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Two northern Manitoba players sign NHL contracts

Keeper makes debut with Panthers, Dewar signs rookie deal with Minnesota
hockey

Northern Manitoba-raised hockey players Brady Keeper and Connor Dewar have signed deals with National Hockey League teams.

Keeper signed a two-year contract with the Florida Panthers on March 18 and joined the team on March 20 for his first practice.

“I thought for myself, this was the best organization for myself to hopefully play in the future and make something happen here,” Keeper said to media in Dallas, where the Panthers prepared for a road game against the Stars Mar. 19.

Originally from Cross Lake, Keeper played three full seasons with the Manitoba Junior Hockey League’s OCN Blizzard, winning the league’s player of the year and defenceman of the year awards in 2016-17. He went on to play two seasons of college hockey with the University of Maine Black Bears before signing his NHL contract.

A 6-foot-2, 194-pound defenceman, Keeper led the Black Bears’ blue line corps in goals, assists and points both as a freshman and a sophomore, playing significant time on special teams for the squad.

“He possesses extraordinary feel for the offensive elements of the game. He instinctively knows when to move the puck, when to hold it, where to move it, where and when to skate to space to get the puck from a teammate, and possesses an elite shot,” said UMaine head coach Red Gendron in a press release.

“He is a gritty competitor who defends at a very high level as well. He’s earned his opportunity and did so while also being a great teammate and quiet leader. We will miss all he brought to our team, but we are also very happy for him.”

In signing his contract, Keeper has become the first person from Cross Lake ever to ink an NHL deal. Keeper was not selected in the NHL draft, but joined the Los Angeles Kings at a development camp before last season.

“I’ve got no words to explain how I feel right now for my family and all the hard work they’ve put in for me to get to where I am today,” said Keeper after his first practice.

According to hockey salary website, capfriendly.com, Keeper’s contract has an average annual salary of as high as $1.35 million per year for the next two years, dropping down to $70,000 if he is assigned to the minor leagues.

Keeper made his debut with the Panthers March 28, suiting up against the Ottawa Senators. He finished a +1 with no points or penalty minutes.

Less than two weeks before Keeper signed with the Panthers, Connor Dewar, a 5-foot-10, 176-pound forward from The Pas, signed a contract with the Minnesota Wild. Dewar is in his fourth season with the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips, where he has scored 81 points in 59 games.

Dewar was selected by the Wild in the third round, 92nd overall, in last year’s NHL draft. No player from The Pas has played in the NHL since 1993, when defender Curt Giles played his last of 895 career NHL games. The last The Pas player to be selected in the NHL draft was goaltender and former Brandon Wheat King Jomar Cruz in 1998.

Keeper and Dewar make it three northern Manitoba-born players currently under contract with NHL teams. Ashton Sautner, the son of a former Flin Flon Bombers assistant coach who was born in Flin Flon and played most of his minor hockey in southern Saskatchewan, currently plays for the Vancouver Canucks.

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