The 2025 SJHL Draft came and went on Tuesday with the Kindersley Jr. Klippers making eight selections to bolster their prospect pool.
For anyone wondering what goes in the war room, Klippers assistant GM Ryan Gibson did his best to describe the setting.
"We set up in the office, pretty standard. We got a big list on the white board that someone is delegated to cross off all the time."
Gibson then let Klippers fans in on a draft day secret, as it wouldn't be smart to assess the future on an empty stomach.
"We have our draft and trade deadline tradition now of a nice dinner for 1A from the Red Lion." added Gibson. "Just get to work after that."
The work actually started prior to the draft when the Klippers made a trade with Estevan that you can see above.
The Klippers only had one 2010 round pick entering the draft after trading their selection to La Ronge in the Mason Bueckert trade. The pre-draft swap allowed them to move up two spots from their original position and take skilled Saskatoon forward Bronx Becker at #3, and then with their original pick of the second round they selected Maple Creek forward Finn Gustafson at #17.
Gibson said that continuing to build their 2010 born prospect pool was a major point of emphasis entering the draft, ultimately leading to the deal getting done.
"The big thing for us was moving that pick... We are really happy with how Hudson Sayers and Graydon Neumeier have come along this year, we obviously took them in the bantam piece last year.
"We felt it was important to pick early in the 2010 draft and solidify that group, so we were able to move up and get the guy we wanted there and obviously get Gustafson in the second round who we were really high on too. So that portion was a huge win."
After the busy start to the draft, Gibson and company were forced to let the Chinese food settle for a bit before starting the 2009 round.
"Obviously sitting around for two rounds is less than ideal, but we were able to get some guys we had really high on our list, kind of surprised they were still there at that time. Both aspects of that are a huge win in our books, and we are happy with how everything played out."
The Klippers added two more players — Madden Greenwood and Carter Torry — in a roundabout way before the draft thanks to new auto-protect rules for the SJHL.
Gone are the days that SJHL teams can put a protection on any player they would like.
"Prior to this year the auto-protect thing was as long as they lived in the community you could protect as many as you wanted. Obviously, there are advantages for some teams and disadvantages for others." said Gibson.
Gibson likes the evened playing field, also noting that if teams want to auto-protect a third player they do have the choice to surrender their first available draft pick.
"I think (the league) felt that to keep everyone at a level playing field they would cap the auto-protects at two, which I think is a good idea. Limits who you can keep around a little bit, but I think overall it's a good idea for anyone in the league."
The Klippers always aim to have Kindersley natives in their lineup, and that courtesy extends to west-central Saskatchewan as a whole. Find another story below from our partner newsroom SwiftCurrentOnline as they spoke with Klippers head coach and GM Clayton Jardine about recent picks coming out of the southwest.