As far as Adam Maglio is concerned, right winger Ethan de Jong is the B.C. Hockey League's junior A version of Patrice Bergeron.
If there was an award for the top defensive player in BCHL and it was up to Maglio, de Jong would be the hands-down winner. Maglio watches the 18-year-old from West Vancouver daily as head coach of the Prince George Spruce Kings and figures de Jong is just as valuable to the Kings as Bergeron has been for the Boston Bruins as winner of the Frank Selke Award in four of the past six seasons.
The Quinnipiac University recruit for 2019-20 is also steady at producing offence, averaging 1.18 points per game as the Spruce Kings' leading scorer. He ranks 13th in the BCHL scoring race with 15 goals 31 points and 46 points.
NHL Central Scouting has been watching and de Jong is among 10 BCHL players listed in the midterm rankings released earlier this week, ranked 154th among North American skaters. He had three goals and four assists in three games last weekend and earned BCHL player-of-the-week honourable mention status.
"With the way he's playing, I think his stock is going to continue going up," said Maglio. "Just talking to the scouts at that level about what they like in his game, his footspeed and his skating and how hard he checks, it's pretty elite. He's very well-liked within our locker-room and guys were hoping he'd get on that list.
"He's a Selke guy, he's a 200-foot player, and that's the way the game is played now. The best in the NHL can all check and we try to instill that in our guys.
"He takes a lot of pride in his checking and it's a little unique to get that total buy-in at this level. Smart kid, because now look where he is."
De Jong is among eight Spruce Kings who have already locked up NCAA scholarship commitments and there's likely more to come.
Goalie Evan DeBrouwer, the most likely candidate as the Kings most valuable player this season, has been garnering interest from several U.S. college teams, as have forwards Ben Brar, Ben Poisson and defenceman Dylan Anhorn.
The Kings begin a three-game road trip tonight against the Langley Rivermen.
Prince George (23-14-4-4) is still first in the Mainland Division with 54 points, tied with the Surrey Eagles (24-16-4-2), and two points ahead of the Rivermen (20-14-10-2).
The Kings have a game in hand over Surrey and Langley.
On Saturday, they visit the much-improved Coquitlam Express and finish off their trip Sunday afternoon against the Chiefs in Chilliwack.
"It's kind of exciting to get back to playing some divisional games again, they're obviously really meaningful games with where we're at in the standings," said Maglio.
"I think all three of these teams, Langley, Coquitlam and Chilliwack could beat any team any given night and they will be good tests for us and we need to be at our best. I think we can beat any team in the league and those back-to-back wins does build some momentum."
The Spruce Kings beat division leaders Vernon and Powell River last weekend at Rolling Mix Concrete Arena, which should swell their confidence on the ice this weekend.
They will have a virtually healthy lineup with defenceman Oliver Lester (bone bruise) the only unhealthy scratch.
Forward Kyle Johnson is back after missing three games with a concussion.
