It may be the offseason in the SJHL, but the Battlefords North Stars still have some work to do for the upcoming Bantam Draft as they prepare to welcome new faces to the organization.
The draft was first introduced last year in an attempt to keep home grown players skating in Saskatchewan.
"Our Saskatchewan scouts have done a tremendous job tracking these kids and getting to know the details of their game," Head Coach Kevin Hasselberg said. "The two big tournaments that allow the best viewing are the Graham Tuer tournament early in the season and the SaskFirst tournament in April. We have established a good list as a blue print, now we get to select the future of our team."
The selection is open to players who have finished their bantam eligibility and who were born in Saskatchewan, which is a similar style to the Western Hockey League draft. Players going through the draft will be 2001 born, meaning they will have to wait until the 2017-18 season to get their first crack at junior hockey.
Last year, the North Stars selected defenceman Jake Koroluk with their first round pick and sixth overall. Like many skaters selected in the SJHL draft, he continues to develop his game in the affiliate system with aspirations of suiting up for the junior team. Bill Chow, president of the league, believes this process is a success and will lead to more talented players wanting to play in Saskatchewan. Koroluk skated with the Prince Albert Mintos of the SMAAAHL during the 2015-16 season.
Other selections by the North Stars were Kaden Boser, forward for the Saskatoon Blazers (second round), Ty Muench, forward for the Saskatoon Riverkings (fourth round), goalie Tyson Byman of the Midget AA Melville Millionaires (fifth round) and Logan Fritzke, defenceman for the Swift Current Hurricanes (sixth round). This year, Hasselberg is looking for home grown players.
"We would like to target players close to the Battlerfords that may have an attachment to our community," Hasselberg said. "More importantly, we will be targeting the best players remaining at the time of our picks. Skill and hockey sense being a priority, a little luck won't hurt as well."
This year brings a new batch of highly talented players from around the province as they bid to join an SJHL club. Hasselberg says that once they are drafted, it is imperative to build a relationship with each player.
"We have to know who our players are and what makes them tick, and they need to know who we are. If we can start to establish respect and trust early, the transition to becoming a full-time roster player becomes that much easier. In a perfect world, we would see our draft picks playing locally in the future with our AAA team in town before making the step to the SJHL."
Players who are selected through the draft will automatically go on the club's 50-player protected list. This is in addition to the “Auto Protect B-List,” which is used for home grown talent living within the boundaries of a given team. These skaters can only be protected until their 17th birthday. After that, if they have not signed with the club, they are free agents, and the rest of the SJHL has free rein to pick them up. These athletes are not eligible to be drafted by other teams before turning 18, but are still able to attend camps from interested buyers until selected.
The draft is made up of six rounds, and 2017 picks can be used to trade throughout the upcoming season.
1st round: F Tye Scherger of Macklin (18 G 19 A with West Central Wheat Kings)
2nd round: F Dylan Esau of Meadow Lake (12 G 13 A with Meadow Lake Stampeders)
3rd round: Tyler Danielson of Saskatoon (7 G 15 A with Saskatoon Generals)
3rd round: Aaron Toews of Swift Current (26 G 28 A with Swift Current Raiders)
4th round: Estyn Hyman of Canwood (2 G 6 A with the Battleford Barons)
5th round: Blake Allen of Davidson
