As of today (June 1), the Prince George Cougars’ first four picks from each of the last two bantam drafts have officially been signed.
Jared Brinson is the latest to put pen to paper in the form of a standard player agreement, officially committing himself to the northern capital’s WHL franchise after putting up impressive numbers at the midget-prep level last year.
The 16-year-old product of Airdrie, Alta. tallied 34 points in 32 games in the 2019-20 campaign, including 26 assists, making him the highest-scoring blueliner on his Edge School Mountaineers team.
“Jaren’s commitment is another positive step forward for our organization,” said General Manager and Head Coach Mark Lamb in a team release.
“He made big strides in his development this past season and he’ll be a key piece in the future of this team.”
His numbers placed him second in the CSSHL’s midget prep level for scoring by a defenceman, three times the points he accumulated from his draft year with the Cougars at a mere 11 points in 28 games.
Brinson is also a provincial champion at Alberta’s under-16 AAA level, winning it all in 2018 with the Airdrie Xtreme.
He joins Keaton Dowhaniuk, Koehn Ziemmer and Kyren Gronick among the Cats' top four draft picks from 2019 to sign with the organization.
In early May, Prince George completed the signing of its first four picks from the 2020 bantam draft, including Riley Heidt, Caden Brown, Ryker Singer and Bauer Dumanski.
