Tips add a forward, plus some prospect talk

The Tips moved to address their depth issues up front Thursday, bringing in 19-year-old forward Jake Mykitiuk from the AJHL’s Spruce Grove Saints.

Mykitiuk, who’s from St. Albert, Alberta, spent his 16- and 17-year-old seasons in the WHL with the Prince George Cougars, where he was probably best known for being short. He spent the past two seasons in the AJHL with the Saints, with whom he won a league title last season, and the Sherwood Park Crusaders. This season he had 10 goals, 13 assists and 74 penalty minutes in 31 games with Spruce Grove.

Mykitiuk is still small (5-foot-7, 160 pounds), but his penalty minute totals from the past two seasons indicate he’s feisty. I suspect the Tips are hoping he can provide some quality minutes as an energy player on the fourth line.

Now on to some prospect talk.

The Canada Winter Games, which occur once every four years, are coming in February in Prince George, B.C. The “men’s” hockey at the games is a U-16 competition, meaning this time around it’s players born in 1999, who are those selected in the last bantam draft. Therefore, the CWGs take the place of the U-16 Western Canada Challenge Cup this season when it comes to 15-year-olds representing their provinces.

The teams from western Canada are now being selected, and Everett has three draft picks who are in the hunt for their province’s team. Defenseman Jantzen Leslie, the Tips’ first-round pick, and winger Ryan Anderson, a fifth rounder, have been selected to represent Alberta at the tournament. Meanwhile, center Connor Dewar, another fifth rounder, is on the exhibition roster for Manitoba. So congratulations to those three.

Leslie, from Lloydminster, Alberta, was a standout at Everett’s training camp in August, and as a first-round pick it was pretty much a given he was going to make Alberta’s team. Leslie has good size, can skate, has some skill and has leadership qualities. He’s already signed with Everett and I fully expect him to be an integral part of the Tips defense in the future. He currently has one goal and seven assists in 19 games for Lloydminster of the AMHL.

Anderson, a native of Edmonton, Alberta, is a smallish player, but he has skill and he can skate. He has six goals and seven assists in 18 games with SSAC of the AMHL. We’ll have to see if he can translate those offensive abilities to the WHL level at his size, but he’s had a positive start to his midget career, and a player like Kohl Bauml proves the transition can be made.

Dewar, who hails from Gilbert Plains, Manitoba, is another small player, but he caught the eye during training camp because of his willingness to stick his nose into the fray and win battles along the boards. He had a bit of a slow start with Parkland of the MAAAMHL, but he’s picked it up of late and now has six goals and eight assists in 20 games. I could see him developing into a Jesse Burt-type player with the Tips.

While those were the Everett draft picks who were selected, I want to say some things about a few who were’t picked.

Winger Bryce Kindopp (third round) didn’t get picked for Alberta, despite having already held his own in two games with Everett as a 15-year-old. That said, I can understand why he might have been overlooked as he plays a subtle game. Kindopp’s biggest strength may be his commitment to defensive responsibility as a forward, something that’s pretty rare for a player his age. However, it’s not the kind of skill that tends to lead to selection to all-star teams. He has six goals and six assists in 17 games with Lloydminster.

I have to believe that the only reason why winger Nick Henry (third round) wasn’t selected by Manitoba is because of the injury that prevented him attending Everett’s camp and kept him out the first couple months of the season. Henry, a native of Portage, Manitoba, who only returned to action a couple weeks ago, has three goals and seven assists in seven games with Central Plains of the MAAAMHL, a rate that would have him among the league leaders in scoring had he been available from the beginning of the season.

Defenseman Jake Christiansen (fifth round), who’s from West Vancouver, B.C., in my opinion had an excellent training camp. However, he didn’t make his BCMML team — he was one of the last cuts from the Vancouver NW Giants, one of the top midget programs in western Canada — and players who aren’t playing major midget or for one of the academies don’t get picked for these type of teams. He’s playing for the Hollyburn midget A1 team and his stats are unavailable.

Winger Riley Sutter (sixth round) is in the same boat with Christiansen. The Calgary, Alberta, product is having a good season with seven goals and 14 assists in 13 games, but he’s playing midget minor with the CBHA Rangers of the AMMHL, rather than midget major, so he’s not really in consideration for the CWGs.

If Dewar makes Manitoba’s final roster that would be three Everett prospects at the Canada Winter Games, which isn’t a large number. But considering the Tips picked a ton of Americans in the past bantam draft, it shouldn’t be alarming that Everett has just three draft picks in the running for the CWGs. I liked Everett’s 99 draft class during training camp a lot, and I continue to believe the Tips will reap a good bounty from that draft.