Moose Jaw product Jacob Michelson has signed a letter of intent with the Nipawin Hawks. (Submitted photo/Nipawin Hawks)

By Clark Stork

Move from Moose Jaw

Hawks sign forward from Moose Jaw

May 18, 2023 | 11:08 AM

The Nipawin Hawks have added a forward for next year’s team.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) club announced 2005-born forward Jacob Michelson from Moose Jaw has signed a letter of intent to play for the team starting in 2023-24.

This past season the 5-feet11-inch, 165-pound, 17-year-old scored 11 goals and added 19 assists in 28 games with the Prairie Hockey Academy (PHA) U18 Prep team. After the Hawks’ scouts saw Michelson play the team listed him and was able to get a commitment from the player that Nipawin associate general manager Dana Dirks says brings valuable assets across the board to the club.

“He’s a really diverse player for us,” Dirks told northeastNOW. “He can play centre, plays left wing, he’s got a high IQ, great penalty killer. He played a little bit on the power-play as well as you can see with his points. He can still set guys up and finish when needed.”

Michelson grew up playing minor hockey in his hometown finishing in U15 AA before making the jump to the Canadian Sport School Hockey League program in nearby Caronport. Michelson had four goals in his last year of U15. In his first three seasons with PHA Michelson scored four more times and had 16 points.

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This past season he nearly doubled his points and reached double digits in goals. Dirks said Michelson is ready to step into a junior ‘A’ lineup.

“He’s one of those young guys that he sees it all a little bit early, and he knows when he’s supposed to change up on the forecheck and make those adjustments during the game. It’s something that is going to transition well to Nipawin and the way Tad [Kozun] and Levi [Stewart] coach and the way they want to play,” he said.

The club is now preparing for the 2023 SJHL Draft which will be held on June 1. Nipawin has seven picks in the draft, the team’s first choice is sixth overall.

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clark.stork@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @ClarkStork