Hurricanes Finish Bantam Draft with Nine Selections
Red Deer, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes Hockey Club concluded the 2019 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft in Red Deer with a total of nine selections, including five forwards, three defenseman and one goaltender.
The Hurricanes selected defenseman Logan McCutcheon with their first selection of the draft in the third round (65th overall). McCutcheon – a product of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – spent the 2018-2019 season with the Saskatoon Maniacs Bantam AA collecting 59 points (13g-46a) along with eight penalty minutes in 31 regular season games while adding four points in three post-season games.
“Logan is a good puck mover and a really good skater,” said Hurricanes Head Scout Rob MacLachlan. “He’s in the same line as Calen Addison and that’s the way the game is going and that’s the type of players we targeted.”
The ‘Canes acquired an additional third round pick in a trade with the Vancouver Giants and selected forward Reid Mackay who registered 38 points (15g-23a) with 30 penalty minutes in 33 regular season games with the Lloydminster Bobcats Bantam team. Mackay added nine points (4g-5a) in four post-season games and had five points (4g-1a) in five games.
“Reid is a pretty skilled player who is a really good skater and thinks the game very well and we’re really happy to get him where we did,” added MacLachlan.
With their third selection, in the fourth round, the Hurricanes selected American-born rearguard Camden Shasby from Anchorage, Alaska, who played for the Anchorage North Stars 14U team in 2018-2019 collecting 15 points (2g-13a) in 11 games.
“Shasby is a pretty special kid. He’s a smaller defenseman and is along the lines of Addison and he has so much ability,” said MacLachlan. “We’ve got some work to do, but he has so much upside, he’s a fantastic skater and his skill is right through the roof.”
After a trade with the Victoria Royals to acquire a sixth round selection, the Hurricanes picked forward Jakin Lawrence from Rosetown, Saskatchewan. In 31 games with the West Central Wheat Kings Bantam AA, Lawrence totaled 35 points (14g-21a) in 31 games.
In the eighth round, the Hurricanes selected two skaters; defenseman Kaden Dyck (159th overall) from Plum Coulee, Manitoba and forward Chase LaPinta (164th overall) from Frisco, Texas. The ‘Canes added another forward, Ayden Peters from Calgary, in the ninth round (193rd overall) before taking Lethbridge-born goaltender Erick Roest with their 10th round pick (215th overall).
“Erick played really well this season and the thing I like about him is he got better and better all year and worked his way up into the top goaltenders by the end of the year, in my opinion,” expressed MacLachlan.
With their final pick of the Bantam Draft, the Hurricanes selected Rockwall, Texas product Evan Raines in the 11th round (237th overall).
“Overall I think we came out pretty good with the players that we were able to draft,” said MacLachlan. “We’ve got some work to do on the recruiting side but we are very happy and we think we got a good mix from top to bottom with a lot of skill and we want to welcome all the players that we selected to the Hurricanes organization.”
In addition to the nine players selected in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, the Hurricanes acquired two players in trade adding 2002-born forward Alex Thacker in a trade with the Swift Current Broncos and 2002-born forward/defenseman Tyson Phare from the Prince George Cougars.
