Lakers add ten new players on draft night

The night of the 2024 WLA Draft proved to be an eventful one for the Burnaby Senior A Lakers. Before the draft even got underway, the team had made two trades to acquire players who’d recently been selected as territorial protection picks by other teams. In addition to Burnaby’s own selections of Sam La Roue and Thomas Vela from the Burnaby Junior Lakers, they also acquired Kai George, a territorial pick from New Westminster, and Stuart Phillips, a territorial pick from Langley. In exchange for George, the Lakers surrendered the 2024 playing rights to Patrick Shoemay, and in exchange for Phillips, they gave up the 2024 playing rights to Graydon Bradley, the playing rights to Matteo Tack, and their fourth round pick in the 2025 draft.

Once selections started being made, the Lakers made two picks in the first round, selecting Ben McDonald with the second overall pick, and Ezrah Glanville with the sixth. McDonald is an offensive threat who graduated from the Delta Islanders Junior team while Glanville, from New West Junior, offers speed on transition.

The second round saw the addition of Efrain Barretto Jr. with the third pick of the round. Originally from Seneca Nation, Barretto Jr played his last year of junior in an offensive role for the Port Coquitlam Saints.

In the third round, the Lakers selected Halen Rasmussen who brings size and strength to the defensive end.

In the fourth round, GM Kevin Hill worked out a trade with Victoria to make consecutive picks, taking twin brothers, Bailey Newton and Cole Newton out of Port Coquitlam. The trade consisted of picks only with Burnaby receiving Victoria’s fourth and fifth round picks in 2024 in exchange for the Lakers’ third round pick in 2025.

The fifth and final round saw the addition of two more Lakers in William DeBeck and Julian Vargas, both products of the Burnaby Junior system. DeBeck goes out the back door and Vargas the front.

With the conclusion of the draft, the Lakers added ten new players including four offensive players and six defenders. The team also ended the night with three sets of brothers with Sam La Roue and Stuart Phillips joining older brothers, Butch and Gordie, respectively.