Riley Stotts
Riley Stotts (Photo by Jeff Miller/Mytoba.ca)

The Swift Current Broncos have selected skilled centre Riley Stotts with their first pick of the 2015 WHL Bantam Draft.

The Broncos added the Winnipeg Monarchs forward with the 10th pick of the first round.

"Riley is a skilled centreman out of Winnipeg," said Broncos Assistant GM Jamie Porter. "He's an extremely good skater and has an excellent second gear. It's the type of skilled forward we were talking about coming into the draft. We're quite excited about this."

(Click here for our interview with Jamie Porter on Stotts)

Stotts put up 69 points in 29 games in Winnipeg AAA this season.

"We saw him as a speed demon type player that is extremely dangerous around the net," Porter said. "He has excellent finish. He's the type of dynamic forward we have been talking about."

(Click here for our interview with Riley Stotts)

"It's a great organization and great place to develop as a player," Stotts said. "It's a great team. I'm really excited to get started."

"I have lots of speed," Stotts noted. "I see the ice very well and I work hard every shift."

"I try to be a leader in the room and keep everybody's heads up. Always keep the team going and work hard every shift to set an example with my linemates."

Stotts impressed the Broncos by adding 22 points in 11 playoff games.

"The Winnipeg city bantam playoffs are exceptional," Porter said. "They're best of sevens and they are some of the best series that scouts get to see every year. For Riley to raise his game to another level at that time was another key pieces of information for us that showed us he was going to be an elite player at another level."

A passionate battle with another top team and top prospect really pushed the young star in his post-season this spring.

"The rivalry against the (Winnipeg) Warriors we had that all year and wanted to beat them so bad," Stotts said. "We worked hard and almost got the championship."

That rivalry with the Winnipeg Warriors included a battle with now Moose Jaw Warriors draft pick defenceman Jett Woo.

"That was probably my biggest rivalry of the season," Stotts said. "I would always come to the rink ready to play against him and try my best to be able to beat him wherever he is on the ice. Sometimes it wouldn't work and we would battle. It was a great year playing against him I really enjoyed it.

The Broncos then added Owen Blocker with their second round pick. The gritty Manitoba forward had 21 points in 28 games this season.

"Hard player," Porter said. "Gritty two way guy."

Swift Current then picked hulking 6'4 defenceman Ethan Martini. The Castlegar, BC product is the son of former Edmonton Oilers defenceman Darcy Martini.

"We felt he was one of the most improved players in the draft," Porter said. "Good defender."

(Click here for Jamie Porter's interview on the rest of the draft)

Swift Current then had two picks in the 5th round of the draft. They used the first on centre Josh Prokop of Edmonton. Porter describes the 5'5 forward as a small bodies skill guy and a competitor. He had 56 points in 30 games for the AAA CAC Canadians.

The Broncos also added a defenceman in the 5th round when they picked Jacob Bernard-Docker from Canmore. Porter described him as a good two-way player with lots of upside. The captain of the Airdrie Extreme produced 20 points in 32 games for them this season.

Swift Current didn't have picks in the 4th, 6th or 7th rounds of the draft. They rounded out their selections with defenceman Maxwell Struss from Spruce Grove in the 8th round, winger Quinton Waitzner from Victoria in the 9th round, forward Matt Allardyce of Saskatoon in the 10th round, forward Ethan Regnier of Prince Albert in the 11th round and forward Dominic Turner of Calgary in the 12th round.

Stay with Swift Current Online for more details and reaction to those selections from the Broncos and the players themselves.

Ethan Martini
Ethan Martini (James Dewar/Stinky Lockers)