Regina Pats win WHL draft lottery and right to select No. 1 overall

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The Regina Pats have won the Western Hockey League’s draft lottery and will select No. 1 overall at the upcoming WHL prospects draft on May 7.

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Heading into the draft lottery on Thursday evening, the Edmonton Oil Kings — who own the Moose Jaw Warriors 2025 first-round pick — had the best odds to land the No. 1 pick at 57.1 per cent, followed by the Pats at 23.8 per cent.

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However, it was Regina’s ball that was drawn as the lottery winner, leaving the Oil Kings to select second overall.

The Kelowna Rockets will select third overall, followed by the expansion Penticton Vees, Everett Silvertips (via Kamloops Blazers), Vancouver Giants (via Wenatchee Wild) and Red Deer Rebels.

The WHL prospects draft, featuring 2010-born players, is set for May 7 with first-round selections beginning at 5 p.m. Rounds two through 15 will be completed on May 8 along with the WHL U.S. priority draft.

With the first overall pick, the Pats will now have the right to draft Regina native Maddox Schultz, who is considered by many as the consensus No. 1 prospect in the WHL draft.

This season, the 15-year-old scored 43 goals and had 50 assists for 93 points in 44 games for the Regina Pat Canadians to win the Saskatchewan Male U18 AAA Hockey League scoring race despite being an underager. Schultz was also named rookie of the year and league MVP. He also led his team in playoff scoring with 22 points in 10 games as the Pat C’s won the league championship.

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This week, Schultz and the Pat Canadians are currently preparing to head to the Telus Cup national championship after winning West regionals last week in Kenora, Ont.

While Schultz didn’t apply for exceptional status to play in the WHL as a 15-year-old next year, under the Western Canadian Development Model, he is still eligible to play 34 games with the WHL team that drafts him next year. If drafted by Regina, it’s also expected he will continue to play at the U18 level with the Pat Canadians while suiting up for half of a season with the Pats.

“For everybody in our organization, for our fanbase, especially after a tough couple of years, I think nothing but excitement in terms of landing the first overall pick in the WHL prospects draft,” said Pats general manager Alan Millar. “Just a lot of excitement around our organization in the moment.

“At this point, we feel real comfortable in terms of where we’re at on the top two, top three, top four, top five players. And we’re excited about that group.”

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Along with the first overall selection, the Pats have another pick later in the first round, 23rd overall, which was a pick acquired in a previous trade with Everett. Regina will then have three more selections in the second round including at 26th overall.

This year will be the third time the Pats will select first overall. In 2020, Regina drafted Connor Bedard with the No. 1 pick while defenceman Colton Teubert was the first overall pick by the Pats in 2005.

As for the WHL U.S. priority draft, after selecting Braden Hordichuk first overall last year, the Pats will select 12th overall this year. The Brandon Wheat Kings hold the first pick in the U.S. draft followed by the Moose Jaw Warriors at No. 2.

tshire@postmedia.com

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