With the World Junior tournament absorbing the Calgary Hitmen’s top blue line pairing, the team announced earlier today that they added Devan Klassen to their roster.
Klassen, 16, went undrafted through the Bantam Draft and currently captains the 5-13-4 Grande Prairie Ernies Sports Storm of the Alberta Midget Hockey League.
Jake Bean is currently still with Team Canada at their selection camp in St. Catharines, Ont. and Vladislav Yeryomenko will leave the Hitmen tomorrow to join Team Belarus in Buffalo.
Bean left the team Dec. 11 following the Teddy Bear Toss game and Andrew Viggars remains out for 4-6 weeks with an upper-body injury, so the Hitmen called up their seventh overall pick from the 2017 Draft, Luke Prokop, for Wednesday’s 6-1 win over the Edmonton Oil Kings.
It is believed that Prokop will be with the team for longer than the allowed five games, but that is yet to be confirmed. As a way to add to their blue line, the Hitmen called up Klassen and he will be with the team for the front half of the home-and-home starting tomorrow night with the Kootenay Ice at Western Financial Place.
Klassen comes from Crooked Creek, Alta., a small municipality 72-kilometres east of Grande Prairie.
The right-handed shot recorded 19 goals and 17 assists in 30 games with the Strom bantam AA program in 2015-16.
Last year, a broken thumb stunted his jump from bantam AA to midget AAA, as he only appeared in seven games in the AMHL, registering two points. In 18 games with the minor midget team, he recorded six goals and six assists.
“He’s a big, strong kid that does everything here for us. He would have made the jump to full-time midget AAA out of bantam but an injury held him back,” said current midget AAA storm Head Coach Chris Schmidt. “This is a great opportunity for him to get a taste of the next level and further his development.”
The departure of the top pairing comes at an inopportune moment for the Hitmen. They kicked off an eight-game stretch against Central Division opponents Wednesday night with a 6-1 win over the Oil Kings. The Hitmen are about to pull off an organization first, as they will play four consecutive games in the regular season against the same opponent.
They have played a team three games in a row three times in the past. Most recently in 2010-11, they went 2-1 against the Lethbridge Hurricanes. In 2007-08 they took three straight from the Oil Kings and went 1-1-1 against the Brandon Wheat Kings in 2004-05.
They enter this four-game set with the Ice, trailing them by four points for the final divisional playoff spot.
Klassen is sure to be with the team for the Hitmen’s final two games before the Christmas break, which starts Dec. 18.
Should he factor into the lineup, he should resemble a Dom Schmiemann-esque role.
“He’s a steady guy, but I see his role changing as he develops this year and next year into a guy that will be a stay-at-home defenceman, block shots and move guys away from the front of the net,” said Schmidt. “Right now, he runs our first power play unit and makes the quick, easy pass to get the puck going the other way.”
So far this season, Klassen has four goals, six assists and 30 penalty minutes in 20 games with the Storm.
Klassen is big for his age, standing 6-foot-2 and nearly breaking the 200-pound benchmark.
Hitmen fans first chance to see Klassen goes Dec. 17 when they host the Ice at the Scotiabank Saddledome (2 p.m.).
