Joey Payeur
Jared Bethune can’t wait to get Wild.
The Fort Frances native was announced yesterday as one of 25 prospects being invited to be part of the Minnesota Wild’s entry into the 2015 NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Mich., from Sept. 11-15.
“It was pretty exciting when I got the call from my agent,” said Bethune, who is currently out in B.C. at training camp in preparation for his second season with the WHL’s Prince George Cougars.
“I figured it was going to be (a team) somewhere really close to home or really far away, so when he told me it was going to be Minnesota, I was really excited.”
The 18-year-old centre started last year with the USHL’s Lincoln (Neb.) Stars, where he had one assist in three games.
Bethune then caught on with Prince George, where he had six goals and 14 assists for 20 points in 61 games, along with 39 penalty minutes, but a rough plus-minus rating of -23.
“It was a big learning year coming out of high school,” admitted Bethune, who played for the Warroad (Minn.) Warriors in 2013-14.
“It was especially a big jump with all the extra games you play compared to high school.”
If all goes well at the Prospects Tournament and he is able to stand out, Bethune could find himself heading to Minneapolis two days later to the Wild’s main training camp after not being selected in June’s NHL Entry Draft.
But he’s approaching his hockey life one step at a time.
“Prince George has a really good team coming up this season and I want to worry about making a splash with them and push the other stuff to the back of my mind,” he stated.
“But as the event gets closer, I’m sure I’ll be getting more excited about it.”
