With gameplay evaluations a major key to determining how players will be ranked heading into the annual event, the league announced Monday that the WHL Draft -- formerly known as the Bantam Draft, with that name retired due to Hockey Canada switching to age group designations -- now being moved to December.
“Moving the 2021 WHL Draft from May to December allows additional time for players in the 2006 age group to be evaluated following a challenging season due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” commented WHL Commissioner Ron Robison in a press release. “We anticipate minor hockey leagues and tournaments will be fully operational in the fall, which will allow players to compete at a high level once again.”
The Moose Jaw Warriors currently have five picks in the first four rounds -- the Victoria Royals’ first round pick, received in the Brayden Tracey / Adam Evanoff blockbuster deadline deal at the 2020 trade deadline. Their original first round selection went to the Brandon Wheat Kings as part of the Kale Clague deadline deal in 2018. The Warriors have two second-round selections: their own, and Calgary’s pick acquired in the deal for Jett Woo in May of 2019, along with their own picks in the third and fourth rounds.
The WHL also announced that the 2021 WHL Cup will be held in October 2021, featuring Under-16 teams from each of Canada’s four Western branches – BC Hockey, Hockey Alberta, the Saskatchewan Hockey Association and Hockey Manitoba – competing for U-16 supremacy in Western Canada. The 2020 edition of the tournament was cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic.
Players eligible for the 2021 WHL Draft will be 2006-born players who reside in the four western provinces as well as the Northwest Territories, Yukon as well as players from the United States in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
