Petes draft prospect from England
The most celebrated prospect in English hockey history is joining the Peterborough Petes.
Liam Kirk, the first player born and raised in England to be drafted to the NHL, was the Petes’ first-round pick, ninth overall in Thursday’s CHL Import Draft.
Kirk was drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in the seventh round of Saturday’s NHL Entry Draft.
The Petes also selected Czech Republic native Erik Cermak, a forward with EC Red Bull Salzburg U18, in round two, 69th overall.
Kirk, 18, has played with men the past two years for the Sheffield Steelers of the English Ice Hockey League. He also played for Britain’s national men’s team which won the IIHF Pool B World Championships this year gaining promotion, for the first time, to Pool A.
The five-foot-11, 180-pound forward had nine goals and 16 points in 52 games for Sheffield with six penalty minutes.
New Petes coach Rob Wilson played and coached in Sheffield.
“That’s a very good league he plays in,” Wilson said.
“You get guys who played in the American league, some NHL guys, ECHL players. He’s playing a pretty good level of hockey against men. That’s the most physical league in Europe so he’s not going to be shy.”
Kirk was home in England when he was drafted Saturday and by Sunday was in Arizona for the Coyotes development camp. Former Petes GM Jeff Twohey, now Arizona’s assistant director of amateur scouting, has watched Kirk this week.
“He’s a pretty unique story,” Twohey said.
“This whole process started for us at the NHL Combine in Buffalo when we interviewed Liam. He’s an impressive kid. Our European scouts had some good reports on him. He’s a very mature, focused kid.”
Twohey said he’s looked good on the ice against other Coyotes prospects.
“This hasn’t overwhelmed him at all,” Twohey said.
“He hadn’t been on the ice for two months and he’s fit right in. He’s a tall, lean kid who has to fill out but he skates well, handles the puck well and looks like he has a really good feel for it. He understands it and picks things up quickly. He’s a smart player who can make plays and create offence.”
Cermak, 17, is a six-foot-one, 160-pound left wing. He had eight goals, 24 points in 21 games in the Czech U18 league last season. In nine playoff games he had three goals and 10 points. He played eight games for the Czech U17 team and had five assists.
Wilson said Cermak flew under the radar because he missed the early part of the season to injury.
“We feel he could be a real surprise,” Wilson said.
“He’s very skilled. That’s his game. He’s good with the puck and will make plays. He’s young, he’s a 2001, and he’ll take some transitional time with a new culture but we think his game should transfer well into how we want to play here.”
Petes GM Mike Oke said Wilson’s contacts in Europe, where he played and coached for 23 years, helped a lot with the import draft.
“We probably had an advantage this year,” Oke said.
“Rob has a good network of contacts who could help shed some light on the players’ hockey ability but also personality and off-ice attributes you look for that maybe in the past we haven’t had the same luxury.”
Oke said both players have committed through representatives to come to North America.
The Petes had defencemen on their draft list but Oke and Wilson said they selected the best player available who fit a need.