listed, not even a favorite NHL team. Also, throughout the season he was always logged on to that T-birds Fan Base facebook page.
Maybe Gropp will be more interested if we are able to draft a real promising player with the
1st pick in the bantam draft? Here's hoping on both accounts.
Gropp could become interested if the team becomes committed to winning. Something, regardless what people think about Russ, has been lacking.
Just because you like something on Facebook doesn't mean he'll play for that team. I meant one of the few top 10 draft picks to go to the NCAA
Yes, because he has no interest at all in the Thunderbirds, he was online every game night following the team and he puts a link to the team's facebook page on his page because he can't wait to not play for them. Unless your "source" within the organization is the GM, or a top scout, what some intern ticket seller tells you means nada.
Then why hasn't he signed yet?
My guess is Gropp himself has lots of interest in playing with the T-birds. maybe the hold up is his parents.
The bantam draft is May 3rd but the biggest draft is between Russ's ears. The only bad draft he acknowledges is 2007. No mention of 2008 in his recent interview w/ Mike any of the many previous debacles.
I think Russ is pretty much right on. You can see a change in scouting. Sanvido went home and came back a new player. We saw just what they must have seen when they drafted him. Just like you can see the talent in Troock and Hauf. Plus so many other guys that put their hearts and souls into the game. It's not always just the first round pick. Theodore is the real deal. Obviously someone was watching that knows what they are doing. Why should Russ beat the dead horse? There isn't ANYTHING he can do about the past. He is obviously trying to make the changes this team needs.
Hauf is not impressive compared to other 1st rounders and he was a 4th pick!! I agree that Theodore is a magnificent player. Reminds me of Everetts Ryan Murray
you really only can compare Hauf to Kanzig (Victoria) and Jensen (med Hat). The only big body d-men picked in the 1st round after Hauf. I really haven't seen anything from the other guys but Jensen has 6 pts in 42 games with med hat. Does that mean anyhting? not really. Shutdown type d-men are like power forwards, they tend to take a while longer to develop. As far as progress made during the season, I think Hauf did fine. Is ice time increased and he was facing top 2 lines during second half of the season. were we supposed to expect 10 goals out of him?
That 2010 draft is turning out pretty good, Hauf, if he continue to progress, will be a mainstay at the blue line, Theodore is already the QB on the powerplay and Green should be ready to come back next year for 5th or 6th spot.
So many people want to blame Russ and only Russ for the draft issues in the past. Russ can't scout every player. There are just too many of them. So he has to take someone elses word when they say this kid is the real deal. If those people are not great talent evaluators they make Russ look bad. I've heard a few different times that he made some changes in the scouting department (don't know if thats true) after those few horrendous drafts and since then we have been better. I believe we are headed in the right direction. Is it September yet?
I have no problem with Hauf as a player. I think he's going to be a very good defenseman over the next 3-4 seasons. I do take issue though with him being the 4th overall pick in the entire 2010 draft. We left some pretty good players on the board when we selected Hauf. It just seems they wanted a 6'5" d-man and it didn't matter what else was available. Here are players the T-birds didn't draft and what they did this past season as 16 yr olds: Josh Morrisey (10 goals & 38 pts in 68 games with Prince Albert. He's a d-man picked 6th overall, 2 spots after Hauf), Morgan Klmchuk (18 goals & 36 pts in 67 games with Regina)Matt Needham (12 goals, 34 pts in 61 games with Kamloops), Eric Comrie (19-6-1-1 2.67 GAA for Tri), Carter Hansen (8 goals 18 pts with Moose Jaw in 52 games), Sam Reinhart (28 goals 62 pts in 67 games with Kootenay), Nic Petan (14 goals & 35 pts in 61 games with Portland). Some of these player stats are helped by the teams they played on but look at Morrisey with PA and tell me he wouldn't have been a better pick.
1:14 post, where to start
"So many people want to blame Russ and only Russ for the draft issues in the past. Russ can't scout every player." No but he is responsible for the quality of the scouting and he sure as heck can scout the top picks. He has to scout the head scout and the rest of the scouts, pick great scouts and get rid of the rest. he clearly has not done that over his time the league. He also has to stay out of there way and not meddle and muck up decisions. "...after those few horrendous drafts.." What hockey planet have you been on? 2008 Sanvido and Muth went 1 and 2.
2007 Fleming rnd one bust, Pickard in the 2nd - yes they got it right w/ Pickard
2006 Chaffin rnd one bust, Ashdown rnd two bust
2005 Cody Hanson, rnd one bust Boyer mediocre player, not really a good second round pick but by comparison this was a success for Russ
2004 Hickey excellent pick, Richard mediocre not really a good second round pick but hey Russ at least he played in the league!
2003 Holloway good pick, Dion never made the league
2002 Durand rnd one bust, Stamler mediocre pick
2001 Cole Simpson 1st rnd bust, Aaron Bader so so pick
2000 Matthew Hansen 1st rnd bust, Pinder & Bishop both second round busts never played in the WHL
So no it's not just a few horrendous drafts. There is a very strong correlation between the drafts and the he win loss columns and the win loss columns tell the story, it's a long ugly story.
Matthew Hansen was definitely not a bust. He was moved from forward to d-man early in his career and was a top 4 d-man with this team in some of its most recent good years. He was even drafted by an NHL club as a d-man. As a 20 year old he helped Moose Jaw to the league Finals. Durand and Stamler weren't busts either. Both had solid WHL careers and like Hansen, both were NHL draft picks. The T-birds had some good winning seasons with those players on their roster. Not every player has to put up superstar numbers to avoid being called a bust. I would not call Chaffin a bust either. He had to retire due to too many concussions. Cody Hanson, Simpson, Fleming and the others I would agree with.
to the anon @5:34
I get what you are saying, its the old get the best player or get what we need conondrum of a draft. If you feel like you should upgrade your blueline you would not go out and get a guy like Petan. The one guy in your list that I would of considered is Morresey, but then I probably would not have picked Theodore later.
to the anon @6:42
first, calling Richards and boyer mediocre players is unfounded and uncalled for. Scoring between 50 and 60 pts in their best seasons is not a sign of a mediocre WHL level player. Then Connor Rankin, Jordan Messier, Lepsic or Gabriel are mediocre also?
Richards was a 2nd or 3rd line guy that was good with the puck, responsible in the d zone and yeah probably hit is max in pts production in the mid 50s but that type of player is needed and useful on any team. Boyer probably would of made more of an impact if he decided to come back to seattle instead of staying home. He would have been the de-facto second line center and most likely increased his production. He wanted a trade and flopped in SAS.
Second, you are cherry picking. The hanson draft year not only yielded Boyer, but Deserres and Acolatse. Fine additions to the roster, if you ask me.
No cherry picking, those are all of the 1st and 2nd round picks over that period of time. In fact you cherry pick if you pick one year and some of the later round picks that worked out. Medicocre is avg, Richard and Boyer were average as was Stamler. And yes Matthew Hansen was a bust as a first round pick. Just look where they have finished on average over since 2000 and you'll know how good they are at drafting.
Matthew Hanson became a very solid stay at home d-man over his WHL career and was not a bust. Just because you say he was doesn't make it so.
2005 stats: 16 yr old season he 3g 1a in 44 games as a forward.
17 yr old season (switched to D): 3g 18 assts +21 in 51 games (missed time due to injury).
18 yr old season: 4g 22 pts +11 in 60 games (missed games due to injury)
19 yr old season: 5g 20pts +37 in 62 games.
20 yr old season (started in Red Deer and was traded to MJ for their run to the Finals):2g 25 pts +15. Played in 55 playoff games including the 2006 WHL finals.
T-birds career: 219 games, 15g, 61a, 76 pts and a +63! Career in the WHL including playoffs: 323games, 16g, 75a, 91 pts.
That is a solid WHL career. He wasn't the first overall pick in the draft, he was picked 13th in the first round.
Your opinion my opinion we are each entitled. He sure as heck isn't the type of first round player you are going to win anything with. If you like finishing where the T Birds have over the years than good for you.
I know that Gropp used to follow the team and some of the players on twitter, but he no longer does. We'll see what happens.
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