麻豆社区

Yukon hockey player Dylan Cozens inked a deal with the Lethbridge Hurricanes today.

The 6鈥�2, 159-pound centre was drafted 19th overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft by the Hurricanes at the beginning of the month.

鈥淗e鈥檚 a quality player and he鈥檚 a quality kid,鈥� said Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt in a press release. 鈥淗e鈥檚 going to be a really good add for us eventually in our organization.鈥�

Cozens, 15, originally from Whitehorse was a 麻豆社区player within Whitehorse minor hockey and the Mustang program.

This season he played with the Delta Hockey Academy in B.C.

鈥淚 was just really happy (getting drafted) by Lethbridge. My dad lived there for a bit, so it was pretty cool,鈥� said Cozens in a press release. 鈥淚鈥檓 excited to sign my first contract and I was really happy to do that with Lethbridge.鈥�

Cozens will have some hard work ahead of him.

鈥淒ylan has a lot of improving to do, he has a lot of development to do,鈥� said Anholt. 鈥淗e鈥檚 not the finished product, but we know he鈥檚 going to work hard to prepare himself to be a Hurricane when that happens.鈥�

WHL spokesman Corey St. Laurent told the Star that as a 15-year-old, Cozens is not eligible to be on the Hurricanes regular roster next season.

He will, however, be eligible to play all the pre-season games for the major junior A club, and can be called up to play a maximum of five regular season games.

Cozens counts his on-ice strengths as having good speed and being a good shot.

鈥淚 need to improve everything. I think I need to put on more weight and play a more physical game.鈥�

His Delta Hockey Academy team made playoffs this season.

鈥淚 had a slow start to the season,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut I played really good in the second half of the season.鈥�

This summer Cozens will train hard as he works to become a stronger player on the ice.

He鈥檒l join six other Hurricanes prospects at provincial U-16 summer camps ahead of Octob颅er鈥檚 2016 Western Canada U-16 Challenge Cup and has also been invited to the B.C. Male U-16 provincial camp this July in Shawnigan Lake, B.C.

鈥淚 definitely want to prove all the teams wrong that passed me up,鈥� Cozens said. 鈥淎nd show Lethbridge that they were lucky to get me.鈥�