The Life Of A Late Round NHL Draft Pick

Carman's Warren McCutcheon was an eighth round draft pick of the New Jersey Devils at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

Carman’s Warren McCutcheon has the rare distinction of being one of the few locals ever to become a draft pick of a National Hockey League team.

McCutcheon started playing hockey at age six in the Carman minor hockey program and played in town all the way through. He played for the Carman Cougars high school team in Grade 10 and then Pembina Valley Hawks U18 AAA in Grade 11 before heading to the WHL the following year.

The late Rick Blight from Portage La Prairie was an NHL player that was a mentor for McCutcheon while he was growing up.

“He had played with the Vancouver Canucks and then was living in town here and running the Case IH dealership and coached his son’s hockey team that was a few years older than me,” said Warren McCutcheon. “He was a good friend of my dad’s, and they would quite often travel out to catch some of my WHL games. Rick knew a lot of the coaches in the league at that time from his playing days. He used to do a lot of reffing in town as well, and I can remember complaining to him about getting whacked and hooked in minor hockey. Rick’s response was basically to suck it up and get used to it, as it’s not going to get easier. A good life lesson.”

After his first season in the Western Hockey League with the Lethbridge Hurricanes in 1999-00, the young forward McCutcheon had quite the surprise when the New Jersey Devils drafted him at the 2000 NHL Entry Draft in the eighth round (257th overall).

“I was quite shocked to be drafted in 2000, to be honest. I did not have a great year for the Lethbridge Hurricanes as a rookie in the WHL with limited playing time. I had my first fight and goal in the first game of the season, and I don’t think I scored again until Christmas. At the end of the season, I ended on the final Central Scouting Rankings, but the first real hint I had was prior to the draft in June when the New Jersey Devils flew me out to Calgary for interviews and fitness tests. I flew home and did not attend the draft as the best-case scenario was being a late-round pick.”