porter draft
Jamie Porter at the draft table

It's one of the deepest first rounds in years.

That was the view of Broncos Assistant General Manager and Director of Player Personnel Jamie Porter when previewing the WHL Bantam Draft during Home Hardware's Overtime on The Eagle 94.1 FM on Monday night.

"It goes probably a good 3-4-5 rounds and it starts to drop off pretty good after that," Porter said. "The first 15 to 16 guys all will make an impact with their clubs pretty early in their careers. It's a nice and exciting group."

"We've talked about moving up and moving back and really haven't found a good reason to do that because we still know we're going to get a really good guy."

The Broncos have the 12th pick in the first round. Porter indicated they will be drafting best player available as long as he fits the identity the Broncos have been developing.

That identity is also a big factor in how they approach the later rounds.

"Our scouting staff need to be conscious of the fact that we're looking for players that fit what we are and what we want to be," Porter said. "They're constantly looking for those guys in the later guys."

Porter, Broncos Coach/GM Mark Lamb and his scouting staff will put in some long hours leading up to Thursday's draft.

Home Hardware's Overtime for April 29th"I lock myself in this room for three days," Porter said. "Revamp the list, complete some interviews, talk with agents... make sure that we know who is coming and who is not coming, prioritize what we want for our own style. Staff will come in against on Wednesday and we'll go through it one more time."

Swift Current picked BC forward Glenn Gawdin 5th overall in 2012. They added defencemen Brycen Martin and Zack Gonek in 2011, and another defenceman Dillon Heatherington in the first round of the 2010 draft.

Top southwest prospects this year include Shaunavon's Kole Lind, Swift Current's Tanner Nagel and Gull Lake's Cody Spagrud. They all played for the Kabos Bantam AA Raiders.

It's a busy week in the WHL with the awards lunch on Wednesday before Thursday's draft. Broncos Captain Adam Lowry is nominated for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy given to the WHL Player of the Year.

We will have extensive coverage of both the award and the draft on Swift Current Online.