Tippett returned to OHL
Panthers prospect to play in Canada-Russia series, expected to be named Steelheads alternate captain
Peterborough native Owen Tippett has been returned to the Ontario Hockey League’s Mississauga Steelheads to get more ice time after starting the season with the National Hockey League’s Florida Panthers as an 18-year-old.
He is expected to become an alternate captain with the Steelheads.
Tippett will make his Mississauga season debut on Friday against the Saginaw Spirit. But first on Thursday, he will play for Team OHL in the Canada-Russia series in Owen Sound.
The move also positions Tippett for a key role with Canada’s world junior team next month and possibly even the Olympics next year if Team Canada utilizes junior players.
“Owen was impressive in his time with our club and has a bright future with the Panthers,” Panthers general manager Dale Tallon stated on the team’s FloridaPanthers.com website. “This was a tough decision, but we think it’s best for his long-term development.”
Tippett appeared in seven games with Florida this season, recording one goal and 17 shots. Tippett did get some time in on the Panthers second power-play unit.
“He’s an offensive guy and he needs a lot of puck touches, and he needs to get down there and score goals,” Panthers head coach Bob Boughner told The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel on Tuesday. “I think his experience over the 2 1/2 months that he was with us, from the first day of training camp, was invaluable for him. He knows how hard this league is now and he’s going to go back and he’s going dominate that level. Also, next year, at this time, be ready to come in and make a difference.”
Tippett had been a healthy scratch for six of the Panthers games. His entry level contract, signed in July, would have kicked in had he played in nine games for the Panthers.
“There were plenty of games where he played up lines,” Boughner told The Sun-Sentinel. “Obviously, he played on secondunit power play the time he was here. There’s a lot of good things in his game. He knows there’s some things he needs to work on. It’s whatever’s best for him. It’s better to not keep him out of necessity for us being selfish.”
Panthers director of player personnel Bryan McCabe told The Sun-Sentinel that Tippett needed to be more responsible in the defensive zone and also get bigger in the weight room.
“He got bumped a couple times by the men because it’s a big boy’s game there, and he fell down,” Steelheads general manager James Richmond told The Sun- Sentinel. “He doesn’t fall down, but when big boys are leaning on you and they got that man strength, so he learned that right away.”
Richmond added that Tippett had to learn to play away from the puck after dominating leagues growing up.
“There’s so little room at the NHL game that you really need to work on playing from goal line to goal line, or end boards to end boards,” Richmond told The Sun-Sentinel. “A lot of young kids don’t have that part of their game because growing up they always have the puck, and they’re always scoring. When you get to that level, you have to be able to play away from the puck.”
Richmond said he will work with Tippett through videos to develop his game to where he needs to get for the NHL.
Richmond also told The SunSentinel that Tippett is “probably the best goal scorer in junior hockey.”
The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder scored his first NHL goal on Oct. 26 against the Anaheim Ducks. The Panthers selected Tippett in the first round (10th overall) of the 2017 NHL Draft.
In the 2016-17 season, he led Mississauga with 44 goals and 75 points in 60 games, while ranking fifth for goals in the OHL. In 20 playoff games, Tippett had 19 points (10-9-19).
The Panthers had lost four straight heading into Tuesday night’s game and at 4-7-1-1 were tied for last place in the NHL’s Eastern Conference with the Buffalo Sabres.
The Steelheads won the OHL Eastern Conference last season in a sweep of the Peterborough Petes. But Mississauga has struggled this season and at 7-9-0-1 are tied for second last in the OHL’s Eastern Conference, which is now led by the Petes, although the Steelheads have improved in recent games, including a 9-2 slaughter of the Petes on Sunday.