Jari Erricson is coming home.
The Prince George Cougars acquired the hometown forward in a trade with the Everett Silvertips during the 2012 Western Hockey League bantam draft Thursday in Calgary. In addition to Erricson, the Cougars also picked up the Silvertips' seventh overall pick - Brad Morrison, whose dad Doug was an assistant coach for the Prince George Spruce Kings while his older brother Kurt played for the Kings - and a conditional fourth round pick. In exchange the Cougars gave up the playing rights to Jujhar Khaira, who played for the Spruce Kings last season, the 11th overall pick and a third round pick.
Wade Klippenstein, Cougars assistant general manager and director of player personal, said the deal was made for a simple reason.
"The big part of that deal was bringing Jari Erricson home," said Klippenstein. "He was a player that we liked a lot a couple of years back."
The Silvertips selected Erricson in the second round of the 2009 bantam draft, 29th overall.
"He's a fantastic kid with some good leadership qualities and he's going to be a welcome person in our locker room and obviously on the ice," said Klippenstein.
In two seasons with the Silvertips, Erricson played in 129 regular season games, scoring 13 goals and collecting 33 points. The 18 year old played in six playoff games in Everett, contributing two points.
The former B.C. major midget Cariboo Cougars player said he's looking forward to playing in his hometown.
"It's a bit of a shock, nobody ever expects to get traded," said Erricson. "It's nice to get traded to your hometown if anything, being familiar with the city and being able to spend time with my family and have my family members be able to watch me."
Erricson said he'd like to play more of a leadership role next season being his third year in the league, while helping out the Cougars' offence.
"I can try to help out some of their goal scorers and just play more of a grinding role," he said. "I may not have produced offensively [much in Everett], but I think my game has really improved with the coaches I've had down there."
