The Manitoba Junior Hockey League held its annual Prospects Draft on the weekend and it was a busy day for the Virden Oil Capitals who had 11 total selections.
The Oil Caps started the day off by picking defenceman Lincoln Black-Greaves from Winnipeg, MB 11th overall. Black-Greaves is a big physical right shot defenceman who moves the puck well and is a great teammate. He played this last season with the Winnipeg Thrashers U18 team and had 8 goals and 15 assists for 23 points in 41 games as a 15 year old. Black-Greaves was also selected in the 8th round of the 2023 WHL draft by the Portland Winterhawks.
The Oil Caps had 2 selections in the 2nd round and with their first (20th overall) they took forward Shane Elder of Wawanesa, MB. Elder, the son of longtime Oil Caps Head Scout Brian Elder, is a highly intelligent, highly skilled left shot forward who has the ability to score. He played for the Canadian Ice Bandits U17 AAA team and racked up 22 goals and 19 assists in 36 games and was named the U17 AAA league’s ‘Forward of the Year’ award. With their second pick in round 2 (24th overall) the Oil Caps selected forward Carter Cabral from Winnipeg, MB. Cabral is hard nosed and can make plays in traffic. He put up 8 goals and 8 assists in 41 games for the U18 AAA Winnipeg Thrashers.
In round 3 (37th overall) Virden took defenceman Grady Taylor from Brandon, MB. Taylor played this last season with the U17 AAA Brandon Wheat Kings and was a 13th round selection of the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the WHL draft last spring. He is hard to play against, physical and a very good defender. He also chipped in with 6 goals and 12 assists in 31 games.
With another 2 selections in round 4 the Oil Caps took forward Ragnar Gillis from Morden, MB (40th overall) and defenceman Luka Fay (50th overall) from Winnipeg, MB. Gillis is a right handed center/right winger who has good skill and has a ton of potential. He had 9 points in 44 games for the U18 AAA Pembina Valley Hawks. Luka Fay suited up for the U17 AAA Winnipeg Bruins and is a big right shot defenceman who has a high hockey IQ and great character. He had 17 points in 36 games for the Bruins.
In round 5 (63rd overall) Virden selected smooth skating defenceman Kaden Allan from Hamiota, MB. Allan is a high end defenceman with a good stick and natural offensive abilities. He played this season with the RHA U18 Prep team in Winnipeg and was also drafted by the Spokane Chiefs in the second round (24th overall) in the WHL draft last spring. If he ends up in Virden at any point in his junior career it will be a huge addition for the Oil Caps.
Round 6 saw the Oil Caps have 2 more selections and with the 66th overall pick they took forward Jack Ross (Winnipeg, MB) from the Winnipeg U17 AAA Wild. Ross skates well, has a big frame and goes to the hard areas of the rink. He finished the regular season with 10 goals and 11 assists in 33 games for the Wild. The 76th overall selection saw the Caps take forward Lucas Laramee from La Broquerie, MB. Lucas played for the U17 AAA Eastman Selects and posted 18 goals and 12 assists for 30 points in 36 games for the Selects. He is a natural leader and plays the game with grit and intelligence.
The Oil Caps did not have any auto protect selections ahead of this year’s draft so they received a single selection in both rounds 7 and 8. In round 7 they took goaltender Peyton Shore from Winnipeg, MB. Shore played this season with the Rink Hockey Academy’s U17 Prep team and was also a draft pick of the Red Deer Rebels in the 5th round of the 2023 WHL draft. He is an athletic goaltender who tracks the puck extremely well and won a gold medal with Manitoba’s U16 team at the WHL cup in the fall. In 15 games with the RHA Nationals this past season he posted a 2.48 GAA and a .932 save %. The Oil Caps final selection (102nd overall) in this year’s draft was forward Carter Polanski from Winnipeg, MB. Polanski has a great skill set and plays a smart game with a knack for scoring. He played this season with the U17 AAA Winnipeg Wild where he tallied 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points in 36 regular season games.
GM and Head Coach Tyson Ramsey was very pleased with his scouting staff and their selections in this year’s draft, “We had a very nice draft and I am very happy with the players we added to our organization today”, said Ramsey. Our scouting staff continues to amaze me in creating a great list year after year and we added some kids today that are very skilled, work hard and are great human beings. We are very excited to get these young guys here and on the ice in August for our prospect camp. We feel like we addressed some of the needs of our group moving forward and the future looks very bright for the Oil Capitals.”