FILE PHOTO JAMES TUBB
The Medicine Hat Tigers had the ninth overall pick in the Western Hockey League's prospects draft on Thursday.
jtubb@medicinehatnews.com@ReporterTubb
The 2023 Western Hockey League’s prospect draft is returning to normal for scouting staffs across the league.
This year’s draft, taking place Thursday, marks the first since 2019 that hasn’t been directly affected by COVID-19. The 2020 draft was in the middle of the pandemic, the 2021 draft occurred in December of that year and a mere five months later in May, was the 2022 draft where the Medicine Hat Tigers selected Gavin McKenna first overall.
Scouts have had the chance to follow the 2008-born draft class all season and Medicine Hat Tigers Director of player personnel Bobby Fox says there are both positives and negatives to having the full time to scout.
“You can start to really pick apart guys,” Fox said. “Guys who are really good players and you can almost watch player too much and start nitpicking them. But at the same time, there’s no excuses, you’ve seen these guys all year you have a bigger body of work you don’t have to go on one weekend like a provincial camp. You see these guys all year, you know what they can bring?.”
After finishing their regular season with a 30-29-8-1 the Tigers have the ninth selection in the prospect draft, the third year in a row the club has selected in the top-10. Unlike the 2022 draft where they had the pick of the litter, Fox says with the ninth pick they have a group of four to five players they would be excited to pick if still available.
“It’s fluid, you’d love to say that you’re going to get this guy or that guy but the one that’s really interesting and what I’ve learned is that every team’s list is going to be completely different,” Fox said. “You have to expect the unexpected and you have to make sure you know you’re prepared to draft anybody, especially the high end guys. Because you might value a guy more than another team and a guy you didn’t think was going to be around might fall to you, so you have to be ready.”
Before the WHL prospect draft on Thursday, which gets underway at 10 a.m., the Tigers have two selections in the U.S. priority draft held today. They have the ninth pick and the 36th overall picks in the two-round draft featuring only 2008 American born players.
Fox says they’ve been doing their due diligence since before Christmas whether it’s sending out questionnaires or just having conversations as they cross their i’s and dot their t’s ahead of both drafts. As they put Together their list it comes down to a final question, are they Tigers?
“We’ll be bringing in some of the scouting staff and bringing up video on the TV just to make sure what we’re seeing is evident and we can just double check on some guys,” Fox said. “But you have your list, you have your sorted order and you just make sure what we kind of say is, are they Tigers?
“We have a Tiger rating (1-9) and that’s a priority. Are they going to help us win?”
Looking at the 2008-born draft class
The News spoke with WHL scout Joel Henderson, director of scouting for Puck Preps and a WHL scout with Future Considerations Hockey. He says there is no clear number one pick like McKenna in this year’s draft but sees a lot of potential in the players listed in the first round.
“I don’t want people to think the high end of this draft should be undersold, it has a really deep top of it,” Henderson said. “You’re getting a really good player at the top end of things/ The top 12, top 13 picks inside of that and teams are getting a really good player.”
Through his player projections and observations, Henderson sees the Tigers ninth overall pick as a spot where a good player could fall from the top of the list to the orange and black. He has four forwards he believes could be the one available for Medicine Hat: Cruz Pavao (Calgary), Noah Kosick (Victoria, B.C.), Dayne Beuker (Humboldt) and Joe Iginla (Lake Country, B.C.).
Pavao played for Edge’s U15 prep team, putting up 32 goals and 67 points in 23 games. “Cruz is a player who really got quite a lot better throughout the year by just adding strength,” Henderson said. “He’s a little bit heavier than some of the other guys and so that added strength to his stride and being able to power his way in layers really served him well. He’s a very smart player, he’s got very fast hands, a natural goal scorer and he can kind of shift and change multiple different ways.”
Kosick stood out for Pacific Coast Academy’s U18 team, as a 5-foot-6, 14-year-old forward putting up 10 goals and 45 points in 32 games.
“As far as pure skill set, Noah is the best edge skater, balance flow, all of that stuff, just natural skating technique,” Henderson said. “Noah builds power, maintains power and accelerates probably better than anybody in this draft. The obvious knock against Noah is (size), it’s maybe not for some teams.”
Beuker reached the century point mark for the U15AA Humboldt Broncos with 47 goals and 103 points in 30 games. “For my money he was the best player in Saskatchewan this year,” Henderson said. “He’s a guy who still needs to put on some height and weight but the acceleration, the way he builds speed, plays with his head up, he can be very adaptable… He’s going to project to be a very smart, well-rounded player.”
Iginla is the second son of NHL legend Jerome Iginla, joining brother Tie who plays for the Seattle Thunderbirds in the WHL. Joe had 37 goals and 65 points in 27 games with Rink Kelowna’s U15 team. “Another Iginla kid, just like his brother he is very well trained and very, very smart,” Henderson said. “Even at his size (5-foot-8), he’s a natural goal scorer and he’s still growing… He protects to be a really good player. He’s smart, he can be a playmaker, an energy player, a really smart goal scorer. He can score some goals and some crafty ways.”
