Levi Kleiboer has another option for his hockey future.
The Martensville product, who has spent the last three seasons on the blueliner for the Battlefords North Stars, was selected in the sixth round of the United States Hockey League Draft Tuesday by the Chicago Steel with the 94th overall pick.
Although he has committed to the NCAA’s Maine Black Bears for next season, Kleiboer is also eligible to return for his final season of junior hockey with the North Stars.
The 19-year-old is coming off of his best season in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, as he set career highs in goals (10), assists (32) and points (42) in 46 regular season games.
He also had six points in nine playoff games and won a gold medal with Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge.
The Steel, who won their first USHL title in 2017, finished in sixth place in the Eastern Conference this season with a 28-25-7 record.
After upsetting the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the first round, they lost in the quarter-finals to the United States National Team Devleopment Program in four games.
Kleiboer was one of two players taken by USHL teams during Tuesday’s draft.
Notre Dame Hounds defenceman Tim Gould, who has also committed to the Black Bears, was picked by the Sioux City Musketeers in the fifth round.
Flin Flon Bombers forward Chrystopher Collin, who was a teammate of Kleiboer’s at the World Junior A Challenge and committed to the NCAA’s Bowling Green Falcons earlier this week, was a 14th round selection by the Central Illinois Flying Aces.
