REGINA -- Regina Pats general manager Alan Millar has been in this position before, only this time around he hopes all the right pieces fall perfectly into place for his Western Hockey League team.
Millar was the general manager of the Moose Jaw Warriors back in 2020 when a certain young and extremely talented exceptional player was available in the WHL Prospects Draft, and all the Warriors needed was a bit of luck with the Draft Lottery to bring that player to Moose Jaw.
As it stands, it was Moose Jaw’s arch-rival who would see their ball picked, and the rest of the tale of Connor Bedard and the Regina Pats is now storied history.
Flash forward five years, and another exceptional player is in the cards -- this time, from Regina itself. And needless to say Millar and the Pats would love nothing more than to see Maddox Schultz join the regiment this spring.
But first, there’s random chance to deal with on Apr. 10 when the Draft Lottery takes place.
“It's all contingent on a lottery ball,” Millar said in a conversation with The SportsCage crew earlier this week. “We'll go into the lottery with the second most balls, so we could move up one, we could move back to four. That's where it's at. The top end of the draft is very good, Maddox Schultz is an elite player. So let’s see how the lottery goes.”
The Edmonton Oil Kings will have the most balls in the Draft, thanks to the trade with the Moose Jaw Warriors last season that brought key playoff pieces Rilen Kovacevic and Voytech Port to Moose Jaw. With their 21st-place finish, Regina will have the second most, Kelowna the third and recently announced expansion team Penticton the fourth.
The winner will undoubtedly select Schultz -- the Regina Pat Canadians phenom -- first overall. The 14-year-old racked up 43 goals and 93 points in 44 games this season and has a further 20 points in nine playoff games despite playing against players three years older than him in many cases.
“If we win the lottery, I think it's going to be a real exciting time for the hockey club,” Millar said.
The Pats are also gearing up for the Penticton Expansion Draft, which will see the Vees select one player from each of the WHL’s 22 teams to build a competitive roster. Millar and his staff have put in time setting up their protected list, but as is always the case, much will depend on what direction the Vees will go in when the Draft takes place on May 7.
“Are they going to look at our college list? Are they going to look at younger players? Are they going to look at adding a veteran player?” Millar queried. “Then there is the ability to talk to Penticton in advance to do a deal to protect a player that you don't want to lose and give them something else. So that's a process we'll be in the middle of and we'll get prepared for early in May.”
For now, though, it’s time for a bit of decompression. The team held exit meetings with players after their season ended last weekend and will have more in-depth conversations with head coach Brad Herauf and his staff in the near future.
“I just told Brad and his crew ‘step away from the game for a week or two here, enjoy some time with friends and family, we don't have to get into a full debrief and talk about everything right now’,” Millar said. “I think this is an important time for the coaches to step away and exhale. It's not been an easy year here on the coaches, with a young team and the ups and downs.
“So that's the plan there. We got through exit meetings, I thought it was great dialogue, a productive day with good feedback from the players and some honest evaluations on what they need to work on.I think we'll all be better for it when we hit the ice late next August.”
You can check out the complete conversation on SportsCage.com by clicking below.
