In 1990, the Western Hockey League established the bantam draft to better distribute the talent within its boundaries to its member teams. Each spring, teams are given their first opportunity to add players to their player protected lists (PPL) through the bantam draft. Canadian-born players and players residing in the state of Washington and Oregon who have completed their first year of bantam eligibility (14-year-olds) and American players who have completed their second year of bantam eligibility (15-year-olds) are draft eligible. Teams select in reverse order from their regular season finish the previous year. Teams must have an open slot on their 50-player PPL in order to make a selection in the bantam draft and can continue to draft players as long as they continue to open up slots.

The establishment of the bantam draft reduced the need for teams to scout players below the bantam level. This cut down on the scouting costs for teams as well as reducing the pressure as much as possible on the very young players. It also allowed the league to better distribute the top end talent among its teams. This, in theory, prevents certain teams from being very good or very bad for any extended period.

The creation of the bantam draft also created a new asset that teams could use in making trades. It has allowed the teams to more readily make trades by using mid to late round bantam picks to even the scales on many trades.

2009 Draft
Rd	No.	Pos.	Player	Ht	Wt	Hometown
1	7	LC	Connor Rankin	6-0	185	N. Vancouver, BC
2	41	RC	Marcus Messier	5-9	140	Canmore, AB
3	63	RD	Riley Guenther	5-11	155	Calgary, AB
4	80	G	Chris Driedger	6-2	160	Winnipeg, MB
4	85	LC	Wyatt Garagan	5-11	160	Estevan, SK
5	102	RD	Justin Hamonic	6-1	160	Winnipeg, MB
5	107	RD	Tyler Kunz	5-9	150	Whitecourt, AB
6	129	LW	Joel Steve	5-11	145	Weyburn, SK
7	151	LD	Matt Lloyd	6-0	165	Aldergrove, BC
8	173	RC	Dylan Fluter	5-8	135	Saskatoon, SK
9	195	LD	Justin Klimek	6-0	170	Langley, BC
10	217	C	Brandon Halbgewachs	5-9	160	Emerald Park, SK
11	239	RW	Matthew Hughesman	5-11	175	Winnipeg, MB
12	261	LC	Zane Schartz	5-8	155	Plano, TX
2008 Draft
Rd	No.	Pos.	Player	Ht	Wt	Hometown
1	22	D	Yuen, Zach	6-1	200	Vancouver, BC
2	44	RW	Moser, Nils	6-1	170	Canmore, AB
5	110	LW	Moline, Max	6-3	165	Lethbridge, AB
6	132	C	McPhee, Zach	6-2	165	Vernon, BC
8	172	D	Pile, Brett	6-0	160	Winnipeg, MB
8	176	C	Illchuk, Brendyn	5-11	160	Winnipeg, MB
9	194	G	Liem, Jordan	5-10	150	Surrey, BC
9	198	C	Barden, Mak	5-9	150	Surrey, BC
2007 Draft
Rd	No.	Pos.	Player	Ht	Wt	Hometown
2	40	RW	Messier, Jordan	6-2	185	Canmore, AB
2	43	C	Macek, Brooks	5-10	165	Winnipeg, MB
3	47	D	Stoykewich, Peter	6-0	160	Winnipeg, MB
4	87	D	Monk, Josh	5-8	152	Langley, BC
5	95	G	Shymko, Warren			Calder, SK
6	125	RW	Holland, Patrick	5-6	112	Lethbridge, AB
7	137	D	Barry, Luke			Swift Current, SK
8	172	LW	Olstad, Tanner	5-7	145	Calgary, AB
8	173	C	Schwartz, Jaden	5-7	150	Wilcox, SK
9	194	LW	Feser, Justin	5-7	142	Red Deer, AB
10	214	LW	Fargher, Brett	5-8	180	Winnipeg, MB
2006 Draft
Rd	No.	Pos.	Player	Ht	Wt	Hometown
1	8	C	Gardiner, Jason	6-1	180	Winnipeg, MB
2	28	LW	Hughesman, Adam	5-11	175	Winnipeg, MB
4	70	C	Wihak, Adam	5-10	165	Regina, SK
4	78	RW	Zimak, Brock	5-9	160	Winnipeg, MB
6	112	D	Werbowski, Lane	6-0	160	Winnipeg, MB
9	175	D	Musto, Cody	6-0	165	Burnaby, BC
10	196	D	Weselake, Jeff	5-11	175	Winnipeg, MB
11	217	RW	Sabey, David	6-1	170	Kelowna, BC
12	238	C	Fraser, Taylor	6-0	170	St. Albert, AB
13	259	D	Krankowsky, Jordan	5-10	175	Ft. Saskatchewan, AB
14	280	D	Ursulak, Richard	6-0	175	Ponoka, AB
2005 Draft
Rd	No.	Pos.	Player	Ht	Wt	Hometown
1	7	D	Mestery, Eric	6-4	190	Winnipeg, MB
2	27	D	Schmidt, Tyler	6-0	180	Winnipeg, MB
5	87	C	Wutzke, Cody	6-1	180	Aberdeen, SK
5	91	G	Birch, Kyle	5-10	160	Winnipeg, MB
6	107	LW	Phaneuf, Colin	5-7	142	Winnipeg, MB
8	153	C	Bartoshyk, Pat	5-8	155	Lethbridge, AB
9	161	C	Robinson, David			Vernon, BC
9	167	D	Cannon, James	6-0	170	Prince George, BC
10	181	D	Gorges, Liam	5-8	160
10	187	RW	Bienvenu, Brad	6-2	180	Sherwood Par, AB
10	189	RW	Stachiw, Shawn	5-11	190	Calgary, AB
2004 Draft
Rd	No.	Pos.	Player	Ht	Wt	Hometown
1	9	C	Broda, Joel	6' 0	180	Prince Albert, SK
2	22	RW	Grant, Colton	5' 10	165	Standard, AB
5	83	D	Toll, Jarrett	6-1	150	Maple Ridge, BC
5	89	G	Pickard, Chet	6-1	170	Winnipeg, MB
6	109	D	Jungwirth, Chris	6-1	165	Cudworth, SK
6	112	RW	Arnott, Nathan	6-1	170	North Battleford, SK
6	114	C	Bloodoff, Lucas	5-11	165	Castlegar, BC
8	149	C	Houghton, Jeff	6-1	170	Sherwood Park, AB
9	169	RW	Hopkins, Cam	6-1	170	Edmonton, AB
10	189	D	Kipp, Damon			Salmon Arm, BC
2003 Draft
Rd	No.	Pos.	Player	Ht	Wt	Hometown
1	1	C	Toews, Jonathan	5' 11	165	Winnipeg, MB
2	22	D	Beach, David	6-0	190	Anchorage, AK
3	62	LW	Inglis, Chris	6-0	170	Calgary, AB
5	102	C	Santorelli, Mark	5-11	160	Burnaby, BC
6	122	D	Niznikowski, Jared			Penticton, BC
7	142	D	Westover, Nathan	6-0	160	Delta, BC
8	162	G	Hopper, Nick	5-11	165	Culver City, CA
9	182	D	Johnson, Jack	6-0	175	Fairbault, MN
10	202	C	Komick, Tyler	6-1	170	Sherwood Park, AB
11	222	RW	Jorgenson, Pirmin	6-0	155	Warman, SK
2002 Draft
Rd	No.	Pos.	Player	Ht	Wt	Hometown
1	8	G	Price, Carey	6-2	160	Williams Lake, BC
2	24	LW	Falk, Dave	6-1	188	Saskatoon, SK
2	26	RW	Meaver, Kirk	6-3	175	Williams Lake, BC
3	54	C	Pettapiece, Clinton	5-11	165	Christina Lake, BC
7	115	LW	Reed, Kyle	5-11	160	Calgary, AB
7	121	LW	Thielman, Coleton	5-11	180	Langley, BC
8	140	RW	Reid, Jordan	6-0	160	Prince George, BC
9	159	D	Fechione, Justin	6-3	195	Anchorage, AK
10	178	D	Grona, Kyle	6-0	173	Kelvington, SK
2001 Draft
Rd	No.	Pos.	Player	Ht	Wt	Hometown
1	5	LD	Festerling, Brett	6-1	175	Quesnel, BC
1	6	LD	Stephenson, Logan	6-2	185	Outlook, SK
2	24	RW	Beeman, Jason	5-10	210	Diamond Bar, CA
3	43	RD	Thoring, Cody	6-0	175	Swift Current, SK
4	72	RW	MacDonald, Colin	6-0	170	Prince George, BC
6	100	G	McConnachie, Ryan	6-0	175	Fruitvale, BC
7	119	RW	Rondeau, Mikel	6-2	180	Winnipeg, MB
8	138	LW	Piepgrass, Joshua	6-1	175	Grand Prairie, AB
9	157	C	Kletzel, Craig	6-0	160	Calgary, AB
10	176	RW	Mason, Brendan	5-9	155	Nanaimo, BC
11	189	RD	Zemek, Jeremy	5-9	155	Okotoks, AB
2000 Draft
Rd	No.	Pos.	Player	Ht	Wt	Hometown
1	3	RW	McDonald, Ian	6-1	165	Edmonton, AB
2	21	LW	Conners, Marc	5-9	165	Osotoks, AB
3	39	LW	Barkley, Darren	5-11	165	Calgary, AB
5	75	G	Boudreau, Matt	6-2	160	North Delta, BC
7	111	LD	Boice, Tyler	6-0	155	Kamloops, BC
8	129	RW	Raichel, Corey	5-10	150	Ft. Saskatchewan, AB
9	147	LW	Sass, Josh	6-1	175	Regina, SK
10	165	RW	Toigo, Dylan	5-11	155	North Delta, BC
11	183	LC	Ramirez, Mike	5-9	155	Anchorage, AK

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