At the 2018 Manitoba Junior Hockey League Draft, the Virden Oil Capitals feel they addressed some needs and added some quality young men to their organization.
The Oil Caps picked seven players – all in the first five rounds – of the six-round affair on Sunday in Winnipeg. These 2003-born players are in addition to Virden’s Braden Lewis and Oak Lake’s Hunter Wallace, who the team tabbed as their auto protect selections for this year.
“We were looking for guys with skill, who compete hard, and who can skate,” said Oil Capitals director of business and hockey operation Jamie Hodson. “For the most part, I think we filled that really quite well with the guys on board here. That is really exciting. At the end of the day, they are really good kids who want to be here as Oil Capitals.”
After the best regular season in Oil Capitals’ history, followed by a first trip to the MJHL finals, the team was picking 10th out of 11 in the first five rounds plus getting the second pick in the fifth round in a trade. That meant the team had to do its due diligence, Hodson said. He praised the team’s scouting staff for their hard and often unsung work behind the scenes.
Not counting the auto-protect selections, the Oil Capitals drafted four defencemen and three forwards. Three of the blue liners are right-handed shots, “which are hard to come by in this league and a lot of leagues,” said Hodson, who noted the group skate well and the move the puck well. As for the forwards he said they are “a fast group – all guys that are offensively minded and have offensive upside.”
In the first round, Virden took Treherne forward Roux Bazin. He was an eighth round pick of the Victoria Royals in the Western Hockey League bantam draft earlier this year.
“Roux is a strong skater with a great two-way game,” sad Reid Sloan, who coached him on the Pembina Valley Hawks bantam AAA team this past winter. “Roux battled through adversity with injuries and playing many different positions for our team. Roux became a great leader during provincials, rallying the boys when our leading scorer went down with injury. He is a talented player with a great deal of potential.”
In the second round, the Oil Capitals grabbed Southwest Cougars bantam AAA defenceman Trevor Hunt.
“Trevor is a smooth skating defenceman, with good offensive and defensive qualities,” Cougars head coach Jeff Dort said. “He plays physical when he needs to and does it well. Smart player with and without the puck.”
Player Stats:
Oil Caps Picks
Roux Bazin
Treherne, Forward
Rd. 1, 10 overall
Pembina Valley Hawks Bantam AAA
31 GP, 25 G, 21 A, 46 TP
Trevor Hunt
Hartney, Defenceman
Rd. 2, 21 overall
Southwest Cougars Bantam AAA
30 GP, 8 G, 21 A, 29 TP
Tyler Teasdale
Winnipeg, Defenceman
Rd. 3, 32 overall
Winnipeg Monarchs Bantam AAA
33 GP, 6 G, 13 A, 19 TP
Sixth round pick of WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings
David Bielik
Winnipeg, Defenceman
Rd. 4, 34 overall
Winnipeg Monarchs Bantam AAA
33 GP, 3 G, 11 A, 14 TP
Ryland Kuczek
St. Andrews, Forward
Rd. 4, 43 overall
Winnipeg Hawks Bantam AAA
31 GP, 21 G, 22 A, 43 TP
Nolan Wallace
Brandon, Defenceman
Rd. 5, 46 overall
Brandon Wheat Kings Bantam AAA
36 GP, 7 G, 19 A, 26 TP
Slade Stanick
Rapid City, Forward
Rd. 5, 54 overall
Yellowhead Chiefs Bantam AAA
33 GP, 8 G, 13 A, 21 TP
