SUBMITTED PHOTO - Reid Andresen signs a Western Hockey League standard player agreement with the Medicine Hat Tigers from his home in Saskatoon.
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat Tigers have officially brought Reid Andresen into the system, the team announced Monday.
The 15-year-old defenceman was selected 11th overall in the Western Hockey League’s bantam draft last month and put pen to paper on a standard player agreement this week.
It’s the second contract Andresen signed in as many days, as the Saskatoon product recently committed to his hometown Blazers, of the Saskatchewan Midget Hockey League, for next season.Â
“It’s been really busy, but it’s been really fun too, just being able to sign with both of them,” said Andresen. “It feels great. (The Tigers) are a great organization and I couldn’t be happier.”
The process has been understandably uncharacteristic as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tigers typically wait until orientation camp in late May or early June to start signing draft prospects, but with the status of the event still up in the air, head coach and general manager Willie Desjardins says he opted to bring Andresen in early.Â
“It’s really hard to know when that will happen,” said Desjardins. “You just want your guys to know that they’re wanted. We thought we should put it out there that they’re somebody we want and we’re certainly looking forward to them being part of our organization.”
Due to social distancing measures, Andresen was unable to complete the signing in person. Instead, he waited for a box to arrive in the mail.Â
When he grabbed a package with a Medicine Hat return address, he knew he was in for something special. Â
“I just went out to the mailbox and there was a box in there. I saw it was from Medicine Hat so I knew it would be the clothes,” said Andresen, who put on the included Tigers shirt and hat for the signing. “We were kind of waiting for a couple of days. I just got really excited, my family was really excited and I just signed.”
The 5-foot-7, 125-pound blueliner is coming off a prolific two-way season with the Saskatchewan Bantam AA Hockey League’s Saskatoon Generals. In just 31 games, Andresen struck the twine 13 times while adding 38 assists for 51 points on the campaign. Andresen also took in three SMHL games with the Saskatoon Contacts and closed out the short stint with an assist to his credit.Â
He went on to add three goals and seven assists over the course of just four playoff contests with the Generals.Â
“He is one of the players we targeted, even higher than (11th),” said Desjardins. “He’s a real good puck-moving defenceman. He plays hard with very good skill and good compete. There are lots of good things with him.”
Andresen will be eligible to compete for a full-time roster spot to start the 2021-22 season, and says he believes the Blazers will provide him with the tools he needs to make that jump at 16.Â
“I was AP to the Contacts last year but then I made the switch to the Blazers,” he said. “I just feel it’s a better fit for me. They’ve got a really good coaching staff over there – so do the Contacts – but I just felt the Blazers are the better fit for me. Hopefully I can just improve as much as I can so I can play for Medicine Hat as a 16-year-old.”
