For rookies trying to earn spots on the team, the Prince George Cougars defence is going to be tough nut to crack.
The Cougars announced Monday they've signed defencemen Joel Lakusta, 17, and Peter Kobe, 16, but by no means does that mean they've made the team.
Not when the Cougars already have two NHL-drafted defencemen Sam Ruopp and Tate Olson; a 20-year-old Joseph Carvalho entering his fourth full WHL season; drafted European Luka Zorko; and second-year veterans Josh Anderson and Shane Collins.
Also looking for full-time WHL employment are 2014 first-round bantam pick Max Martin, trying to make the jump to major junior from the Winnipeg midget triple-A ranks, and 18-year-old newcomer Riley Mohr, who played midget triple-A in Saskatchewan last season for the Regina Pat Canadians.
"We're in a position now where we don't need to rush any young guys," said Cougars head coach Mark Holick. "They can go and play another year of midget if they need to. We want guys to come in when they're ready to play. We don't want guys to have to sit a bench for not being ready. We want guys, when they're here, to have the opportunity to play and contribute to the success of our team."
Who stays and who goes out of that bunch of 10 will get sorted out over the next two weeks while the Cougars play preseason games in advance of the regular season opener, Friday, Sept. 25 at home against the Everett Silvertips.
The Cougars will be in Kamloops tonight to play the Blazers, then continue the preseason Saturday night in Kelowna against the defending WHL champions.
"It should be fun playing two B.C. Division teams," said Holick. "I'm sure the guys are tired of playing against each other here so the guys who won't play Friday will skate here Friday morning and we'll get on the bus and get after it. We'll probably have a bit younger group playing on Friday than we'll have in Kelowna. Everybody's going to get one game, I hope, and we'll see what happens from there."
The Cougars still have four goaltenders around with Ty Edmonds, 19; Mack Shields, 20; Patrick Gora, 19; and 17-year-old Tavin Grant each anticipating half a game to work with this weekend.
"Obviously Ty is our returning starting goalie and somebody would really have to really knock our socks off to unseat him," said Holick. "He's our guy and we believe in him and I thought he's had a good camp."
The Cougars have 21 forwards to choose from this weekend but that number will be reduced by five when the drafted forwards and those on invited lists leave Wednesday for their respective NHL rookie camps. That includes Jansen Harkins (Winnipeg), Brad Morrison (New York Rangers), Jesse Gabrielle (Boston), Chase Witala (Dallas) and Jared Bethune (Minnesota). Witala and Bethune weren't drafted but the Wild invited them to their rookie camp.
Ruopp (Columbus) and Olson (Vancouver) will also be gone next week.
Witala, 20, was a standout in training camp last weekend and will likely play this season on a line with Harkins.
"I thought he was one of our best players in camp," said Holick. "He's 20, this is his last year and he wants to win some games. He's a P.G. kid and in speaking with him about the legacy he wants to leave, he wants the team to win here and he wants to be part of it."
The Cougars will return to Prince George right after the Kelowna game. They'll practice at CN Centre Monday and Tuesday, then head to Kennewick, Wash., for a series of three preseason games in four days, Sept. 9-12.
The Cats announced Thursday they've signed Zorko, Mohr and import forward Bartek Bison to standard WHL player agreements.
