Looking back at the Kelowna Rockets last five drafts

 

We continue our look at the B.C. Division draft history with the Kelowna Rockets.

The Rockets finished the 2020-21 season 10-5-1, good enough for third place in the B.C. Division.

This season the Rockets do not have a first or a second-round pick in the WHL Prospects Draft. Their first-round pick went to the Edmonton Oil Kings in exchange for defenceman Connor McDonald. However, they will pick 16th in subsequent rounds. The Rockets dealt a lot of draft picks in an effort to capture the 2020 Memorial Cup they were supposed to host.

As we look back on the Rockets draft history, we see that this wasn’t the only time there was wheeling and dealing of draft picks.

Andrew Cristall – 8th overall -2020

This draft was significant for another reason.

This was the final draft of assistant general manager and director of player personnel Lorne Frey.

Frey was the first employee Team President and General Manager Bruce Hamilton hired and according to Hamilton “…was involved in every hockey decision since day one, whether it was coaching staff or players.”

Frey said they would target a forward with offensive power. Cristall fit that. The 15-year-old scored 43 goals and added 37 assists in 27 games for St. George’s Bantam Prep. He also had seven points in two playoff games.

Cristall (2G 3A) played 14 of the 16 games with the Rockets last season. Frey is now a senior advisor.

Nolan Flamand –  27th overall -2019

This draft was to load up for the 2020 Memorial Cup, in which they were the host team. They ended up doing what the Rockets rarely do. Trade their first-round pick. Not that it was a huge surprise. President/GM Bruce Hamilton warned everyone his number five pick would be available. Well, it was. And so was the 10th.

Kelowna traded the fifth pick to Brandon for the rights to Sean Comrie. The defenceman had nine assists in 16 games last year.

They also traded the 10th pick and the second pick in 2021 and Connor Bruggen-Cate to the Seattle Thunderbirds for defenceman Jake Lee (3G 7A), forward Dillon Hamaliuk (6G 7A), and goaltender Cole Schwebius (9 GP, 5W, 3L, 3.11GAA)

The Rockets picked at #27 and selected Nolan Flamand from the Saskatoon Blazers. The right-winger had one goal and six assists for seven points last season.

Sadly, we will never know if this team could have won the Memorial Cup. But credit the Rockets for putting their chips in the middle of the table after a strong bid to host it.

Trevor Wong -18th overall- 2018

Wong’s resume for the Rockets is already growing. He was one of two 16 years olds to make the Rockets in 2019-2020. He played his first game with the Rockets on October 27, 2018. He represented Team British Columbia at the Canada Winter Games. He also attended Hockey Canada’s U17 training camp.

Let’s not forget his resume from St George’s Prep. CSSHLV MVP. Most goals, 64. Most assists, 77. Most points, 141. Led his team to the CSSHLV championship.

Rockets fans hope that his resume isn’t done yet.

Ethan Bowen -39th overall -2017

Photo Credit: Kelowna Rockets

This was another year that the Rockets did not have a first-round pick. That was traded to the Prince Albert Raiders in the Reid Gardiner trade. However, GM Bruce Hamilton said Bowen fell into their lap.

Bowen recorded 33 goals and 62 points in just 29 games with the Yale Hockey Academy Bantam Team. He also had 10 goals and 11 assists in the John Reid Bantam Tournament. He was considered a top-10 pick in his class.

Unfortunately, Bowen never played with the Rockets. Ethan decided to stay in the BCHL and play with the Chilliwack Chiefs for four seasons. He scored 38 goals 46 assists in 117 games. Bowen was drafted in the seventh round, 207th overall by the Anaheim Ducks.

The Rockets did have a Bowen play with them. Ethan’s brother Ryan played seven games in the 2018-2019 season. He had zero points.

Kaedan Korczak –11th overall-2016

Kaedan Korczak

Another draft where the Rockets made a move! Kelowna moved their 20th and 48th picks to Red Deer to get the 11th overall pick. The native of Yorkton, SK played 214 career games. He scored 21 goals, 85 assists, for 106 points. Korczak was named to the B.C Division All-star team this season.

Korczak was drafted in the second round, 41st overall by the Vegas Golden Knights in 2019. After finishing the season with the Rockets this year, he played 11 games with the Henderson Silver Knights and had two assists. Sinbin Vegas has him ranked as their #4 prospect. They wrote this about Korczak.

“The moment Vegas drafted Korczak we knew he was going to be a big guy, but he’s already a monster just one season removed from his draft year and he’s probably only going to get bigger. As he progresses through high levels like World Juniors and the AHL, it appears his calling card will be more as a defense-first penalty kill type player, but he’s certainly looking like he has an NHL future, and probably a long one.”

There has been a long of Rockets alumni that are quality, NHL-type defenceman. Korczak is poised to be another one

The WHL Bantam Draft is scheduled for Thursday, December 9, 2021.