Handing off the baton

Now that the Kyle Okposo pipe dream is officially dead and buried, I figured it was time to throw a new name out there for Everett fans to drool hopefully over. That name is Jordan Schroeder.

I’m told the Tips listed Schroeder about a month ago. He’s a speedy little forward from Minnesota playing for the U.S. NTDP U-18 team, a late 1990 birthdate so he’s not eligible for the NHL draft until 2009. But here’s the kicker: He just happened to be the U.S.’s second-leading scorer this year’s World Juniors despite being just 17 years old.

Now of course, there’s no telling whether he has any real interest in playing junior, so there’s a distinct possiblity that this will end up much ado about nothing, just like Okposo. But I suppose everyone can dare to dream.

Incidentally, I was also told that the Tips had a realistic chance of landing Okposo for this season. Apparently the Islanders wanted to sign Okposo during the offseason and have him play a year of junior before joining the pro ranks, but Okposo himself didn’t want to take that route. Instead he returned to the University of Minnesota, had an indifferent half season, then created quite the malestrom by signing a pro contract and leaving the school in the middle of the season. Oh well.