Battlefords AAA Stars defenceman Luke Reid will be heading out to the west coast for the upcoming season.
It was announced on Tuesday night that Reid was among a number of players who have signed with the British Columbia Hockey League champion Penticton Vees for the 2017-18 campaign.
The 15-year-old from Warman, who is in the process of moving to Penticton with his family, has spent the last two years in the Saskatchewan Midget AAA Hockey League.
After putting up 15 points as an underage player in the the 2015-16 season, Reid had 23 points in 39 games for the Stars in his sophomore campaign.
He also represented Saskatchewan at the Western Canada Challenge Cup in Calgary last October, where he had an assist in five games.
In January, Reid made a verbal commitment to play for the NCAA’s North Dakota Fighting Hawks, who are one of the top Division I programs in the United States.
The puck-moving defenceman had a number of options to choose from prior to making the decision to one day play college hockey.
Reid was selected by the Victoria Royals in the second round of the 2016 Western Hockey League bantam draft and he was also a fifth round choice by the Kindersley Klippers in the 2016 Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League draft.
He was also a third round pick by the Sioux City Musketeers in the United States Hockey League’s futures draft earlier this month.
Reid will be one of a handful of future Fighting Hawks to be on the roster for the Vees next season.
Returning defenceman Jonny Tychonick and rookie goaltender Adam Scheel are also committed to the program.
The Vees have won three Fred Page Cup titles in the last six years, with their most recent coming back in April following a seven-game battle with the Chilliwack Chiefs.
After earning the runner-up spot at the Western Canada Cup, which they hosted, the Vees lost in the semifinal game of the RBC Cup to the host and eventual tournament champion Cobourg Cougars.
Reid is the second AAA Stars player to move up to a higher level from last year’s team, which missed out on the playoffs.
Blueliner Austin King-Cunningham, who is from Pilot Butte, signed a contract with the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants in March and has played in three games for them.
