Wyatt Stinton is the latest Flin Flonner to sign on with a WHL team. Stinton inked a standard player agreement with the Regina Pats this week.
The 2007-born forward, a Flin Flon Minor Hockey product originally from Channing, has impressed in his first WHL training camp, scoring four goals in one game during group scrimmages and playing with generational phenom Connor Bedard in the Pats' intrasquad game earlier in camp. Stinton, who played last year with the Rink Hockey Academy (RHA) U15 team in Winnipeg, was picked by the Pats in the fifth round of last spring's WHL draft and joined the Pats for their spring camp in June.
“His future seems bright to us,” said Pats head coach and general manager John Paddock in a team-issued news release Sept. 9.
“When we saw him at spring camp, the puck seemed to follow him around. Some guys have the knack that, wherever he goes on the ice, he gets opportunities. I think he’s going to score, that’s his game and I think by 18 and 19, he’s going to be a productive player for us.”
Stinton will start the season with the season back in Winnipeg with the RHA U16 team. He may play with the Pats this season, but will not start the season in Regina - as a 15-year-old, Stinton is only eligible to play up to five games this season until after his season has ended at RHA.
The Pats also announced the signing of defenceman Kolten Bridgeman, who was picked by the Flin Flon Bombers in this year's SJHL draft and attended training camp with the Bombers before camp opened for the Pats.
"The Pats are excited to welcome both Kolten and Wyatt to the organization and the City of Regina," reads the Pats' announcement.
The deal makes Stinton one of only two Flin Flon-born players signed on with WHL teams - Justin Lies is the other. Lies has played three seasons in the WHL, each with the Vancouver Giants. Lies was traded by the Giants to the Saskatoon Blades earlier this month. Lies' younger brother Joey is a draftee of the Swift Current Broncos and attended camp with the Broncos this year, but did not sign an agreement with the Broncos and is likely to start the season with the Bombers.
