The Prince George Cougars ventured further south of the border than normal to find two more cats for its prospects pool.
On Wednesday afternoon (March 25), the inaugural Western Hockey League (WHL) U.S. Prospects Draft took place as all 22 teams were able to claim a pair of American-born players to develop for their franchise.
Prince George stayed at the back end of the rink with its two picks, which included defenceman Zephyr Tangri at 19th overall from the Los Angeles Junior Kings and goaltender Dylan Johnson at 26th from the Dallas Stars Elite program.
Both players display aggressive levels of competitiveness, according to Cougars’ Director of Scouting Bob Simmonds.
Tangri recorded 27 points, nine goals and 18 assists, in 51 games for the 2019-20 season with LA’s Under-14 club, but also showed his physical toughness with 80 penalty minutes.
“He’s a big, two-way defenceman, who gets up the ice quickly and can generate offence,” said Simmonds.
“Zephyr has a great stick and reads the game extremely well. We felt he was the top defenceman in this draft.”
Tangri comes from View Park-Windsor Hill, California, a 20-minute drive from downtown Los Angeles.
Between the pipes, Johnson had six starts with the Stars, but made the most of it by going undefeated at 5-0-1 and included one shutout.
“Dylan is an elite level goalie, with good size already,” said Simmonds as Johnson comes in at five-foot-10, 149 pounds.
“One of the two best American goalie prospects in his age group. Taking him today will help us focus on skilled positions for the upcoming WHL Bantam Draft in April.”
The Dallas-born product also had a 1.49 goals-against average and a 0.935 save-percentage by season’s end.
Next up for the Cougars is the 2020 WHL Bantam Draft as they won yesterday’s lottery as well.
One of Prince George’s three selection balls rolled out to move them up two spots and earn the right to pick second overall.
The draft is scheduled for April 22.
