Mark Lamb has seen a lot of players come and go through the doors of the Prince George Cougars' dressing room in the time since the Cougars hired him in 2019 to build the team into a contender.
As Cougars head coach and GM, Lamb has brought winning hockey to Prince George in each of the past three seasons, having shared the pain Cougar fans felt during those transitional years when the cupboard was bare. It was an insurmountable challenge to see more wins than losses.
The proof is in the standings all three years as those teams combined for a 127-61-1-5 regular-season record, finishing no worse than fourth in the West. After making it to the conference final in the spring of 2024, there was disappointment with last year’s seven-game loss to Portland in the opening playoff round.
But there’s still a lot of work with in 2025-26. In fact, Lamb figures this year’s edition, led by the likes of first-round NHL draft picks Terik Parascak and Josh Ravensbergen, could be the deepest team he’s had in his eight seasons at the helm of the Cougars.
There’s some obvious turnover from a team heavily loaded with 19-year-old and 20-year-olds who were in the WHL’s elite as far as scoring power. Gone to pursue their pro prospects are forwards Koehn Ziemmer, Riley Heidt, Borya Valis and defenceman Viliam Kmec, while Matteo Danis was plucked from the roster by the Penticton Vees in the expansion draft and Ben Riche has elected to forego his last year of junior eligibility to play for Quinnipiac University.
Despite those losses, Cougar fans have a lot to look forward to this season when they show up for games at CN Centre.
“This training camp is going to be the most competitive, we have the most depth of any Cougar training camp we’ve had here,” said Lamb.
“It’s our drafting, and we don’t go out and spend ridiculously (giving up draft picks at the trade deadline). We still have a lot left in our cupboards and that’s why. The scouts have been drafting really good, so the depth in our draft that we have with these players and we think they can play in the WHL.”
Parascak was the Cats’ second leading scorer behind Heidt and finished with 28 goals and 82 points in 59 games. Picked 17th overall in the 2024 NHL draft, the 19-year-old will head to the Washington Capitals rookie camp Sept. 6 and its expected he will return to be a leader among a Cougars forward group that includes incumbents Aiden Foster, Jett Lajoie, Kayden Lemire, Lee Shurgot, Patrick Sopiarz.
“Our high-end offence was some of the highest in the league, it was elite, and to keep that high-end offence is unheard of,” said Lamb. “But we’re still going to have offence, we’ve to some good players. Parascak’s here and we expect good years out of Shurgot, Lajoie and Foster and we picked up Gizowski, who’s a goalscorer as a 20-year-old, and Ashe and Souch are all top-nine forwards and they all have to find their spot on the team.”
Foster just keeps getting better with age as a banging, crashing left winger with size and he did what he had to do last season to land on the radar of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who drafted him in the fourth round 127th overall in June.
Winger Kooper Gizowski, claimed off waivers from the Lethbridge Hurricanes, brings a ton of experience as a 20-year-old who put up 35 points last season.
Brock Souch signed with the Cougars in June and he’s heading into his fourth junior season after playing in the AJHL and BCHL and he’s destined for St. Cloud State University in 2026.
Riley Ashe is following a similar trajectory to the Nebraska-Omaha and the Cougars took advantage of the new NCAA eligibility rule to sign him after he played in the BCHL last year for Salmon Arm.
Dmitri Yakutsenak, 18, the 49th pick in the import draft, is coming from Yaroslavl, Russia to try to earn a position in PG.
That depth extends to the defence. Bauer Dumanski is the only remaining Cougar tie to the 2020 Prospects Draft class and the blueline crew is built around him and his stay-at-home tendencies.
Carson Carels put up 35 points as a rookie and that earned him two Hockey Canada gigs after the playoffs ended. He helped Canada win gold at the U-18s world championship in Texas last spring and was with the Team Canada squad that came within a shootout goal of beating the U.S. in the Hlinka Gretzky Cup semifinal in mid-August.
Carels is the power-play quarterback and slick Russian Arseni Anisimov and heavy-hitting Corbin Vaughan proved their WHL capabilities last season.
Alexsey Chichkin, Dermot Johnston and Leith Hunter all cast long shadows on the ice and they all spent time with the team last year. Chichkin could be one of the Cougars overagers along with forward Deagen McMillan, who played for the Wenatchee Wild (BCHL) and also spent time in the ‘Dub with the Victoria Royals.
Phoenix Cahill (Watertown, NAHL), a 17-year-old Minnesota native signed for ‘26-27 at Colorado College, is also in the mix on defence. Eli Johnson, one of the Canada’s top U18 defencemen last year, led the Regina Pat Canadians to the national title
Ravensbergen heads into his third WHL season knowing his NHL future is a now more defined as a first-rounder chosen 30th overall in this year’s draft.
“He’s the backbone of our team and we know him well,” said Lamb. “He’s a very popular guy in the dressing room, a fan favourite, and we expect him t be the best goalie in the league right from the start.”
The goalie backup battle includes 18-year-old Brady Holtvogt (Humboldt Broncos, SJHL) and 18-year-old Kharkiv, Ukraine native Alexander Levshin, acquired in the 2025 CHL import draft.
Among the intriguing rookies in camp this weekend is two-way forward Dade Wotherspoon, the Cougars' first-round pick in 2024, who played in ’24-25 with the U18 Warman (Sask.) Wildcats.
Another one to watch is 17-year-old American forward Jack Finnegan, who played U16 hockey last year for the Sioux Falls Power. The North Carolina native has a scholarship at Miami (Ohio) University lined up for next season.
Townes Kozicky is back for his third WHL camp and was one of the last cuts the Cougars made last summer.
Forward Cohen Baker, chosen 17th overall in this year’s Prospects Draft, will miss his first Cougar camp after he hurt his knee in a summer camp. Lamb said the injury is not serious and Baker is expected to resume skating in a few weeks.
PG boys Kadric Mujcin (fifth round, 2025 Prospects Draft) and Jaxon Larmand (free agent signing from Cariboo Cougars) are getting their first looks as WHL Cougar forwards.
With 82 players invited to camp, the Cougars have five teams scrimmaging Friday, Saturday and Sunday at training camp.
“I think we have 20 forwards that can play in the league and 10 (defencemen) and that’s without any surprises that we’re going to see in camp,” said Lamb.
Lamb says he’s blessed to have continuity in his coaching/training staff, a group includes associate coach Jim Playfair, a former NHL head coach with the Calgary Flames; assistant coach Carter Rigby; goaltending coach Taylor Dakers; athletic therapist Dave Adolph; and equipment manager Dane Englehardt.
“It doesn’t take the load off me but it’s trust factor and the chemistry of working together, I can do the GM job and you never have to worry, it’s just been the best situation that we could have, and you kind of need it,” said Lamb. “Coaching’s a tough business and you’re learning and you’re teaching and every year you just feel like a kid again.
“I’m so excited about the depth, this is an exciting time for the Prince George Cougars.”
The camp wraps up Sunday with the Rob Charney Cup intrasquad game at 6 p.m. at CN Centre.
