After a busy day for their front office, the Swift Current Broncos added a skilled forward to their prospect pool.
Swift Current selected Grande Prairie's Cohenn Rotar with the 22nd pick in the WHL Prospect Draft.
It's a 1st round selection they added after deals with Saskatoon and Brandon earlier in the day.
"We had a player targeted for sure," said Broncos General Manager Chad Leslie. "I mean we have a lot of defensemen in our system right now and at that point in the draft, just looking for an offensive player that has the potential to be a very offensive guy at 18 1/2-19. A guy that can pop and has the tools to drive our offense down the road. We liked the player all year and we felt strongly that as he gets older with physical strength gains that he's a guy that can put up some big numbers down the road."
Rotar led the Grand Peace Athletic Club (Grande Prairie) Storm with 34 goals and 33 assists in 33 games of the 2024-25 Alberta U15 AAA Hockey League season.
"I think just his individual skill in a sense and his ability to make plays and to score," Leslie said. "The lack of physical strength really dictates some things in his game that you don't like, but he's an undersized guy that's got some skill and finish, and he's got a little bit of pull away speed. The makings are there to be really offensive at 18 and a half, 19, and 20."
Rotar is 5'7 and 137lbs with a week to go before his 15th birthday. At that size, the Broncos don't feel he's someone they need to rush to the WHL.
"It potentially is a guy that might not play in the league at 16," Leslie said. "We feel like there's no hurry for this player. We have a tremendous amount of time for him and just want to make sure that when he comes in, he's got an opportunity to be offensive and be in those situations. I believe in his upside and his ceiling, and we're going to handle him the right way."
Swift Current's 1st round pick left an impression on other scouts as well.
"I love to watch this kid play," said Brad Ginnell, WHL Manager, Hockey Operations & Recruitment on the Victory+ live draft special. "He's the best one-on-one player in the draft hands down. He's extremely slippery, beats guys out of the corner, (and) always finds a way to take it to the net. The kid is just always a scoring threat, no matter how out-manned or what area on the ice he may be. He's going to be super fun to watch for Swift Current fans."
The 1st round of the WHL Prospects Draft included a big splash by the Regina Pats. They selected Regina Pat Canadians star Maddox Schults 1st overall, before trading future draft capital to Kelowna in order to pick Langley Hockey Academy star Liam Pue 3rd overall.
The three trades Swift Current made today mean the second day of the WHL Prospect Draft will now be a busy one for the Broncos.
They will now pick twice in the 2nd round, 4th round, and 5th round tomorrow.
The WHL Prospects Draft resumes tomorrow morning after the completion of the U.S. Priority Draft.