Giants to Select 6th Overall in 2025 WHL Prospects Draft

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WHL Vancouver Giants

Giants to Select 6th Overall in 2025 WHL Prospects Draft

April 10, 2025 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Vancouver Giants News Release


Ladner, B.C. - After the Regina Pats won the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft Lottery - unveiled on Thursday - it is now confirmed that the Vancouver Giants will be selecting sixth overall in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft.

The Giants had a 9.5 per cent chance of winning the lottery and moving up two spots to fourth overall, but the Pats, who went in with the second-best odds, won the lottery and hopped Edmonton to select first overall.

The first round of the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft will be held Wednesday, May 7 at 4 p.m. PT.

Vancouver took part in Thursday's WHL Prospects Draft lottery thanks to a trade in January of 2023 that saw Zack Ostapchuk get moved to the then-Winnipeg ICE. The Giants received three first-round picks (2024, 2025, 2026), two players, two prospects and a fifth-round pick (2024). The ICE moved to Wenatchee the following season and became the Wild.

Wenatchee finished fifth-last in the WHL standings this past season, but the expansion Penticton Vees will receive the fourth overall pick, moving the Giants pick down one spot from fifth to sixth. Vancouver still holds an additional first-round pick in the 2025 Prospects Draft.

The G-Men took local product Ryan Lin with the sixth overall selection two years ago, who was named a finalist for the WHL Rookie of the Year earlier this month. That is the only time in franchise history the Giants have held the sixth overall pick.

The WHL also held a lottery for the 2025 WHL U.S. Priority Draft on Thursday, which was won by the Brandon Wheat Kings. The Giants received the fifth overall selection in the U.S. Priority Draft.

Since the U.S. Priority Draft came into effect in 2020, the Giants have never picked fifth. Tyus Sparks, who scored 11 goals as a 16-year-old this past season, was the eighth overall pick in the 2023 U.S. Priority Draft.

2025 WHL Drafts

The first round of the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft will be held Wednesday, May 7 at 4 p.m. PT. The 2025 WHL U.S. Priority Draft will be held Thursday, May 8 at 8 a.m. PT, with the remainder of the WHL Prospects Draft to follow.

Since 2000, numerous impactful players have heard their names called with the first-overall pick in the WHL Prospects Draft, including but not limited to Landon DuPont (Everett Silvertips, 2024), Daxon Rudolph (Prince Albert Raiders, 2023), Gavin McKenna (Medicine Hat Tigers, 2022), Berkly Catton (Spokane Chiefs, 2021), Connor Bedard (Regina Pats, 2020), Matthew Savoie (Winnipeg ICE, 2019), Dylan Guenther (Edmonton Oil Kings, 2018), Kaiden Guhle (Prince Albert Raiders, 2017), Peyton Krebs (Kootenay ICE, 2016), Mathew Barzal (Seattle Thunderbirds, 2012), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Red Deer Rebels, 2008), and Braydon Coburn (Portland Winterhawks, 2000).

Players eligible for the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft are 2010-born players, who reside in Alberta, British Columbia, 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.

Players not selected in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft will remain eligible to be listed by WHL Clubs at any time thereafter.

The WHL U.S. Priority Draft began in 2020, with Florida Panthers prospect Gracyn Sawchyn selected first overall by the Red Deer Rebels. Since then, a number of impactful players have heard their names called in the WHL U.S. Priority Draft, including Alex Weiermair (Portland Winterhawks, 2020), Blake Fiddler (Edmonton Oil Kings, 2022), Lukas Sawchyn (Seattle Thunderbirds, 2022), Brandon Gorzynski (Calgary Hitmen, 2022), Jackson Gillespie (Kelowna Rockets, 2022), Brody Gillespie (Spokane Chiefs, 2023), Kalder Varga (Kelowna Rockets, 2023), and Shaeffer Gordon-Carroll (Medicine Hat Tigers, 2023).

Players eligible for the 2025 WHL U.S. Priority Draft are 2010-born players who have resided in the United States for two or more consecutive hockey seasons immediately preceding the WHL U.S. Priority Draft. Should a player's family have moved from WHL territory in Canada to the U.S. for at least one complete season, the player will be eligible for the WHL U.S. Priority Draft. To be eligible for the 2025 WHL U.S. Priority Draft, a player must reside in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, or Wyoming.

Players not selected in the 2025 WHL U.S. Priority Draft will remain eligible to be selected in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft, beginning in the second round.

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