(photo of Gavin Nemis, Dauphin’s first pick)
The Manitoba Junior Hockey League held their prospects draft Saturday and it was an exciting and busy day for the Dauphin Kings.
The Kings first pick was the 12th overall selection where they picked Gavin Nemis from East St. Paul. Playing with the Rink Hockey U16 Academy Nationals last season, Gavin scored 14 times and had 11 assists. He added one assist in three playoff games.
“We added some skilled and hard working forwards,” said Darry Stevens, Head Bantam Scout. “We would have liked to add some more defenceman but there wasn’t quite enough depth at that position.”
Here is a full breakdown of the day it was for Dauphin.
20th overall – Rhett Perrin
He scored 14 times and had 15 assists with the U16 Rink Hockey Academy Nationals last season and added another goal and one assist in three playoff games.
37th overall – Hayden Seib
The Parkland Ranger is staying home. In a productive season with the U18 Rangers last season, Hayden scored 13 times and chalked up 13 assists. As Parkland went on a historic playoff run that saw the team advance to the second round, he had two assists.
50th overall – Max Collyer
Also from the Parkland (Onanole), Max is coming off a solid season as a 16-year-old with the U18 Yellowhead Chiefs. Across 43 games, he scored four times and had 12 points. Add one goal in four playoff games and he scored five times.
67th overall – Dylan Jaquet
Kings fans will remember the last name Jaquet. After all, Dylan’s brother Colby was a massive part of Dauphin advancing to the national semifinal this past season.
With the U17 Bruins this past season, Dylan had 25 points, 11 of which were goals in 33 games.
Moving forward, Dauphin had back-to-back picks in the back half of this year’s draft.
76th overall – Spencer Sabourin
He played his first season with the U18 team and had two points in 42 games from the back end. In his final year of U15 hockey, Spencer had three points in six games.
77th overall – Declan Hoad
He had the chance to play four games (three playoff) with the U18 Wheat Kings this past season and he had two assists. In 37 games with the U17 Wheat Kings, Declan scored eight times and had seven assists.
Another back-to-back set for the Kings came shortly after the as they drafted 82nd and 83rd overall.
82nd overall – Zhenya Miles
From Winnipeg, Miles played this past year in Kelowna with Rink Hockey Academy and he posted seven goals across 35 games. He also added 19 assists.
He also got the call-up for a game with the U18 team where he scored one goal in three games.
83rd overall – Ethan Cull
Another member of the U16 Rink Hockey Academy Nationals (Winnipeg) this past year, Ethan suited up in 34 games including the playoffs and he scored five times while adding three assists.
96th overall – Josh Fluker
With 10 games of Western Hockey League experience under his belt, Josh was one of the most skilled and smoothest skaters taken in the draft.
He posted five assists with the Swift Current Broncos and he scored six times and added 14 assists in 38 games with the Manitoba AAA U18 Hockey League’s Swift Current Broncos. He also had one playoff assist.
One final selection saw Dauphin take Jackson Hofer. He suited up in 28 games with the U18 team in his first year in the age group and he scored twice and added two assists.
Jackson also played in the team’s three games in the first round of the playoffs.
“Overall, we’re very happy with our selections and we’re looking forward to their development in the next couple of seasons,” said Stevens.