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The Bage Valley Wildcats checked everything off their to-do list at the Maritime Junior Hockey League draft.

“We wanted to set ourselves up for now and for the future,” general manager Corey Mullet said June 14.

“We felt we met all of our needs today – goal-scoring, mobility on the back end and physicality.”

Those goals are a bit more obtainable armed with the first, third and fifth overall picks. But those assets were acquired after suffering through a dreadful last-place finish – the second in a row for the Berwick-based franchise.

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Mullett and head coach Dave Flanagan, who took over their roles in January, have started to put their stamp on things and the draft was another opportunity to shape the team for the future.

“We’re lifting that cloud off,” Flanagan said after the draft.

“I thought we took a lot of great steps forward today,” he added. “It’s definitely going in the direction that we want to push this boat from now on.”

Mullett credited the work of the scouting staff for having the franchise ready when it was their turn to select.

“We had guys working around the clock. They don’t stop,” he said. “They’re the glue to this organization and it paid off today.”

The team took 10 players, including Ethan Jones first overall. The draft haul included three centres, three defencemen, two left-wingers and two right-wingers. Eight were 2009-born players while Prince Edward Island forwards Dylan MacLean and Parker MacDonald are a year older.

While it is a big jump from under-18 hockey to junior, Flanagan said he wouldn’t be surprised if some of the players come to camp and earned a spot.

Here’s a look at the other players the team drafted.

D Jacob Seaman

Kentville’s Jacob Seaman was Valley’s lone territorial pick.

The six-foot, 178-pound, right-shot defenceman had eight points in 16 games with the Wildcats under-18 team. He missed the start of the season with an injury.

The Blainville-Boisbriand Armada took the character kid with leadership qualities in the eighth round of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) draft.

“That was no-brainer for us,” Mullett said.

“He’s the real deal,” he added. “If he ever makes his way to us, he’s going to be a fantastic junior A hockey player.”

D Duncan Anderson

Duncan Anderson is a five-foot-eight, 172-pound right-shot defenceman from Antigonish.

He had four goals and 32 assists for 36 points in 44 games last season with South Kent prep school in Connecticut.

“A strong, mobile defenceman who can play on both sides of the puck,” is how Mullett described him.

“We had some pretty good intel that he wants to play closer to home.”

Anderson was picked in the 11th round (185th overall) of the QMJHL draft by the Halifax Mooseheads.

LW Parker Banks

It’s hard to miss Parker Banks, who is listed as a six-foot-one, 204-pound left-winger from Conception Bay South, N.L.

“That’s something that really stood out to us and the fact that he’s such a good skater for that size. (The combination is) hard to come by,” said Mullett, noting he is continuing to grow. “We couldn’t pass him up. We need that size in our lineup.”

The left-winger had 12 goals and nine assists for 21 points in 20 games with Stanstead College prep school in Quebec. The Sherbrooke Phoenix took Banks in the 11th round (191st) overall of the QMJHL draft.

Banks and Jones have played minor and provincial level hockey together in the past.

C Dylan MacLean

The Wildcats watched Dylan MacLean a lot this season with the Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild, including at the Atlantics.

The six-foot, 180-pound centre from Summerside, P.E.I., had 12 points and 85 penalty minutes in 27 games.

“He was a guy that we had to have,” Mullett said.

“He plays a heavy game. He’s powerful (and) a good skater. It’s like a man amongst boys out there when he’s on the ice.”

C Sam Ryan

Halifax’s Sam Ryan played in Boston last season, but Mullett said he has committed to playing for Dartmouth-based Steele Subaru in the under-18 league in 2025-26. In 2023-24, he had 28 goals and 26 assists in 31 games with Dartmouth’s under-15 team.

“We like what he brings to the table. He’s a good 200-foot player, (who) has a lot of offensive upside,” Mullett said of the five-foot-eight, 148-pound centre.

D Max MacKenzie

Flanagan said Charlottetown Island Coastal Knights defenceman Max MacKenzie has a calmness to his game that belies his birth certificate.

“He doesn’t panic. He has a lot of poise for a young player,” he said of the Stratford, P.E.I., native. “He has the size and reach to go with it.”

He had 10 assists in 34 games last season.

RW M.J. Bottomley

If M.J. Bottomley’s surname rings a bell, it’s with good reason. He is the grandson of Jim Bottomley, a longtime coach in the junior A loop.

The five-foot-10, 170-pound right-winger played most of the 2024-25 season with the Basin Armada under-16 team, where he had 27 goals and 25 assists in 34 games.

“He’s electric,” Mullet said of the Halifax native, who will play for Steele this season. “We’re excited about him. The kid can play.”

RW Kieran MacDonald

Kieran MacDonald is a five-foot-10, 170-pound right-winger from Judique. In 37 games with the Cape Breton West Islanders, he had four goals, four assists and 84 penalty minutes.

“He’s a complete soldier,” Flanagan said. “The guy will come to play hard every night.”

LW Parker MacDonald

Parker MacDonald had 13 points in 34 games last season with the Charlottetown Knights.

“Parker has that outside speed that makes him … dangerous,” Flanagan said.

The five-foot-10, 132-pound left-winger from Charlottetown continues to grow and was named the Knights’ most improved player this year.

Local

Left-winger Paxton Levy was selected in the 10th round (110th overall) by the Chaleur Lightning. The five-foot-eight, 145-pound New Minas native had four goals, nine assists and 119 penalty minutes for the under-18 Wildcats.

The Bathurst,N.B.,-based Lightning relocated from Fredericton at the end of the season.

Restocking the cupboard

A look at the players selected by the Valley Wildcats during the draft.

1. C Ethan Jones, Paradise, N.L.

3. D Duncan Anderson, Antigonish.

5. LW Parker Banks, Conception Bay South, N.L.

37. C Dylan MacLean, Summerside, P.E.I.

53. C Sam Ryan, Halifax.

61. D Max MacKenzie, Stratford, P.E.I.

73. RW M.J. Bottomley, Halifax.

85. RW Kieran MacDonald, Judique.

98. LW Parker MacDonald, Charlottetown.

D Jacob Seaman, Kentville.

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