Everett announced Wednesday it has signed prospect forward Brian King to a WHL education contract.
King, a 1999-born resident of Golden, Colorado, was a fourth-round pick in the 2014 bantam draft. He did not attend training camp last August because of injury, but did spend a week practicing with the Tips in February. The 5-foot-11, 175-pounder played this season for the Rocky Mountain Roughriders National 16U team, and in 28 games between the ECEL and CAHA he had nine goals and nine assists. He is the third member of the 2014 draft class to sign with Everett, joining first rounder Jantzen Leslie and third rounder Bryce Kindopp.
This is a good signing for Everett on a couple levels. First, King looks like a good player. We didn’t get a chance to see him at training camp, but I did get a chance to see him in a couple practices in February and came away impressed. He kept right up with the veterans, both physically and skating-wise.
The question now is whether King’s signing is just the first domino to fall this offseasion for the Tips. Since Garry Davidson was hired as general manager in 2012, Everett has targeted high-end American players in the bantam draft. The thought process is that while Americans are harder to recruit to the WHL, the Tips would rather take a chance on a good player who be tough to recruit than an average player who’s easier to sign.
Since then the Tips have done a good job of getting those high-end American players to come to Everett and take a look at the program, but they haven’t gotten any to sign. Until now.
The big question is whether Auston Matthews will be next. Everett selected Matthews, who’s from Phoenix, in the third round of the 2012 bantam draft. He chose to join the U.S. NTDP, has spent the past two season staring for the national team, and is now the early favorite to go first overall in the 2016 NHL draft (he’s a late birthdate 97). Matthews has stated publicly he’s 50-50 on whether to come to Everett or head to an NCAA school. He also said he planned on taking visits to NCAA schools following the World Junior Hockey Championships in January, but to my knowledge he has yet to take any official visits. I believe he will need to accelerate his schooling to be eligible for college next season. Matthews is expected to announce his decision sometime following the U-18 World Championships, which begin Thursday and continue through April 26 in Switzerland.
Other big names the Tips are pursuing for next season include the likes of Tyson Jost (who’s Canadian), Patrick Khodorenko and Dayton Rasmussen. No doubt Everett is hoping King is just the first of many signings to announce in the near future.
I was asked on Twitter whether King will be joining the Tips for the playoffs. He won’t. I was told King was not made one of Everett’s affiliated players, so he’s ineligible to play.
There’s one other roster swap that’s taken place. Kindopp, who’s been practicing with Everett since the beginning of the playoffs, has returned home for school purposes. Meanwhile Spencer Gerth, who signed with the Tips two weeks ago, has rejoined the team, and I’m told he’s being placed on the roster.
As for Everett’s injured players, winger Dawson Leedahl, who’s missed five games, took part in practice Wednesday, meaning he could return to action in Thursday’s Game 3 in Portland. Defenseman Noah Juulsen did not practice, so it seems doubtful he’ll be able to play Thursday.
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