Broncos Talk Bantam Draft

The Swift Current Broncos have the 11th overall pick in tomorrow's WHL Bantam Draft set for the Fantasy Land Hotel in Edmonton, AB. and get his thoughts entering the draft.

I had a chance to talk with Broncos Director of Player Personnel Jamie Porter:



On the type of players they are looking for....

"It will be the same ones that fit into our philosophy. We're looking for speed, some character guys and maybe a little bit more grit now. We will probably look to bolster our defensive side of the game too."


On what kind of player the Broncos can get with the 11th overall pick....

"We think we can get a fairly solid prospect there. We don't pick for awhile afterwards (until the 4th round). We need to identify a guy who can help our needs now and into the future."


On being without a 2nd and a 3rd round pick and then having four 4th round selections....

"It's probably not an ideal situation but we need to make the best of it. We've had a lot of success in the 4th round. We have pushed the theme on the scouts for the last few months that our draft really will be the 4th round so we have put an emphasis in identifying players in the 70th to 90th overall range."


On the prospects of picking some local players...

"It's certainly something we've discussed. There are a solid number of local prospects this year. We hope to get someone at some point. We have to decide where they all fit in (depth-wise)."


On what the Broncos will be looking to stalk the shelves with position-wise....

"We feel we have a lot of forwards coming up the next few years. We might be looking at more defenseman or goaltenders. We always say we will take the best player available with position being the 2nd criteria. We will have to see what we have a choice at."

----------

I'm Edmonton now and will be taking in the draft live from the convention room at the Fantasy Land Hotel where all 22 teams will be under one roof.

I'm not sure on the availability of internet access so we will wait and see what kind of updates will be available on the blog.


Should be an interesting day tomorrow nonetheless. The drafting begins at 8:30am. There will be a short break for the team's media duties after the 1st round.

---------------