WHL Red Deer Rebels

Rebels Prepared for Busy Week with Two Drafts Scheduled

December 7, 2021 - Western Hockey League (WHL)
Red Deer Rebels News Release


Red Deer Rebels centre Kalan Lind vs. the Calgary Hitmen goaltender
Red Deer Rebels centre Kalan Lind vs. the Calgary Hitmen goaltender
(Red Deer Rebels)

Due to the pandemic, WHL scouts have had a more difficult time of evaluating and identifying players for this year's WHL Prospects Draft than in past years.

The draft has historically been staged in the spring, but as a result of the pandemic - and very few provincial league games being played in the fall of 2020 and none in the winter - will be held Thursday, on line of course.

The 2006-born players who will be considered for the 2021 Prospects Draft are playing at different levels - midget and U16 for provincial league players and three age groups for those attending hockey academies. In past years the eligible players were strictly second-year bantams.

"This has been extremely different from an evaluation standpoint," Rebels associate general manager Shaun Sutter said Monday.

"Players are playing at different levels now and the competition really varies in terms of comparing them. It's a lot different that in was in the past when they were all under one roof."

Sutter, along with dozens of league scouts attended the WHL Cup in Red Deer in October and got a good look at many of the top U16 players across western Canada.

"It was a one week event with some very good players and they were competing against kids of the same age," said Sutter.

The Rebels will pick fifth overall Thursday and will almost certainly grab a player who can step right into the lineup next season.

"You'd certainly hope so," said Sutter, who added this year's 2006-born group isn't as strong as the '05 group that included sixth overall pick and current Rebels forward Kalan Lind (pictured above).

"That was one of the best age groups in a long, long time," said Sutter, "but there's still a lot of good players who are close at the top of this draft.

"These kids did a lot of skill stuff during the pandemic when teams weren't playing and you can now see it in some of the kids. Some of them took awhile to get going this fall and some have started to hit the wall. These are things we've never really encountered."

The Rebels scouts, of course, have identified certain players of interest for the draft and the team has one pick in each of the first, second and third rounds, no pick in the fourth, three in the fifth and two-sixth- and seventh-round picks.

"We have some guys we've zeroed in on and we're still kind of going through that," said Sutter. "We have some teams picking in front of us and we don't know what they will do. They're going through the same process as us."

Sutter didn't discount the possibility that one or more picks might be moved for immediate help via the trade route.

"Until the clock starts ticking we have to entertain all options," he said. "We have a good team now and if we can find a way to make it better we'll look at that too. I think you'll see movement this year, whether it's teams trading up or back in the draft or teams trading picks for players.

"This draft almost functions as a bit of a trade deadline."

Defenceman Keith McInnis of Red Deer is the top Central Alberta player eligible for the draft but is apparently 100 per cent committed to playing junior A hockey next season and remaining eligible for a US college scholarship.

McInnis, who starred with Team Alberta during the WHL Cup tournament, currently plays at the Yale Hockey Academy in Abbotsford, BC, as does Sylvan Lake native Caleb Hadland, who was captain of Team Alberta and is the top-rated forward from the Red Deer area.

Sutter did make note of a pair of Red Deer U16 North Star Chiefs players - defenceman Maddox Mason, the club's leading scorer, and goaltender Connor Baumbach.

"Baumbach's a good goalie and Mason is a big strong kid. I'd certainly think some teams will look at him for sure."

US draft set for Wednesday

While teams are still preparing for the Prospects Draft, they'll participate in the WHL US Priority Draft Wednesday.

The Rebels recently hired a US based scout to take the place of former bird dog John Perpich, who was hired by the Minnesota Wild as an amateur scout.

"We've brought on Adam Shaner, who's a coach in the Colorado Thunderbirds program," said Sutter. "He's been running around watching all the '06s and I've been watching by video. "It's kind of how we've kept our lay of the land."

The first US Priority Draft, conducted in March of 2020, hasn't served the Rebels well, at least yet.

The Rebels selected Grayson Sawchyn first overall last year but his rights were dealt to the Seattle Thunderbirds two months later. Sawchyn is now a member of the US National Development Program.

"It's a bit of a crapshoot. You don't know but you're hoping the player will come to training camp or come to visit to see what you have to offer," said Sutter.

"Every player dreams of playing in the world junior championship and they're set up with the US Development Program. They essentially have that program starting with kids when they're 16.

"A lot of these US kids, that's what they're looking at. They all hope to play in the program but of course not every player can. Last year we took Sawchyn first and at the end of the day he's going to the development team because he's one of the best players."

The Rebels selected Aidan Willis with their second pick in the US draft and Sutter is still hopeful that he'll eventually report.

"He's playing high school hockey in the US and he's focused on that right now. We think he's going to play at our level and in our league, but he's kind of keeping his options open right now."

The Rebels will pick eighth in the first round and 37th overall in the second round of the two round draft.

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Images from this story

Red Deer Rebels centre Kalan Lind vs. the Calgary Hitmen goaltender
Red Deer Rebels centre Kalan Lind vs. the Calgary Hitmen goaltender
   



Western Hockey League Stories from December 7, 2021


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