The Power Dodge Estevan Bruins bolstered their prospect ranks Friday during the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) draft, selecting eight players in six rounds.
The Bruins opened the draft by selecting defenceman McKale Paul with the 10th overall pick. Paul spent last season playing with the Swift Current Broncos bantam AA program, where he put up 13 goals and 27 points in 31 games. He also had 102 penalty minutes.
The second round pick was forward Parker Lalonde of the Warman Wildcats program. He had 24 goals and 50 points in 31 games, and added six goals and 10 points in five post-season games.
“Our first two picks were guys that we hoped to get in the first two rounds, and after that, there’s lots of jostling,” said head coach/GM Chris Lewgood. “Every guy that we picked was a guy who was in the mix for us.”
After not having a pick in the third round, the Bruins had six selections in the final three rounds. They started the fourth round by choosing forward Carter Dereniwsky of the Yorkton Maulers midget AAA program. He had eight goals and 25 points in 41 games last season, but is also a former second round draft choice of the Western Hockey League’s Victoria Royals.
They also took forward Seth Dragan, who had 12 goals and 31 points, to go with 64 penalty minutes, in 31 games with the Saskatoon Generals.
Their lone selection of the fifth round was forward Ben Schmidt, who played with the Prairie Storm bantam AA team last season.
They wrapped up the draft with three sixth round selections: forward Nolan Flamand from the Saskatoon Blazers, goaltender James Venne from the Saskatoon Outlaws and defenceman Brady Bye from the Prairie Storm.
Lewgood credited the team’s scouting staff for their work prior to the draft.
“I feel that we’ve got one of the deepest scouting staffs in the SJHL, with Cole Zahn, Todd Ripplinger and Dustin Laloche. These guys are excellent and they’re well-prepared and very professional with this thing. I’m very comfortable to defer to their understanding of the bantam players.”
The Bruins like the players they currently have in the organization, and the type of players.
“Hopefully a handful of them end up playing for our team, and if they do, we know they’re the type of guys that make our team better,” said Lewgood.
The Bruins have had a couple of hits in the draft, and some misses, since the first draft in 2015. Their approach and philosophy has changed, too. But they had several draft picks play for the team this season, even though the players selected in 2016, 2017 and 2018 were still midget-eligible.
