Photo Credit: Lethbridge Hurricanes

By Aaron Mahoney

Hurricanes selections

Hurricanes swing multiple deals in WHL Bantam Draft, and come away with nine selections and two additional players

May 2, 2019 | 10:07 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge Hurricanes finished the 2019 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft in Red Deer with a total of nine selections, including five forwards, three defensemen and one goaltender.

The Hurricanes selected defenseman Logan McCutcheon with their first selection of the draft in the third round (65th overall).

McCutcheon – a product of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan – spent the 2018-2019 season with the Saskatoon Maniacs Bantam AA collecting 59 points (13g-46a) along with eight penalty minutes in 31 regular season games while adding four points in three post-season games.

Hurricanes Head Scout Rob MacLachlan says McCutcheon is a good puck mover and an excellent skater.

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“He’s in the same line as [Calen] Addison, and that’s the way the game is going, and that’s the type of players we targeted.”

Lethbridge acquired an additional third-round pick in a trade with the Vancouver Giants and selected forward Reid Mackay who registered 38 points (15g-23a) with 30 penalty minutes in 33 regular season games with the Lloydminster Bobcats Bantam team.

Mackay added nine points (4g-5a) in four post-season games and had five points (4g-1a) in five games.

“Mackay is a pretty skilled player who is a really good skater and thinks the game very well, and we’re really happy to get him where we did,” MacLachlan added.

With their third selection, in the fourth round, the Hurricanes selected American-born defenceman Camden Shasby from Anchorage, Alaska, who played for the Anchorage North Stars 14U team in 2018-2019 collecting 15 points (2g-13a) in 11 games.

“Shasby is a pretty special kid. He’s a smaller defenseman who’s along the lines of Addison, and he has so much ability,” MacLachlan continued. “We’ve got some work to do, but he has so much upside, and he’s a fantastic skater. His skill is right through the roof.”

After a trade with the Victoria Royals to acquire a sixth-round selection, Lethbridge picked forward Jakin Lawrence from Rosetown, Saskatchewan. In 31 games with the West Central Wheat Kings Bantam AA, Lawrence totalled 35 points (14g-21a) in 31 games.

In the eighth round, the Hurricanes selected two skaters: defenseman Kaden Dyck (159th overall) from Plum Coulee, Manitoba and forward Chase LaPinta (164th overall) from Frisco, Texas. Lethbridge added another forward, Ayden Peters from Calgary, in the ninth round (193rd overall) before taking a local product, Erick Roest, a goaltender with their 10th round pick (215th overall).

“Roest played well this season, and the thing I like about him is he got better and better all year and worked his way up into the top goaltenders by the end of the year, in my opinion,” MacLachlan stated.

With their final pick of the Bantam Draft, the Hurricanes selected Rockwall, Texas product Evan Raines in the 11th round (237th overall).

MacLachlan believes that overall, the Hurricanes came out pretty good with the players that they were able to draft.

“We’ve got some work to do on the recruiting side, but we are, and we think we got a good mix from top to bottom with a lot of skill and we want to welcome all the players that we selected to the Hurricanes organization.”

In addition to the nine players selected in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, the Hurricanes acquired two players in trades adding 2002-born forward Alex Thacker in a deal with the Swift Current Broncos and 2002-born forward/defenseman Tyson Phare from the Prince George Cougars.