The Prince George Cougars struggled to score goals last season, a contributing factor which led to them missing the WHL playoffs for a second consecutive season.
On Thursday they made a move to address that need, acquiring 17-year-old forward Davin Griffin in a trade from the Prince Albert Raiders for a conditional bantam draft pick.
“Davin is an offensive player that has a track record of scoring at the bantam and midget levels,” said Mark Lamb, the Cougars' general manager and head coach. “We needed to add to our 2002-born age group, and he is that piece we were looking for.”
Griffin, a five-foot-seven, 150-pound native of Regina, was a fifth-round pick of the Raiders, 110th overall, in the 2017 WHL bantam draft. He spent the past two seasons in the Saskatchewan Midget Triple-A Hockey League with the Saskatoon Contacts. In 43 games last season he collected 26 goals and 20 assists for 46 points, third in team scoring, and was the Contacts' top goal-scorer. That came on the heels of a 17-goal, 35-point rookie season with the Contacts in which he was their top point-getter.
In 2016-17 he led the Saskatchewan bantam double-A league with 50 goals in 30 games.
The Cougars are in Dawson Creek for exhibition games tonight and Saturday against the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Cats start their 26th season in Prince George next weekend when they host the Vancouver Giants Friday and Saturday nights at CN Centre.
