In a very active draft for the Bombers, the team went from 3 picks, to 8 picks and finally trading down to 6. Not everyone is blessed enough to wear a Bombers jersey, and the team wanted to keep it that way. Below are the lucky Chosen Ones in the 2016 BFHL draft.
German Rubtsov (C), (18th overall, picture left) - Bombers has picked at the 18th spot two other occasions, taking Adam Erne, and Nick Merkley. Rubtsov is a skilled two-way center with high hockey IQ. Most importantly, German abuses meldonium - and was banned from the U18 tournament. As a reminder, Bombers alumni, Mike Richards, was the original pharmacist on the team (since inception) - the torch was passed to Jarret Stoll when Richards was traded to Storm during the team's rebuild in 2012. With Jarret Stoll currently unsigned and his role is in question after acquiring Bo Horvat, Rubtsov's pharamaceutical sourcing expertise put him on Bombers radar.
The team traded down from the 14th pick, passing up on Kieffer Bellows to acquire Rubtsov's drug procurement expertise. No other players were considered at the 18th pick, but if Rubtsov was taken, the team would have drafted Charles McAvoy (Edit 2018: Man what a monumental ****up by Bombers GM. Fans are still incensed about this pick)
Dillon Dube (C), (44th overall, picture right at the top prospects game) - With the second pick, the team picks another 200 foot center. The team values solid two way players, as noted with the team's summertime acquisition of Kopitar and Horvat. Dube is a good shooter with upside, and is fast and responsible. Dube is a teammate of Nick Merkley, and the team will be patient with his development. Dube could probably benefit from some meldonium.
The main knock against him is his size, he's under 6 feet, as is typical of all Bomber players. He was the alternate captain for Team Cherry in the top prospect game, and was top 6 in Canadian scoring at the Ivan Hlinka tournament.
The team was also interested in taking Kale Clague at this position, but decided to take the centerman instead. Note that the team traded down from pick 36 for 44 and 64. Bombers would have selected Rasmus Asplund at 36.
Noah Gregor (C), (64th overall, picture left) - Gregor is described as an "intelligent 200-foot player and plays a very up-tempo game".
Sounds familiar? Clearly a team can have 6 centers playing at the same time- who needs defensemen or goalies (note: see Oilers for the past 5+ years). This pick was a stretch for the team, as Noah wasn't ranked that high by many rating services. The kid will need to gain some weight, like any typical Bomber draft pick, but is skilled enough to produce over a point a game in the WHL in his draft year. He is a high end skater, with good hockey IQ. Other GM's avoided him like the plague because he played beside skilled players like Brayden Point, Brett Howden, and Dryden Hunt, and he has been known to be invisible at times on the ice.
Bombers were considering Frederic Allard as an alternate pick. Other players picked by the Bombers in prior BFHL entry drafts at the 64th spot? Oliver Bjorkstrand.
Mikhail Berdin (G), (71st overall, picture right - the first part of the Berdin-Woll combo)
. Berdin is a high upside skilled butterfly goaltender with the potential to be a #1 goalie. Let's be honest, Bombers hate picking goalies, and the mere fact the team picked Berdin at 71 meant that nobody was worthy of dressing in a Bombers jersey. The fact he was also banned in the U18 tournament for meldonium abuse was just icing on the cake. He will serve as the team's backup chemist and help he team doctor with prescriptions, especially if he ends up as a backup goaltender on the bench. Berdin will spend next year in Russia to ensure he knows where to source the best and purest meldonium.
The team also considered selecting Luke Green for this pick, as a reminder, when Berdin becomes a big, huge, massive bust.
Joseph Woll (G), (76th overall, picture right - the second part of the Berdin-Woll). Expecting a potential bust in Berdin, the team selected yet another goalie to replentish the team's goalie prospect pipeline. Woll is a big, pro-sized goalie with good movements. He's also known to do a few "Dan Cloutier" and have serious mental lapses allowing really REALLY bad goals. He will join fellow Bombers prospect, Colin White at Boston Colleage next year, with Thatcher Demko turning pro. Again, meldonium likely would help his concentration - that or whatever drugs are used for ADHD.
Given he will be developed by the minor league team, the Toronto Maple Leafs, he will likely be broken by the media and serve in the Bombers history books as the second big bust of this draft for the team. The team considered taking Luke Green at this position.
Mathias From (W), (96th overall, picture left). With the final pick, the team selected a relative unknown player with limited scouting reports. From, from Denmark, played 16 games in the SHL - more than 2015 Bombers' 79th draft pick Robin Kovacs on Rogle BK. He is skilled offensively and responsible defensively - often described as a jack of all trades, but master of none. At worst, he could be a checking winger but could legitimately also end up as a complimentary scoring winger depending on his development. He was a solid player in the world juniors for team Denmark, and led the team in points with 2 points in 4 games.
The Bombers considered picking Tyler Soy and Josh Mahura at the 96th pick. Soy was intriguing given he played on one of the worst team and produced at a solid pace. However, From is more NHL-ready with his experience competing against men in the SHL. Mahura was also an intriguing possibility, in that he played only one regular season game before going down with a season ending injury. Mahura was highly rated by the ratings services and was considered a potential 1st round pick before he came down with his injury. Josh projects to be a 2nd or 3rd pairing defender,which would have been useful for the Bombers in replentishing its defense prospect pool after trading away Ian McCoshen and Ville Pokka. However, From's upside as a complimentary scoring winger outweighed picking a safer pick in Mahura.