08-05-2025
Oil Kings opt for pair of defencemen with two first-round picks in WHL bantam draft
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Oil Kings GM Kirt Hill, who engineered the Moose Jaw trade last year with the Warriors as they eventually won the WHL championship, didn't even try to offer his No. 2 and No. 8 to Regina this year with a whimsical chance they might give up the No. 1 for two cracks in the draft.
'I think that was a non-starter for them with anything I was offering them,' laughed Hill, who decided to stock his asset cupboard with back-end additions.
After taking centre Kayden Stroeter fifth last year and with Jarome Iginla's 16-year-old son Joe in the fold, too, after his rookie WHL season, they passed on two high-end forwards — Liam Pugh from B.C. and Reid Nichol from Manitoba, who both played U18 as 14-year-olds like Schultz. Regina traded with Kelowna for third overall to take Pugh, with the Rockets, who are hosting the 2026 Memorial Cup, getting a tidy 26th overall pick this year and the 2026 and 2017 first-rounders from the Pats.
'We talked about that, too, but you saw the assets that went for it. Once the prices got that high we weren't willing to do that,' said Hill, who might have opted for a forward at No. 3 but was very happy to add defencemen to the pipeline at 2 and 8.
