Jotunheim uses top pick on Alexis Lafreniere, Stockholm adds Qunton Byfield and Tim Stuetzle
Much like the past year, the 2020-21 WHL draft was replete with a spectrum of emotion. "Great to be back", "when will this end?", and "Go fuck yourself" were all uttered more than a few times throughout the two-hour and 38-minute marathon on Sunday afternoon.
Due to the shortened season and the NHL's decision to forge ahead with a mid-January reboot, WHL general managers had less than 48 hours to finalize draft preparations after submitting keepers late on Friday night.
It didn't take long for the first surprise of the day. Alex Ovechkin dropped to his lowest WHL draft position (4th overall) in recent memory, maybe ever, after going 1st in four of the last five drafts. Why? Three reasons - Jotunehim GM Brian Mazzucco used his first-ever WHL pick on Alexis Lafreniere, a controversial auto-pick, and Stockholm GM Mike Greeley drafted with a view to the future.
More than a few GMs have reported to league offices that today's draft felt deeper than years past, suggesting an influx of more immediate and expensive talent if owners are starting to use more cap dollars on prospects.
Draft Strategies were as varied as the number of picks at each owner's disposal. The Northern CHEEFS used its 12 picks almost exclusively on youth. By contrast, after keeping a league-high 26 players, the Honolulu Tropics approached the podium just six times but are surely delighted to have walked way with Alex Ovechkin, Brad Marchand, Zach Werenski, and Torey Krug.
On top of the 177 draft choices made, owners were busy on the phones as well. 21 picks were moved across six trades. Click here for the full trades, but let's take a look at how some of them shook out on paper:
Josh Deitell's Honolulu Tropics, involved in four of the day's six swaps, opened and closed the trade proceedings- first moving the 17th and 25th overall picks to CSKA Moscow for the 9th OA. That turned into Zach Werenski for Nicklas Backstrom and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.
Defending champ Paul Zeman and the California Kwijibos were busy as well, making two moves on the day. In one, Zeman sent the 12th overall pick to Stockholm for picks 21 and 39. The Vipers confirmed their youth movement by taking towering center, Quinton Byfield, while the Kwijibos plucked Jamie Benn and Jake Muzzin. A separate trade with Honolulu netted California a pair of 3rd round picks in the 2021 draft in exchange for the 23rd overall selection this year, Torey Krug.
The Quispamsis Puckers and Sparta Praha got in on the action in the 3rd round, completing a six-pick trade which some speculate is what temporarily broke the draft room. When the dust settled, Drew Doughty (3-12), Jakob Silfverberg (5-15), and Brendan Lemieux (8-5) had made their way to Prague, while Barclay Goodrow (3-15) and Zack Kassian (5-7) packed for Quispamsis, New Brunswick.
The penultimate trade de jour was another high-volume deal. Sensing limited roster spots, Josh Deitell astutely bundled three picks (6-4, 6-7, 7-10) to Joe Mastrangelo's Boston Beernuts for pick 61, turning into offensive defenseman Jared Spurgeon for a trio of brutes in Ben Chiarot, Radko Gudas, and Brandon Tanev. Those three combined for a whopping 560 hits last season.
Fittingly, the last trade of the day included the final pick in the draft. Honolulu moved said pick (10-18) and a 2021 10th rounder to Tom Lusty's Saginaw Spirit for the 157th overall choice (9-13). The Tropics scooped up Cal Foote, while Saginaw ended the proceedings with longtime WHL darling, Cal Clutterbuck.
Barring any delays, the World Hockey League's 13th season and California's title defense begins on Wednesday, January 13th. Initial waivers will run at 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday the 12th to allow teams to make moves before opening night and will return to the usual Monday/Thursday format the following week.
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