Son of former Rocket chosen in U.S. Draft

The Kelowna Rockets made a pair of selections in the 2023 WHL U.S. Priority Draft on Wednesday, drafting forward Kalder Varga and goaltender Oliver Kanat.

With their first pick of the day, the Rockets selected forward Varga seventh overall in the first round from the Chicago Mission 14U AAA of the HPHL 14U.

The 15-year-old posted 21 points (11G, 10A) and 15 penalty minutes through 15 games this season with the Mission. He added another four points (3G, 1A) and three penalty minutes over five playoff games.

The 5’10, 159-pound forward posted 91 points (30G, 61A) in 78 games last season for the Windy City Storm 13U AAA.

Kalder is the son of former Tacoma Rocket John Varga, who spent four seasons with the club between 1991 and 1995.

Goaltender Oliver Kanat played last season with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings, posting a 1.53 goals against average and .922 save percentage in 28 games.

The six WHL teams that did not qualify for the 2023 playoffs participated in the lottery.

Players eligible for the 2023 WHL U.S. Priority Draft are 2008-born players who reside in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

Kalder Varga is a resident of Geneva, IL, outside of the Western Hockey League’s drafting zone, but because his dad played in the WHL, he was able to dictate that he wanted his son to play in the WHL instead of the OHL.

With the first-overall pick, the Spokane Chiefs selected forward Brody Gillespie from RINK Hockey Academy Kelowna U15 Prep.

The product of Vancouver, Wash. collected 54 points (26G-28A) from his 28 CSSHL contests during the 2022-23 season.

“Brody is a very complete player who adds an element of skill, speed, size and energy to our lineup,” Spokane Chiefs Director of U.S. Scouting George Ross said. “We couldn’t be more excited to add him to our group.”

A total of 28 forwards, 12 defencemen and four goaltenders were selected in the 2023 WHL U.S. Priority Draft.