With the regular season just around the corner for the twelve teams in the Pacific Junior Hockey League, everyone is trying to find the edge it is going to take to win the championship this year. Most of the exhibition games have been played, and the last minute trades have been completed, at least for the Ridge Meadows Flames. General Manager Derek Bedard acquired Jaxan Lepp from the Port Moody Panthers in exchange for “future considerations”, on August 30th.

Lepp’s Photo From the 2017–18 Season with the Panthers

Lepp is a 2000 born forward who isn’t necessarily going to light up the scoreboard for the Flames this upcoming season. In the 2017–18 season with the Panthers, he played in 38 games, while only scoring three goals and tallying seven points throughout the season.

However, his point production may not entirely be his fault, as the Panthers claimed last place in the Tom Shaw Conference, and second last place, just ahead of the Surrey Knights, across the entire league. The top scorer for the Panthers only had 13 goals and 28 points is 40 games.

His age also plays in his favour, playing most of last season as a 17 year old, the PJHL can be a tough league to get a hold in, and Lepp is hoping that with a full year under his belt with the Panthers, and moving to a more offensively talented club, that he can find a home and begin to produce with his new team.

Flames General Manager Derek Bedard clearly believes that he is the right fit for this Ridge Meadows team, after seeing what his team was made of in the exhibition games, he went out and addressed what he thought was a weakness for his team.

If Bedard is correct in his thought process, only the 44 games to be played between now and the end of the regular season will provide the answer.

The Flames home opener is Friday September 7th at Cam Neely Arena in Maple Ridge, against the Aldergrove Kodiaks. Puck drop is at 7:30PM.