COUGARS LOAD UP ON DRAFT PICKS

The Prince George Cougars picked up a defenceman and a pair of forwards in a two separate trades last week.

The Cats acquired defenceman Majid Kaddoura, the rights to unsigned forward Jayden Watson and a first-round WHL bantam draft selection for 2020 from the Saskatoon Baldes. In exchange, the Cougars dealt d-man Rhett Rhinehart to the Blades along with a third-round WHL bantam draft pick for 2020.

The Cougars also swapped forward Reid Perepeluk to the Brandon Wheat Kings for forward Jonny Hooker.

“The moves today fit into our plan for not only our future, but for right now as well. Getting another first-round selection in what is a very-talented... draft class is what we were striving for,” Cats GM and head coach Mark Lamb said. “Reid and Rhett were good players for our organization, and it was a tough decision to make these moves, but they were made with our future in mind.”

Kaddoura, 18, is from Chestermere, Alta. and was in his second season with the Blades. In 77 WHL games, the sixfoot-two, 177-pound d-man banked three goals and nine assists.

Watson, 16, currently plays for his hometown Grande Prairie Storm Midget AAA team in the Alberta Midget Hockey League. Watson posted five goals and 16 assists in 25 AMHL games.

Watson, who is six-feet tall and tips the scales at 185 pounds, was drafted 162nd overall in the 2018 WHL bantam draft.

The Cougars now have three firstround selections in the upcoming bantam draft.

Hooker – a six-foot-one, 186-pound 18-year-old from Winnipeg – is in his third WHL season and has a career record of 14 goals and 13 assists in 134 games. The Wheat Kings picked up Hooker 175th overall in the 2016 draft.

Rhinehart played 133 games for the Cougars over three seasons, earning 33 points for 11 goals and 32 assists. The Cats picked him up in the first round of the 2016 draft, 13th overall.

Perepeluk played 96 games with the Cats in last three years, picking up eight goals and 11 assists. The Cougars drafted him 114th overall in 2015.