Filip Koffer, the newest member of the Prince George Cougars, will need no introduction to at least one of his Cougar teammates.
The 18-year-old right winger from the Czech Republic, drafted 10th overall by the Cats Thursday in the CHL import draft, is a friend and former teammate of Cougars centre Matej Toman.
They played together in April at the world under-18 hockey championship in Sweden, and in five tournament games Koffer led the Czech national team in scoring with four goals and two assists.
Cougars general manager and interim head coach Mark Lamb said the five-foot-10, 165-pound Koffer wants to play in the WHL and will provide a mix of speed, skill and physicality.
"We looked at his stats - obviously I haven't seen him play and you go through agents - but he's a quick, gritty, two-way player that does have some scoring touch and he proved that at the U-18s," said Lamb.
"He played on the power play and I think led the team in scoring and the other thing is he's good friends with Toman too. They've played together in the past and they know each other and that's a good fit coming over to help out with the culture change. They know each other really well."
In 38 games last season for HC Dynamo of the Czech under-19 league, Koffer scored 10 goals and added 28 assists for 38 points. He also drew one assist in 12 games playing with adults for Czech Extralinga. Koffer helped the Czechs to a bronze medal at the 2017 Under-17 Hockey Challenge and also represented his country a year ago at the Gretzky Hlinka Cup.
Koffer speaks broken English but was able to communicate with Lamb when he called him on the phone to introduce him to the Cougars on Thursday.
"I talked to him and he understands, it would be pretty comparable to Toman," said Lamb. "I didn't need an interpreter. Most of these kids know English. They learn quick."
The Cougars were left with just one European - Toman - when Vladislav Mikhalchuk, a 20-year-old winger, signed a pro contract to play in Russia for Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Mikhalchuk led an offensively-challenged, non-playoff Cougar team in scoring last season with 25 goals and 50 points. Lamb said his departure didn't change the team's approach to the import draft as they try to address their lack of scoring heading into the new season.
"It's all about developing and we hope we can insert some guys into the lineup and we're going to to try to create offence in different ways, but it's pretty black and white, we didn't score many goals," said Lamb. "Hopefully some guys, with another year of experience, they can do that also, but you really never know until you see how guys (develop over the) summer."
n Cougars goalie Taylor Gauthier did not get picked last weekend in the NHL draft but the Boston Bruins thought highly enough of the 18-year-old Calgary native they invited him to their development camp, which wraps up tomorrow in Boston.
Gauthier was touted as a potential second- or third-round pick for much of last season and Lamb knows how disappointed he was when he made the trip to Vancouver to attend the draft and wasn't selected.
"It's just hard on their psyche - he's a highly-rated player and it's how you deal with it," said Lamb. "If he deals with it the right way, which he's going to, it'll make him a better player and a better person. It's a little adversity. The belief system in him is still as high as it ever was."
n Cougars defenceman Cole Moberg, drafted Saturday by the Chicago Blacks in the seventh round, 194th overall, will attend the 'Hawks development camp in Chicago, July 15-19.
n Three Cougar prospects - goalie Tyler Brennan, defenceman Hudson Thornton and forward Craig Armstrong - have been invited to Hockey Canada's national under-17 team development camp in Calgary, July 19-26.
Armstrong, the Cougars ninth overall pick in the 2018 bantam draft, had 12 goals and 28 points in 29 games last season for the Edge School Mountaineers midget prep team in Calgary last season. Brennan, who went 21st overall in 2018, posted a 12-5-1 record, 2.69 goals-against average and .909 save percentage last year with the Rink Academy midget rep team in Winnipeg. Both have signed standard WHL contracts with the Cougars.
Thornton, picked 33rd overall in 2018, also played for Rink Academy and was the top-scoring defenceman in the Canadian Sport School Hockey League with 17 goals and 30 assists for 47 points in 31 games. He remains unsigned.
"He hasn't indicated he's going to college, he's not ready to sign," said Lamb. "We have a good relationship with him, we're working on him, he's a good player, he just thinks he needs another year of development."
n Lamb said the Cougars are "close" to making an announcement as to who will take the reins as head coach. Lamb took over Feb. 4 after Richard Matvichuk was relieved of his duties with the last-place Cougars on their way to a team-record 17-game losing streak.
Rumours are still circulating that Lamb will leave the Cougars this summer to fill an assistant coaching position with Edmonton Oilers. Earlier this month, the Oilers hired Dave Tippett, Lamb's longtime friend, to replace interim head coach Ken Hitchcock and take over as head coach. Lamb served as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars from 2002-09 when Tippett was the head coach. Last weekend the Oilers hired Fort St. James native Jim Playfair as an associate coach, with one assistant's position yet to be filled on a staff that also includes Glen Gulutzan.
Lamb is entering the second year of a four-year contract as GM of the Cougars.
