Parker Fofonoff was a third round pick of the Mustangs in the 2016 Draft. (Facebook/Broad Leaf Media)

By Mat Barrett

Mustangs Pre-Draft

Mustangs get set for SJHL Bantam Draft on Friday

May 29, 2019 | 3:00 PM

The Melfort Mustangs are preparing for the 2019 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) Bantam Draft that takes place Friday, May 31 in Nipawin as part of the SJHL League Meetings.

In this fourth installment of the draft, 2004-born Saskatchewan hockey players will be taken by the 12-member SJHL teams. Mustangs Director of Player Personnel Rick Oakes said scouts have to do a lot of preparing for a draft like this.

“With a lot of kids, they have aspirations of playing in the Western Hockey League,” Oakes said. “And you have to try and figure out which ones are maybe fringe Western League guys and probably aren’t going to play in that league and will probably be more suited to the Junior A level. So there’s a challenge to it every year.”

In their first SJHL draft in 2015, the Mustangs took Ethan Regnier with their first round pick. He has now played over 125 games in the WHL with the Swift Current Broncos. From the Mustangs 2015 draft, none of those players were on the 2018/2019 Mustangs roster.

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However, from the 2016 draft, third round pick Parker Fofonoff played 62 games for the Mustangs this past season. Oakes said upcoming, there should be a few more players in Mustang uniforms. Namely, from that 2016 draft, first round pick Lucas Ochitwa is expected to make the team. Christian Albertson was a fourth round pick and is also expected to wear Mustang colours next season. Oakes also mentioned two players from the 2017 draft, who could make the team out of camp, but also have looks at the WHL, and have Midget AAA eligibility remaining. Cade Hayes was the teams first round pick in 2017, while Davin Griffin was a third round pick. Both forwards put up excellent numbers in the Saskatchewan Midget Triple A League this year.

For this year’s draft, Oakes said it should end up being a pretty good one.

“I think overall, the talent pool is pretty good,” Oakes told northeastNOW. “Lots of depth there in every position.”

Oakes said when it comes to their picks this year, they don’t see any specific need in the system.

“We’ve got lots of options, and lots of availability there,” he said. “So we’ll pick the best guy available and just try and balance it out as we move through the draft.”

The draft features six rounds and according to the SJHL website, the Mustangs have six draft picks. They will pick ninth, 22nd, 42nd, 46th, 58th, and 65th overall, barring any trades that may come about. Melfort does not own a third round pick this year due to the trade that sent Boedy Donald to Melfort from Nipawin in November of 2016.

Once the draft concludes, teams will announce more and more commitments from in and out of province players. Oakes said it will be a busy summer for him and Head Coach Trevor Blevins.

“Moving forward, we’ve got a pretty good starting point, a pretty good base and we’re going to have to add to it over the course of the summer,” Oakes said. “We do have quite a few holes to fill; we had a big turnover. We’re going to have some young guys stepping in to play prominent roles for us this upcoming season.”

The draft begins at 9:30 a.m. on Friday.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6