After finishing their season with a pair of victories, the Kootenay Ice kept their winning streak alive at the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft Lottery.
After having their ball randomly selected on Wednesday morning, the Ice moved up a maximum of two spots in the draft order and will have the second overall pick of the top 2003-born prospects from across Western Canada and the United States.
The @WHLKootenayICE win the 2018 #WHLBantamDraft Lottery & will select 2nd overall!
— The WHL (@TheWHL) March 21, 2018
It will be the second straight year the Ice pick second, having drafted forward Connor McClennon in 2017. In 2016, the Ice had the first overall pick and drafted Peyton Krebs, who recently ended his first WHL season as the league’s top rookie scorer with 54 points in 67 games.
The 2018 Bantam Draft will be held on Thursday, May 3, in Red Deer with the Edmonton Oil Kings picking first, followed by the Ice, the Prince Albert Raiders, the Calgary Hitmen, the Kamloops Blazers and the Saskatoon Blades. The rest of the draft order will be determined based on the results of the WHL playoffs.
According to Western Elite Prospects, the top-ranked player heading into the draft (as of March 16) is defenceman Carson Lambos from Rink Hockey Academy in Winnipeg, followed by forwards Logan Stankoven (Yale Hockey Academy), Zack Stringer (Lethbridge AMHL Hurricanes) and Dylan Guenther (NAX Academy).
