Hawks Hoping for 7th Round Magic

So the WHL Bantam Draft is currently being held and Portland does not have any picks until the 7th round. Here is a break down of where the Hawks first 6 rounds worth of picks went:

1st Round: #22- Traded to Seattle for Marcel Noebels
2nd Round #26- Forfeited for rules violations. They had obtained this pick from Everett for the signing of GM Gerry Davidson.
2nd Round #44- Traded to Edmonton for right to Cam Reid, who then traded it to Vancouver for Trevor Cheek.
3rd Round #66- Forfeited for rules violations.
4th Round #88- Traded to Prince Albert for Charles Wells.
5th Round #110- Forfeited for rules violations.
6th Round #132- Traded to Vancouver for Brendan Jensen, who then traded it to Lethbridge for Liam Liston.

So, due to the WHL's ruling that Portland provided illegal player benefits, Portland was not going to be allowed to pick anyone in the first 5 rounds of the 2013 draft. This is going to effect them in a couple of years when all of the incoming 16 year olds are going to either be listed players or late bantam picks.

However, Portland had already traded away 3 of those possible 6 picks, in order to get players that have helped them make these long playoff runs, so it's not as bad as it could have been.

What really hurts, is that Portland is limited in what they can offer other teams for players that they want to add. This could play a role next year when Portland only has 3 players in their 20 year old season (Ty Rattie, Tyler Wotherspoon and Joey Baker). Rattie and Wotherspoon are highly likely to make the jump professionally as they are both signed by the St. Louis Blues and Calgary Flames respectively. That leaves, at least, two 20 year spots to fill, with not as many future Bantam picks to offer (no first round picks through 2017).

So, back to this year's draft: Portland has the following late round picks available to them:

7th Round- #142- Acquired from Medicine Hat for Cam Lanigan.
7th Round- #154
8th Round- #155- Acquired from Victoria for Troy Stecher.
8th Round- #165- Acquired from Victoria for Troy Stecher.
8th Round- #176
9th Round- #198
10th Round- #220

So, Portland has a total of seven selections available to them, but they are all within the last 78 selections overall. Here's to the Hawks finding some diamonds in the rough, courtesy of their excellent scouting staff.