Merritt Centennials grad Josh Teves just wrapped up his senior season at Princeton University in heartbreaking fashion after a 6-5 triple-overtime loss eliminated the Tigers in the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Although that’s a tough way to end any season, Teves was feeling a lot better Tuesday as he was one of three Princeton players to sign a pro deal during the college free-agent frenzy.
The 24-year-old inked a one-year entry-level contract with the Vancouver Canucks today and is expected to stay with the big club and play some games down the stretch as the season winds down.
Teves led all Tigers defencemen in scoring this season with 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in 30 games. The 6-foot, 180-pound defenceman has been Princeton’s top-scoring blueliner in three of his four seasons and was one point back of the team lead in his freshman year. His best offensive output came in the 2017-18 season where he led all ECAC Hockey defencemen with 33 points (seven goals, 26 assists) in 31 games. Over his four-year career, he notched 85 points in 126 career games.
In his one season in Merritt in 2014-15, the Calgary native had 33 points (five goals, 28 assists) in 57 regular-season games.
He was the recipient of the 2015 RBC National Junior A Scholarship and majored in engineering at Princeton.
Due to his age, a one-year deal was the maximum length he was able to sign with the Canucks, but it’s expected he will re-sign with them in the offseason.
