Three current BCHL players were selected on day two of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft on Wednesday.
Penticton Vees forward Matteo Costantini was picked by the Buffalo Sabres in the fifth round, Chilliwack Chiefs forward Kienan Draper went to the Detroit Red Wings in the seventh round and Chiefs forward Ethan Bowen was chosen by the Anaheim Ducks in the seventh round.
Matteo Costantini (Penticton Vees) – Round 5 (131st overall) – Buffalo Sabres
The 18-year-old from St. Catharines, Ont. came into the draft as the highest-ranked BCHL prospect, so it came as no surprise when he was the first name to come off the board when the Sabres took him in the fifth round.
Costantini has gotten off to a hot start in the extended training camp season. He’s put up two goals and five assists for seven points in his team’s first four games, which is the third most in the league.
Before joining the Vees this past offseason, Costantini finished as the OJHL’s third-leading goal scorer with 39 tallies and also finished in the top-10 in league scoring with 68 points, on his way to winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award.
He is committed to the University of North Dakota next year.
Kienan Draper (Chilliwack Chiefs) – Round 7 (187th overall) – Detroit Red Wings
Draper will hope to follow in his dad’s footsteps after being selected by the Wings as the first pick in the seventh round of the draft. His father Kris played 18 of his 21 seasons in the NHL with Detroit, winning the Stanley Cup four times along the way.
What made this pick even more special for Kienan was that Kris currently serves as the Red Wings director of amateur scouting.
The younger Draper has fit right in with the Chiefs since joining the team to start this season. Through two exhibition games, the 18-year-old forward has four goals and one assist.
Prior to coming out west to Chilliwack, Draper played at St. Andrew’s College last year where he put up 58 points in 68 games.
He is committed to play at Miami University next year.
Ethan Bowen (Chilliwack Chiefs) – Round 7 (207th overall) – Anaheim Ducks
The Chilliwack product playing for his hometown team was the highest-ranked player who played last season in the BCHL.
Bowen is entering his third season in the league and has 70 points in 102 regular-season games over his first two campaigns. Last year, he totaled 31 points in 41 games, despite missing significant time due to injury.
Bowen broke into the league back in the 2017-18 season when he played alongside his brother Ryan as an affiliate with Chilliwack. That season culminated in him and the Chiefs winning a national championship on home ice as the hosts of the 2018 RBC Cup.
Bowen is committed to play at the University of North Dakota in 2021-22.
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Former Wenatchee Wild forward Lukas Svejkovsky was also selected in the 2020 draft. He went in the fourth round (108th overall) to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Svejkovksy played the 2017-18 season with the Wild, the year they won their first-ever Fred Page Cup and Doyle Cup and also played in the national championship tournament.
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