Spokane Chiefs select 11 players in WHL Bantam Draft

RED DEER, Alberta – The Spokane Chiefs made forward Ben Thornton their top pick and added 10 other players Thursday in the 2019 Western Hockey League Bantam Draft.

Thornton, who averaged 1.5 points per game last season with Yale Hockey Academy Bantam Prep, went 15th overall in the draft of 2004-born players.

The Chiefs added three straight defensemen in the third, fourth and fifth rounds, picking Logan Cunningham of Yellowknife, Northwest Territory; Garrett Brown of San Jose, California; and Avery Trotter of Olds, Alberta.

They dipped into the Manitoba forward ranks in the sixth and seventh rounds, taking Michael Cicek out of Winnipeg and Carson Buydens from Gladstone.

Spokane added defenseman Dayton Craik (Brentwood Bay, British Columbia) and forward Matthew Langdon (Sherwood Park, Alberta) with back-to-back picks in the eighth round before grabbing their only goaltender of the 2019 class in Southlake, Texas, native Paxton Geisel. They closed out the draft with a pair of British Columbia forwards: Cam Smith of Victoria and Ridge Dawson of Kelowna.

Selected players will be eligible to play for the Chiefs full time in the 2020-21 season.