The Victoria Royals welcomed new names and faces to the team on May 9.
Thursday marked the 2024 WHL Draft, in which the Royals selected 11 players to join the organization:
- Jacob Schwartz - forward - first round, eighth overall - St. George’s U15 Prep (CSSHL);
- Ludovic Perreault - forward - first round, 18th overall - Winnipeg Bruins U15AAA;
- Eli McKamey - forward - second round, 35th overall - Shawnigan Lake U18 Prep (CSSHL);
- Koltin Herfst - defenceman - second round, 37th overall - Fraser Valley Thunderbirds U15 (BCEHL);
- Drayden Uhrina - forward - third round, 53rd overall - RINK Hockey Academy Winnipeg U15 (CSSHL);
- Seth Badry - goaltender - fourth round, 75th overall - PAC Saints U15 AAA (AEHL U15);
- Lucas Graham - defenceman - sixth round, 119th overall - Red Deer Rebels U15 AAA (AEHL U15);
- Ryland Moore - defenceman - seventh round, 138th overall - Winnipeg Bruins U15 AAA (WAAA U15);
- Nolan Harding - forward - seventh round, 141st overall - RINK Hockey Academy Winnipeg U15 (CSSHL);
- Kieran Wilson - defenceman - ninth round, 185th overall - Pacific Coast Academy U15 Prep.;
- Declan Iacoviello - forward - 10th round, 207th overall - Burnaby Winter Club U15 Prep.
Schwartz, the Royals first selection, led the CSSHL last season in goals with 30 in 26 games. He also had 26 assists, finishing the season with 56 points.
Meanwhile, Perreault, their other first round selection, is a force to be reckon with as well as he collected 92 points (67 goals, 25 assists) in 32 games for the Winnipeg Bruins U15AAA last season.
The hometown kid
As the Royals drafted Wilson in the ninth goal, they kept a hometown kid at home as he hails from Sooke. As a defenceman, he collected 19 points in 27 games for Pacific Coast Academy U15 Prep. last year.
Trading places
Over the course of the day, the Royals made the trades, moving around the draft board. The trades were:
- Victoria traded the 30th overall (2nd round) selection in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft to the Red Deer Rebels in exchange for the 37th (2nd round) and 77th (4th round) selections in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft;
- Victoria traded the 77th overall (4th round) selection in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft to the Saskatoon Blades in exchange for a 2nd round pick in the 2028 WHL Prospects Draft;
- Victoria traded the 79th overall (4th round) selection in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft to the Seattle Thunderbirds in exchange for the 138th overall (7th round) selection in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft, and a 3rd round pick in the 2025 WHL Prospects Draft.
In another trade with Seattle, they also acquired 2006-born goaltender Spencer Michnik in exchange for a conditional seventh round pick in the 2025 draft.
They also made an 1-for-1 deal with Wenatchee, trading Grant Reid to the Wild for Daniel Morozov.
Greater Victoria represented
In the draft, four players from Greater Victoria were selected.
At the top of the list is Brock Cripps, who was selected second overall by the Prince Albert Raiders. The other Victoria native is Eddy Spytz, who was taken in the second round (51st overall) by Everett.
Of course, Sooke native Kieran Wilson was taken by his hometown Victoria Royals and just six picks after him, Langford’s Tristan Follock was drafted in the ninth round (191st overall) by the Brandon Wheat Kings.
