(Twitter/SJHL)

By Ben Tompkins

2022 SJHL Bantam Draft

Mustangs, Broncos and northeast locals headline 2022 SJHL Bantam Draft results

Jun 10, 2022 | 4:44 PM

The 2022 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) Draft is officially over with the Melfort Mustangs and the Humboldt Broncos making some important decisions for their upcoming seasons.

Many other local players were also named to one of 12 SJHL teams selections.

Starting off right away was a familiar name as the number one pick in the draft. The Weyburn Red Wings selected Annaheim product, defenseman, Rhett Vedress. Vedress played last season in Humboldt with their U18 AA club, putting up 19 points in 32 games.

Continuing on with the sixth pick in the SJHL draft, the Humboldt Broncos selected Tisdale product, forward, Mathew Van Blaircom. Van Blaircom played last season in Tisdale, suiting up 42 times with the Trojans while adding 36 points.

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For the Mustangs’ first-round selection, forward Riley Ashe was selected 10th overall. Ashe’s older brother, Dylan, played for the Mustangs for one season back in 2019-20, before tragically passing away in September 2020.

“Riley is a very skilled young player that has the potential to develop into a very talented junior hockey player,” said director of Player Personnel Rick Oakes. “The Ashe family is a very big part of the Mustang family, and we’re happy to continue our strong relationship with them moving forward.”

Rounding out the first round was the Humboldt Broncos’ second selection of the opening round with Simon Martin picked 11th overall. Martin also played with the Trojans this past season, racking up 12 points in 42 games.

After the top round, Melfort made an additional six picks which included defenseman, Cohen Swan picked second round, 20th overall; forward, Sam Grosso picked in the third round, 29th overall; forward, Evhan Allen picked in the third round, 41st overall; Melfort product, Scott McLean picked in the fifth round, 58th overall; defenseman, Kyle Lardner picked in the sixth round, 70th overall; and finally, in the 2007-born draft, the Mustangs selected forward, Owen Nelson 94th overall.

Oakes said he was happy with how the draft turned out for the Mustangs.

“We were able to get a lot of players that were high on our priority list, we’re excited to welcome all seven of our picks into the Melfort Mustang program and are excited to see them at future camps.”

As for Humboldt, they made an additional nine picks which included forward, Connor Miller picked in the second round, 18th overall; defenseman, Tyrone Sobry picked 21st overall in the second round; forward, Peyton Kostiuk picked 35th overall in the third round; forward, Carter Ralston picked 36th overall in the third round; defenseman, Carsten Kayter, picked 47th overall in the fourth round; and goaltender, Riley Deck picked 71st overall in the sixth round.

The Broncos also took three 2007-born players in forward, Tyce Penrod picked 83rd overall, defenseman, Teigan Semchyshen picked 87th overall, and defenseman, Simon Garchinski picked 95th overall.

Head coach and general manager, Scott Barney, had a few things to say about draft day.

“Our scouts have put a lot of time into this with our first pick, sixth overall. Matthew kind of fits our system, said Barney. “Our next pick was Martin, a player who likes to get in on a rush.”

Hockey culture and getting the right kind of players is important in the Broncos’ dressing room, especially given what they’ve built in the last few years, said Barney.

“We’re looking forward to having all these guys compete for spots, make our team better and then move them up to the next level.”

As far as how this sets up for the success of the upcoming season, Barney said it’s all about having good turnover and seeing what pieces actually fit into the puzzle.

“Obviously, we gotta evaluate players coming back. I think that’s a big part of our thing. We have a lot of players moving out and moving on to the next level and hopefully, we can replace them.”

There were also a handful of other northeast products who headlined the rest of the draft. Tisdale Forward, Kale Margolis was selected in the fourth round by the Estevan Bruins 40th overall, and 2007-born, Tisdale forward, Lucas Hvidston, was selected 74th overall.

Prior to the draft the Humboldt Broncos also decided to part ways with 2003-born goaltender, William Dyke, in a trade to the Drumheller Dragons of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL).

Dyke played eight games with the Broncos this past season, registering a 4-3 record while posting a 2.71 goals-against-average and a .895 save percentage. Humboldt received a player development fee in return for the transaction which occurred back on June 7.

This year’s SJHL draft consisted of eight rounds and 96 picks split into 2006 and 2007-born players chosen between 12 teams.

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Ben.Tompkins@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter @BenTompkins_8