After taking Niall Crocker with their first round pick in 2019, the Prince Albert Raiders once again went to the Delta Hockey Academy to start off the Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.
With the 15th overall selection on Wednesday morning, the Raiders selected blueliner Terrell Goldsmith of Fort St. James, B.C., who had four goals and 15 assists in 23 games for Delta’s bantam prep green program in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League.
“I really had no idea where I was going to go,” Goldsmith said.
“It’s obviously an awesome feeling (to be picked in the first round) and I’m super excited. I’ve heard Prince Albert’s a great place with awesome fans.”
Goldsmith, who stands 6’2” and weighs 199 lbs., is the fourth blueliner that the Raiders have selected in the first round in the last five years.
The club had previously selected Rhett Rhinehart, Kaiden Guhle and Nolan Allen from 2016 to 2018.
“Terrell’s a guy we had pegged at 15 right from the beginning,” Raiders director of player personnel Curt Brownlee said. “We’re very excited that he was still there for us.
“This is a guy that’s going to come in and probably be able to play for us when he’s 16. He’s a hard-nosed physical defenceman and comes with a high compete level. Zach Hodder (Manager, Player Development for the WHL) compared him to Dave Manson during the league’s live stream today and your getting the same type of player in terms of taking care of his own end and his guys with the physicality that he brings.”
Goldsmith will be staying with the Delta Hockey Academy for next season as he’ll playing for their Under-17 team.
“I’m going to try to continue to work on my skating to get quicker and faster as I move up to the next level,” Goldsmith said.
“I was out for a couple of weeks this season with a separated left shoulder around Christmas time, but I really liked how I played in the second half of the season. I was moving well with the puck and playing with a lot more confidence.”
Goldsmith was one of four players from the Delta Hockey Academy bantam prep green team to be taken in the first round, with the others being defenceman Lukas Dragicevic (Tri-City Americans – 4th), forward Oliver Tulk (Calgary Hitmen – 12th) and forward Caden Brown (Prince George Cougars – 17th).
Forward Harrison Lodewyk moves into the offensive zone for the Red Deer Bantam Rebels during a game last season.
With their second round pick, the Raiders chose forward Harrison Lodewyk.
The Red Deer product had 33 points in 31 games for his hometown Bantam Rebels last season.
“Harrison is a guy that we’re also very excited to get,” Brownlee said. “He’s one of the best skating forwards in the draft and plays the game at high speed.”
After not making picks in the third and fourth rounds, the Raiders selected forward Zachary Wilson and blueliner Wesley Golden in the fifth round.
Wilson, who is from Wetaskiwin, Alta., had 21 points in 26 games for the Northern Alberta Xtreme prep program, while Golden had 14 points in 29 games for his hometown Grande Prairie Bantam Storm.
“Zachary has a tremendous compete level and he came with really high praise from his coach (Steven March), who said that he was one of the best kids he’s ever coached,” Brownlee said. “He has tremendous leadership qualities and also plays a complete 200-foot game like Harrison.
“Wesley has a pro frame already and he moves really well. He processes the game well for a big guy and probably should have gone earlier than he did, so we’re really happy to get him in the fifth round.”
The Raiders also had a pair of picks in the sixth round, which they used on forward Ivan Kedrov of Calgary and blueliner Scott Miner of Winnipeg.
Kedrov had 37 points in 30 games this year for the Calgary Bisons, while Miner posted 31 points in 27 games for the Rink Hockey Academy’s bantam prep team.
“I think the best is yet to come with Ivan,” Brownlee said. “He’s a big powerful forward that creates space for his linemates and plays a well-rounded game.
“Scott is someone that was quite high on our list and ended up falling to us. He’s a skilled defenceman with a very high hockey IQ. He also comes from a good hockey family with his uncle (Scott Arniel) playing in the NHL and his uncle John having a great WHL career (with the Regina Pats) before moving up to the Edmonton Oilers.”
After not picking in the seventh round, the Raiders selected forward Nathan Gossoo in the eighth round.
Gossoo, who is from West Kelowna, had 43 points in 30 games last season for the Okanagan Bantam Rockets.
“He’s another guy that fits the bill of a Raiders player, which is having that extra drive, high compete level, physicality and the willingness to go into battles and win pucks,” Brownlee said.
“Nathan also has a good scoring touch and he’s effective with the puck. We’re looking forward to seeing him play for the Raiders one day.”
In the ninth round, the Raiders picked forward Reese Shaw from the Green Bay Jr. Gamblers bantam program.
Shaw, who calls Coon Rapids, Minn. home, had three assists in four games last year in the Tier 1 Elite Bantam Hockey League.
“Reese was a guy that our Minnesota scout (Dave Faulkner) was extremely excited about,” Brownlee said.
“He didn’t get viewed a lot due to the number of games that he played, but our scout has a good read on him from previous years. He might have been higher on the draft board or taken in the U.S. draft if more people got to see him.”
Melville forward Carter McKay, who led his hometown bantam Millionaires in scoring with 67 points in 24 games, was taken in the 10th round with the Raiders’ final pick of the day.
“Carter’s a tenacious player with an in-your-face style of game,” Brownlee said. “He really turned it on offensively in the last part of the season and it’s always nice when you can take a Saskatchewan guy like him late in the draft.”
Blueliner Braydon Clark, who was traded to the Spokane Chiefs on Wednesday morning, was a third round pick by the Raiders in 2017.
The Raiders also made a minor roster move prior to the start of the draft as they dealt 18-year-old blueliner Braydon Clark to the Spokane Chiefs for a conditional sixth round pick in the 2022 WHL Bantam Draft.
Clark, who was a third round selection by the Raiders in 2017, played in 17 games over the last two seasons for the club before finishing out the 2019-20 campaign with the BCHL’s Merritt Centennials.
First round recap
After the Regina Pats officially selected forward Connor Bedard with the first overall pick, the Cougars picked Saskatoon Contacts forward Riley Heidt with the second overall selection and signed him to a standard player agreement on Thursday.
Heidt’s linemate Brayden Yager went to the Moose Jaw Warriors with the third pick, while the Americans were the first team to select a blueliner in Dragicevic.
The Saskatoon Blades rounded out the top five by selecting defenceman Tanner Molendyk of the Yale Hockey Academy.
Swift Current Bantam AA Broncos forward Kalan Lind, who is the younger brother for former Kelowna Rockets player and current Vancouver Canucks prospect Kole, went to the Red Deer Rebels with the sixth overall pick.
The Seattle Thunderbirds used the seventh overall pick to take Sam Oremba of the Regina Monarchs, who led the provincial bantam ranks in scoring this season.
Saskatoon Generals blueliner Reid Andersen (Medicine Hat Tigers – 11th overall), Weyburn Bantam Wings defenceman Quinn Mantei (Brandon Wheat Kings – 13th overall) and Monarchs forward Brady Birnie (Swift Current Broncos – 21st overall) were also taken in the first round.
Pats acquire Ross
The biggest trade of the day saw the Seattle Thunderbirds move starting netminder Roddy Ross and an eighth round pick in the 2020 draft (which the Kelowna Rockets would later use to take forward Grady Lenton) to the Pats for a second round pick in 2020 (goaltender Scott Ratzlaff), a fourth round pick in 2022 and a conditional second round pick in 2024.
The 20-year-old Ross, who calls Meadow Lake home, had a 20-21-7 record with a 3.17 goals against average and a .908 save percentage for the Thunderbirds this past season.
He was also a sixth round pick by the Philadelphia Flyers in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
