The 17-year-old was in his second season with the French River Rapids in the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League where he has scored 27 goals and 37 assists for 64 points in 68 career games.

10/25/2016 – There will soon be a new face in the lineup for the Halifax Mooseheads after forward Caleb Rich was signed by the club on Tuesday.

“We feel that he could be a top-six player since he was a point per game player as a 16-year-old,” said General Manager Cam Russell.

“There’s lots to like there he’s got great size, good speed and he seems to play well in traffic.”

Rich is a native of Callander, Ontario which is a town on the shores of Lake Nippissing, about 15 minutes south of North Bay. The left-handed shooting center is 6-foot-1 and weighs 185 pounds.

He will wear number 11 and will help fill a void up front for the Mooseheads with Benoit-Olivier Groulx set to miss the next six games while playing for Canada at the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge and the recent departure of Raphael Lavoie who chose to finish the season in Midget AAA.

Rich, who fits well with the Mooseheads youth movement, went undrafted in the Ontario Hockey League but Russell said that’s not for lack of talent.

“Well you’re talking about a league that has 45 percent of the Canadian population so there’s lots of good players that we’ve seen through the years that have slipped through the cracks.”

Rich is not expected to play when the Mooseheads entertain Acadie-Bathurst on Wednesday night at 7pm but he could be available for the home and home set against Cape Breton which starts Friday in Sydney and wraps up Saturday at 7pm at Scotiabank Centre.

Tickets are available now at the Ticket Atlantic Box Office at Scotiabank Centre, select Superstore Outlets, TicketAtlantic.com or by phone at 902-451-1221.

The Mooseheads GM has caught lightning in a bottle in the past when signing players like Mac Weegar and Philippe Gadoury. While not comparing this transaction to those players, Russell thinks his scouting staff may have found something special in Rich.

“Some players develop at different stages and we just feel that Caleb could be a very good hockey player for us down the road.”

Halifax Mooseheads Full Season and 15-Game Ticket Packages for the 2016-17 season are on sale now. Get yours at the Mooseheads Season Ticket Office in Scotia Square Mall, by phone at 902-429-FANS(3267), OR by email at tickets@halifaxmooseheads.ca.