Jeff Camp asks the following:
“Hey Nick what are the chances that we will call up one of our more promising young forwards to help us get through these lean times at the forward position? If so who would you expect to see called up?”
Well, as far as I know no one is being called up this weekend. The Tips aren’t really desperate at forward, they still have 12 available and that’s all you need. There’s no point in calling someone up to play ahead of someone already on the team unless they’re better than the available options — I don’t think the Tips have any forward prospects who currently fit in that category — and there’s no reason to call someone up just to sit in the stands. If a forward does get hurt this weekend there’s still seven healthy defensemen, so one of those can fill in up front on the fourth line for a game or two. Van de Velde could be back next week, so with luck the Tips will have a spare forward available again soon. So I guess the answer is I haven’t heard about anyone being called up, nor do I expect to.
Now, if you’re more interested in knowing who among Everett’s forward prospects is closest to being WHL ready, I can probably help there. I’d say that 92-born power forward Campbell Elynuik would probably be at the top of the list, if nothing else because of his size (he definitely won’t be called up as he’s still recovering from a broken leg). After that, 92-born scoring forwards D.Jay McGrath and Dylan Smith would probably be next in line, though I don’t know if they’re ready yet. I don’t think any of Everett’s 93-born forwards are ready. The Tips have some guys with skill who are putting up good numbers in midget hockey (Josh Winquist, Manraj Hayer), but they’re smallish and probably not yet ready physically. I think Everett’s defensive prospects are closer to being ready than the forward prospects.
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