Pats trade for veteran goalie, select eight players in WHL draft

The Regina Pats were active during Thursday’s WHL bantam draft — and before it, too.

Prior to the draft, the Pats sent a sixth-round pick in 2022 and a conditional seventh-round pick in 2024 to the Everett Silvertips for 20-year-old goaltender Koen MacInnes.

Last season with Everett, MacInnes went 21-7-5 with a 2.60 goals-against average, a .909 save percentage and four shutouts.

The product of Burnaby, B.C., played two seasons with the Saskatoon Blades from 2019 to 2021, going 18-7-2 with a 2.78 goals-against average, a .904 save percentage and three shutouts.

Consistent goaltending was an issue for the Pats last season and GM-head coach John Paddock said it’s something he wanted to address this summer.

“I don’t think everything is based on statistics, but clearly our goaltenders’ save percentage ended up being not up to a good-enough level the last half of the season,” Paddock said Thursday.

“I made them aware and we were all aware we were going to look to add depth to that position. He’s a veteran goalie, so that’s what we did.”

Four players — Kelton Pyne, Matthew Kieper, Spencer Welke and Drew Sim — tended goal for the Pats during the 2021-22 regular season. Paddock feels MacInnes will create some competition in the crease going into training camp this August.

The Pats then swapped draft picks with the Swift Current Broncos, trading the sixth and 54th overall selections in 2022 for the fifth overall pick and a 2024 fourth-rounder.

Moving up a spot allowed the Pats to select forward Cole Temple, 15, from Brandon.

The 5-foot-8, 150-pound forward led the U15 Winnipeg AAA Hockey League in points (108) while finishing second in goals (58) and third in assists (50) this season with the Brandon Wheat Kings. He added 15 goals and 30 points in 11 playoff games.

“There’s always a lot of different things in the works,” Paddock said of the trade. “This just came about between 9 and 10 o’clock when (Swift Current) reached out to me.

“This is an outstanding player. We jumped at the opportunity to acquire Cole Temple.”

In the second round, the Pats selected Saskatoon product Corban Almen with the 31st overall pick.

The 14-year-old was second in the Saskatchewan AA Hockey League in goals (55) and third in points (92) in 31 games this season with the Saskatoon Outlaws. The 5-foot-11, 163-pound forward also played six games with the Saskatoon Blazers U18 AAA team.

Taking two 50-goal scorers with their first two picks helped the Pats address an area of concern.

“You have to try and draft (goal-scoring),” director of scouting Dale McMullin said. “If you try and trade for it, you have to pay a very high price. If you can get those players in the draft, it goes a long ways to building a team.”

The Pats’ other draft picks were:

Brayden Smith (third round, 53rd overall): The 15-year-old from Saskatoon led Saskatchewan AA Hockey League defencemen in scoring, recording 55 points (including 19 goals) in 31 games with the Saskatoon Generals. The 5-foot-11, 154-pounder also played three games with the Saskatoon Riverkings U18 AA team.

Wyatt Stinton (fifth round, 102nd overall): The 15-year-old forward had 23 goals and 47 points in 30 games this past season with Rink Hockey Academy Winnipeg. The 5-foot-8, 145-pounder hails from Flin Flon.

Cruz Chase (seventh round, 136th overall): The 14-year-old goaltender went 14-2-0 with a 2.13 goals-against average, a .925 save percentage and one shutout last season with the Airdrie Xtreme U15 AAA team, The 5-foot-10, 144-pounder hails from Airdrie, Alta.

Samuel Laplante (seventh round, 141st overall): A 5-foot-11, 157-pound defenceman, the 15-year-old had three goals and 10 points in 29 games with his hometown Okotoks Oilers U15 AAA team this season.

Owen Nelson (eighth round, 163rd overall): The 14-year-old forward from Prince Albert had 68 points, including 36 goals, in 31 games this season with the Prince Albert Pirates. He’s listed at 6-foot-1 and 160 pounds.

Kelsen Podworny (ninth round, 185th overall): The 6-foot-0, 160-pound forward had 22 goals and 41 points in 28 games with the Okanagan Rockets U15 AAA team, then added two goals and four points in four games with the Rockets’ U17 team. The 15-year-old is from Onoway, Alta.

There were 50 players from Saskatchewan selected in the draft, with 13 from Saskatoon, eight from Regina, two each from Humboldt, Martensville, Prince Albert, Swift Current, Tisdale, Warman and Whitewood, and one each from Annaheim, Balgonie, Chaplin, Clavet, Corman Park, Eastend, Edam, Gull Lake, Langenburg, Macklin, Milestone, Pilot Butte, Waldheim, White City and Wilcox.

Three Saskatchewan players — Macklin’s Cole Reschny (third overall, Victoria Royals), Whitewood’s Reese Hamilton (fourth overall, Calgary Hitmen) and Saskatoon’s Lee Shurgot (ninth overall, Prince George Cougars) — went in the top 10.