The Warriors had the 22nd and final selection in the first round of the event and selected Austin Doyle from Odessa, Tex. and followed by picking forward Tyler Ciovetti from El Segundo, Cal. with the 23rd pick.
The WHL U.S. Prospects Draft is open to 15-year-old players who reside south of the border and in the western United States.
Doyle, a 5-foot-8, 140-pound defenceman, played for the Dallas Stars Elite 14U AAAs last season and had two assists in 19 games in 16U AA; through 29 games this season in the 15U AAA Doyle has four goals and seven points in 29 games.
“He’s grown quite a bit from the last time we’ve seen him and he’s puck-moving defenceman that defends pretty well, kind of a hybrid defenceman,” said Warriors general manager Jason Ripplinger in describing the team’s newest rearguard.
Chiovetti, a 5-foot-6, 127-pound forward, has shown some offensive push in the past two seasons. Playing with the Los Angeles Junior Kings in 14U AAA in 2020-21, Chiovetti had 28 goals and 63 points in 56 games to go along with five goals and nine points in five games with the Tier I Elite Hockey League. This season in 15U AAA, Chiovetti has 13 goals and 27 points in 32 games.
“Chiovetti is smaller, but he’s really gifted offensively, he’s a good skater and we have some good background on him, too,” Ripplinger said. “His dad (David) is from Canada, so he knows all about the Warriors.”
Interestingly enough, there’s also a Saskatchewan connection with Doyle -- his father Adam played in the SJHL with the Minot Top Guns in 1994-95 and went on to play three seasons with the University of Regina Cougars before joining the Odessa Jackalopes of the Central Hockey League.
As one might expect, putting together the U.S. Draft was a bit of a process over the last few months, especially with limited viewing of American players due to the ongoing pandemic.
“From years past we’ve been able to put some ticks beside some names as underage players, so we had a good idea of what was out there,” Ripplinger said. “It was tough to get across the border this year to actually watch these kids, so we had to watch a lot of video on these guys and work with our contacts in the states as well, just to see where they’re at.
“It was a lot of work for us, but we did it and were able to do our job and pick the right guys.”
The Seattle Thunderbirds used the first overall pick to select Vancouver-born Macklin Celebrini, who put up 50 goals and 141 points in 14U AAA with Shattuck St. Mary’s least year and has 20 goals and 42 points as a 15-year-old with the 18U Prep team this season.
