The Canadian major junior hockey leagues ended their regular season last weekend. The playofs in each member-league of the CHL (the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League, and the Western Hockey League) will have their playoffs now, leading up to the championship tournament, the Memorial Cup, later this spring.
Players from teams not making the playoffs are now eligible to join organizatiosn that drafted them. That’s the case with 79th overall pick from the 2014 NHL entry draft, Brayden Point. It was announced Thursday morning the 5’9″ center who played 60 games for the Moose Jaw Warriors this season (and scored 87 points — 38 goals and 49 assists), signed his three-year entry-level contract with the Lightning as well as an amateur try out contract with the Syracuse Crunch where he’ll practice and play for the remainder of the Crunch’s season.
Point will be eligible to return to the junior ranks next season as an over-ager (he only turned 19 earlier this month). He’s welcome reinforcements for the Syracuse Crunch at the moment, though, as their center corp has been depleted by the Bolts recall of Vladislav Namestnikov.
In a related story, fellow 2014 draft choice Cristiano DiGiacinto was also signed to an amateur try out by the Crunch yesterday. The intention is to simply have the young forward practice with the club. DiGiacinto played for the Windsor Spitfires of the AHL this past season.
