Macoy Erkamps fifth and final season in the Western Hockey League just keeps on getting better.
The 21-year-old Ladner native has signed a threeyear entry level contract with the Ottawa Senators after a huge regular season campaign with the Brandon Wheat Kings. The team captain finished second in league scoring among defenceman with 71 points in 72 regular season games, including 13 goals.
Only blueline partner and Philadelphia Flyers 2015 first round pick Ivan Provorov was better with 73. Erkamps was also tied for fourth in the league with +47 plus/minus rating. His previous best season in the WHL was 35 points during his sophomore campaign with the Lethbridge Hurricanes.
Senators general manager Bryan Murray says Erkamps was highly recommended by the NHL club's chief amateur scout Bob Lowes and assistant GM Pierre Dorion. Lowes spent nine years as a head coach in Brandon.
"We are happy to have Macoy join the Senators organization," said Murray." He is a player we've had an eye on over the course of his junior career and we've watched him develop into one of the WHL's top defencemen this season. He's a talented, competitive guy whose game took a big jump this season.
"Bob was the guy who really pushed us to draft (Wheat King alumni) Mark Stone back in the day. He has Brandon connections obviously and he knows that team environment. He likes (Macoy) and Pierre convinced me to sign him. He's not a huge guy but he's a real good player in junior hockey and has a chance to be an NHL player. I take Bob's word for that every day."
Erkamps, listed at 6-foot and 198-pounds, was originally selected 27th overall by Lethbridge in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft. He cracked the Hurricanes' roster when he was 16 and spent three seasons in the Alberta city. The 2013-14 campaign was as tough as it gets with Lethbridge finishing with a league worst 12-55-2-3 record.
He was looking for a fresh start elsewhere and was part of a multi-player deal with the Wheat Kings. Erkamps put up 31 points in 68 games last season with a +29 rating and would flourish even more under head coach Kelly McCrimmon.
"If you look at my career, I think there's been a lot of ups-and-downs," said Erkamps during a radio interview with CKLQ's Bruce Luebke. "However, since I got to Brandon, I fell in love with the city and the team and I think that helped me to take the steps in the right direction. This year, playing with a guy like Ivan has given me a lot of confidence and I think my game has been taken to another level."
Earlier, Erkamps was named the team's Top Graduating and Most Community Minded Player. Last September, he was invited to the St. Louis Blues rookie camp as an unsigned free agent.
"This is a great accomplishment for Macoy," added McCrimmon. "He is a tremendous person and has had a great season. This is very well-deserved."
The Wheat Kings topped the Eastern Conference with a 46-24-1-1 record and currently hold a 3-2 lead on Edmonton in their opening playoff series.
Erkamps came through South Delta Minor Hockey Association's rep program before spending one season in the B.C. Major Midget Hockey League with the Greater Vancouver Canadians.
That year, he was also assistant captain on the B.C. U16 team that captured gold at the Canada Winter Games for the first time in 32 years. Two of his Canadians' teammates were also on the roster - Nic Petan (Winnipeg Jets) and Tristen Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins). All three would also play for Team Pacific the following year at the U17 World Challenge.
Erkamps has also typically continued his baseball career when he came each summer. In 2014, he helped the South Delta Spartans win the B.C. Junior Men's tier two provincial championship.
