Canes take 10 in WHL Bantam Draft

By Jensen, Randy on April 23, 2020.

LETHBRIDGE HERALD

The Lethbridge Hurricanes selected 10 players, including five forwards, four defencemen and one goaltender in the 2020 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft held online on Wednesday.

With their first pick (16th overall), the Hurricanes selected 2005-born forward Cole Miller. The product of Edmonton appeared in 28 games with the Edmonton KC Squires Bantam AAA in the 2019-20 season where he totalled 26 points, including 11 goals and 15 assists with 10 penalty minutes.

“It’s a tremendous honour to be drafted by the Hurricanes,” said Miller, in a news release. “It was a goal that I set for myself at the start of this season to be drafted into the WHL and to be drafted by the Hurricanes, it’s closer to home, and it’s super special to be taken 16th overall; it’s amazing right now.

“It was super nerve-racking getting up to the pick talking to the Hurricanes GM (Peter Anholt) and when I saw my name pop up on the list it was a sigh of relief and a bunch of texts came in, it was just crazy. I’m super excited to come to Lethbridge for training camp.”

Miller also suited up with the Edmonton KC Squires Midget team where he collected two points (1g-1a) in three games.

“I like to describe myself as a power forward,” added Miller. “I like to use my size and speed to create open chances for myself and for teammates and one of my biggest strengths is my 200-foot game. I pride myself on my defensive zone as much as I do in the offensive zone.”

In the second round (38th overall), the Canes selected defenceman Noah Chadwick. The product of Saskatoon spent the 2019-20 regular season with the Saskatoon Stallions Bantam AA where he totalled 42 points, including nine goals and 33 assists, in 21 games.

“Chadwick is a good puck-moving defenceman who had missed a few games due to injury, but he’s phenomenal on the power play,” said Hurricanes head scout Rob MacLachlan

With their third-round pick (45th overall), the Canes selected forward Logan Wormald. The Langley, B.C., product appeared in 30 games with the Yale Bantam Prep team collecting 62 points (26g-36a).

“Wormald is a really skilled guy and I think his hockey sense is through the roof,” said MacLachlan. “He scores, he sets up plays and played on Yale’s top line all season and he’s a really skilled player.”

The Canes next pick was in the fifth round (104th overall) when they selected forward Dustin Renas. In 2019-20, the Saskatoon product appeared in 31 games with the Saskatoon Maniacs Bantam AA totalling 67 points, including 33 goals.

“Renas is a big, strong power forward that has some skill and can score some goals,” said MacLachlan. “He really came on at the end of the season and he is really hard to play against.”

In the sixth round (123rd overall), the Hurricanes picked goaltender Brady Smith. The native of Cloverdale, B.C., dressed in 17 games with the Yale Hockey Academy posting a 13-2-0 record with a 1.55 goals against average and a .925 save percentage.

“Smith has some growing to do, but we feel that he’s going to be able to do that, and if he does he’s going to be a pretty high-end goaltender in our league,” added MacLachlan.

The Hurricanes then selected defenceman Aiden Ziprick with their seventh-round (148th overall) pick. The product of Russell, Man., spent the 2019-20 season with the Parkland Rangers Bantam 1AAA where he appeared in 36 games collecting 48 points (14g-34a).

“Ziprick is more of a stay-at-home defenceman who skated pretty well and thinks the game pretty well,” said MacLachlan.

With the 170th overall pick in the eighth round, the Hurricanes selected forward Zach Bansley. The native of Tisdale, Sask., spent the 2019-20 season with the North East Wolfpack Bantam AAA where he racked up 86 points, including 39 goals, in just 31 games.

In the ninth round, the Hurricanes selected defenceman Kaden Phillips 192nd overall. The product of Sundre spent the 2019-20 season with the Olds Grizzlys Bantam AA of the SCABL where he had 22 points, including three goals and 19 assists in 29 games.

With their final two picks, the Hurricanes selected defenceman Adam Beamin in the 10th round (214th overall) and forward Rylan Williams in the 11th round (236th overall). Beamin appeared in 31 games collecting 22 points (3g-19a) with the Saskatoon Stallions Bantam AA while Williams racked up 66 points (30g-36a) in 31 games with the Swift Current Broncos Bantam AA.

“We’re really pleased with our draft adding the 10 players that we did and are happy with the job that our scouts did and are proud of them for the way they do their job,” said Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt. “I think for all of us we are very excited about all of our adds and a lot of them are going to play Triple-A Midget next year which good for their development.”

Two members of the Lethbridge Val Matteotti Golden Hawks were selected.

Forward Ty Fraser, a six-foot, 153-pound forward, was selected in the fifth round, 94th overall, by the Winnipeg Ice while John Szabo, 5-foot-11, 173 pounds, was taken first in the sixth round by the Edmonton Oil Kings.

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