Medicine Hat Tigers first round pick Reid Andresen (Photo courtesy of Saskatoon Minor Hockey Association / Twitter)

By Scott Roblin

WHL Bantam Draft

Tigers select Andresen, Medicine Hat’s Seitz a first rounder in WHL Bantam Draft

Apr 22, 2020 | 10:54 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – For the first time since 2013, the Medicine Hat Tigers have used a first round WHL Bantam Draft pick on a defenceman.

The Tigers used their 11^th overall pick in Wednesday’s 2020 WHL Bantam Draft to restock their blueline by selecting Saskatoon product Reid Andresen.

Playing for the Saskatoon Bantam AA Generals last season, the 14-year-old Andresen finished third in team scoring with 13 goals and 51 points in 31 regular season games.

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“Really intelligent defenceman that can control the game from the back end,” said Tigers director of player personnel Bobby Fox. “We were really excited that he was able to fall to us. We were really high on him and we absolutely had him high on our list.”

Andresen also posted three goals and 10 points in four playoff games for the Generals, while also recording an assist in a three-game call up with the Saskatoon Midget AAA Contacts.

The last defenceman to be selected in the first round by Medicine Hat was David Quenneville in 2013.

“He’s almost a better skater when he has the puck,” said Fox. “He can shake off forecheckers, he can make little bump plays, he can jump up, he can juke through the neutral zone, he’s great at being the power play quarterback. I think he’s a special player and we’re excited to have him.”

It was a monumental day for the Medicine Hat Minor Hockey community as well with three local players and two others with Medicine Hat ties were drafted on Wednesday.

Medicine Hat fans were able to celebrate shortly afterwards the Tigers’ pick, as SEAC Bantam AAA forward Dawson Seitz was nabbed at 20th overall by the Edmonton Oil Kings.

“I just saw my name pop up on the screen and we all kind of jumped off the couch and all hugged each other,” said Seitz. “It was just an exciting moment.”

Seitz missed the vast majority of the 2019-20 AMBHL season due to a variety of injuries, but was able to contribute 10 goals and 12 points in 12 combined regular season and playoff games with SEAC.

“I’m really grateful that they believe in me after I had a tough year this year,” said Seitz. “They really think that I will fit into their organization and I’m just grateful that they picked me.”

The SEAC sniper becomes the highest drafted player from Medicine Hat since 2011, when the Tigers chose forward Blake Penner with the 18th overall pick.

Seitz’s teammate and captain Josh Van Mulligen also heard his name called on Wednesday in what was special moment, drafted 39th overall in the second round by his hometown Tigers.

“It was pretty surreal,” said Van Mulligen. “Obviously, I dreamed of playing for the Tigers one day. This was a great experience and I’m very excited.”

Van Mulligen finished third among AMBHL defenceman in scoring this past season, ending his year with 13 goals and 27 points in 31 games with the SEAC program.

Fox said he and the rest of Medicine Hat’s scouting staff were impressed with the growth in Van Mulligen’s game over the last 12 months.

“We just couldn’t pass up on him,” he said. “He has such a high ceiling in our opinion and he came so far this year. Obviously, he won defenceman of the year in the Alberta Bantam Hockey League. He’s a big body that can skate, he has a two-way game to him. He’s going to be an excellent player.”

It was a special morning for the pair of SEAC standouts, who have grown up playing together and now could square off on either side of the Medicine Hat-Edmonton divisional rivalry.

“We’ve been playing together since we were like five,” said Van Mulligen. “We’ve known each other for a long time and I’m just really excited for him. We’ve been joking around about division rivals. We’re really excited to play against each other and we’re really happy for each other.”

From there in round three, Medicine Hat selected former Bantam AAA Tiger and current Edge School standout Shane Smith with the 51st overall pick, West Van Warriors centre Walker Gelbard three picks later, and Porcupine Plain, Saskatchewan defender Blake Ekren-Bratton.

The Tigers went forward with their next three picks in Calgary AAA Royals centreman Andrew Basha, Lian Gayfer from the Okanagan AAA Rockets and Edmonton’s Hunter St. Martin, the latter of whom is the son of longtime Tigers defenceman Blair St. Martin.

“He’s an excellent skater and a really high compete player,” said Fox. “He’s going to create his own identity.”

Medicine Hat closed out the draft by selecting North Island AAA Silvertips defenceman Caden Tremblay, Airdrie AAA Xtreme netminder Zach Zahara, and centre Brett Calhoon from Oliver, B.C.

The Tigers’ final pick of the draft at 206th overall was used to select another local talent, choosing SEAC defenceman Cole Unger in the 10th round after a season that saw the blueliner post 16 points in 33 games.

“We just felt like we couldn’t pass up on his skill level at that point and he definitely has some upside as well,” said Fox.

In all, the Tigers were able to fill their defensive cupboard with three of their first five picks coming from the blueline and five defenders in total hearing their names called.

While Fox said there wasn’t a plan to go heavy on defence, he’s happy with how balanced the team’s prospects system has become.

“I think when you combine our last two drafts the team shapes out really well,” he said. “We have some really high-end skilled forwards and we have some puck moving defence. I like the size and skating that’s developing on the back end.”

The Regina Pats selected North Vancouver’s Connor Bedard with the first overall pick, who became the first player in WHL history last month to earn exceptional player status and will be joining the Pats as a 15-year-old next season after recording 84 points in 36 games at the midget level.