Seattle wins draft lottery

The Seattle Thunderbirds, who had a 19.1% chance of winning the draft lottery, pulled it off this morning. As a result, the Thunderbirds will have the #1 overall pick in the 2012 WHL bantam draft.

Prince Albert will drop from #1 down to #2, while Prince George drops from #2 down to #3. All other picks remain unchanged.

So....Seattle gets the chance to pick Mathew Barzal. Will he play for them? If so, what a great opportunity for that franchise to turn itself around after some tough years lately.

The order of selection in the first round:


1. Seattle
2. Prince Albert
3. Prince George
4. Lethbridge
5. Swift Current
6. Red Deer
7. Everett
8. Victoria
9. Kelowna
10. Kootenay
11. Prince George (from Regina in Marincin/Blidstrand deal, Jan 10/12)
12. Brandon
13. Victoria (from Brandon in Kevin Sundher deal, Jan 9/12; Brandon had acquired from Saskatoon in Brayden Schenn deal, Jan 10/11)
14. Spokane
15. Vancouver
16. Medicine Hat
17. Calgary
18. Lethbridge (from Moose Jaw in Cam Braes deal, Jan 9/12)
19. Kamloops
20. Seattle (from Portland in Marcel Noebels deal, Jan 10/12)
21. Tri-City
22. Edmonton