The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) Import Draft took place today and the Prince George Cougars saught scoring with their one and only pick.
With the 10th overall selection, the Cougars called the name of the Czech Republic’s Filip Koffer, an 18-year-old right winger who spent this past season with HC Dynamo Pardubice.
“He’s a little bit of an all-around player,” Cougars General Manager and Interim Head Coach Mark Lamb told MyPGNow. “He had a really good Under-18 where he led his team in scoring. He has the skill, grit, and his skating is supposed to be really good, so we thought he was a player that could fit into our team.”
“He’s committed to playing in the WHL and he has a nice blend of speed, skill, and physicality. We look forward to seeing him in Training Camp.”
During the 2018-2019 season, Koffer spent the majority of the season on the U-19 Dynamo roster, netting himself 10 goals and 28 assists in 34 games. He also spent a dozen games on the HC Dynamo Pardubice main roster, as well as splitting eight games with two squads in the third league level in the Czech Republic.
Filip Koffer scores again! His second goal of the game and fourth of the tournament, 4-1 CZE. #U18Worlds pic.twitter.com/z3QfmR2TA8
— Czech Prospects (@CZprospects) April 21, 2019
Representing his country at the Under-18 tournament earlier this year, Koffer led his nation in points. In six games, the left-handed shooter tallied four goals and two assists.
The 5-foot-10, 165-pound Koffer will join his U-18 Czech teammate in Matej Toman in Prince George.
Toman was selected 8th overall in last year’s Import Draft, making it the second straight year the Cougars front office has elected to draft a Czech player.
“Toman and Koffer played together, they know each other, so there’s kind of a fit there that we thought would be cool that you can bring a couple of players from the same area that knows each other to the same team,” said Lamb.