Several hockey players with ties to the Cowichan Valley are attending NHL training camps this month, hoping to impress coaches, and perhaps challenge for spots in a starting lineup.
Defenceman Josh Anderson is attending his third training camp with Colorado Avalanche, and his first since signing a contract with the team this past spring.
Anderson, who was born in Nanaimo and grew up in Lake Cowichan and Duncan, turned 20 late last month. Colorado’s third-round draft pick, 71st overall, in 2016, Anderson split last season between the Prince George Cougars and Swift Current Broncos, winning the Western Hockey League championship and attending the Memorial Cup with Swift Current, and finished his WHL career with 35 points in 206 regular-season games. He signed a three-year rookie contract with the Avs in the spring.
Jordan Topping is in the Detroit Red Wings camp, under contract to the Wings’ AHL farm team, the Grand Rapids Griffins. Topping grew up on Saltspring Island, but played minor hockey in the Cowichan Valley and spent a year with the junior A Cowichan Valley Capitals before going to the WHL, where he played four years with the Tri-City Americans, posting 243 points in 217 games. Topping went undrafted, but still caught the eye of the Red Wings organization.
Former Capital David Pope is also in the Red Wings camp on an NHL contract, having been drafted by the team in 2013.
Jordan’s younger brother, Kyle Topping, was also surprisingly undrafted this summer, but found a spot in the San Jose Sharks training camp. Like Jordan, Kyle also grew up on Saltspring Island and played minor hockey in the Cowichan Valley, then a year with the junior A Caps before going to the WHL. He spent the last two years with the Kelowna Rockets, posting 94 points in 125 games.
Duncan-born defenceman Dylan Coghlan is back at the Vegas Golden Knights camp for the second year in a row. Coghlan, who grew up in Nanaimo but still has family in the Cowichan Valley, was invited to Vegas’s camp as an undrafted free agent, and impressed enough to earn an NHL contract. Coghlan has played the last four years alongside Jordan Topping in Tri-City, posting 145 points in 265 games.
On Monday, the Boston Bruins announced that they had signed former Capitals goalie Derek Dun to a preseason try-out during their tour of China. Dun, who backstopped the Caps from 2010 to 2013, is currently under contract to the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star and was playing for their farm team, KRS-ORG Beijing.
Another former Caps goalie, Laurent Brossoit, is in camp with the Winnipeg Jets. Brossoit was signed by the Jets in July after five years in the Edmonton Oilers organization, including 28 NHL games.