Yukon hockey player Dylan Cozens inked a deal with the Lethbridge Hurricanes today.

The 6’2, 159-pound centre was drafted 19th overall in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft by the Hurricanes at the beginning of the month.

“He’s a quality player and he’s a quality kid,” said Hurricanes general manager Peter Anholt in a press release. “He’s going to be a really good add for us eventually in our organization.”

Cozens, 15, originally from Whitehorse was a star player within Whitehorse minor hockey and the Mustang program.

This season he played with the Delta Hockey Academy in B.C.

“I was just really happy (getting drafted) by Lethbridge. My dad lived there for a bit, so it was pretty cool,” said Cozens in a press release. “I’m excited to sign my first contract and I was really happy to do that with Lethbridge.”

Cozens will have some hard work ahead of him.

“Dylan has a lot of improving to do, he has a lot of development to do,” said Anholt. “He’s not the finished product, but we know he’s going to work hard to prepare himself to be a Hurricane when that happens.”

WHL spokesman Corey St. Laurent told the Star that as a 15-year-old, Cozens is not eligible to be on the Hurricanes regular roster next season.

He will, however, be eligible to play all the pre-season games for the major junior A club, and can be called up to play a maximum of five regular season games.

Cozens counts his on-ice strengths as having good speed and being a good shot.

“I need to improve everything. I think I need to put on more weight and play a more physical game.”

His Delta Hockey Academy team made playoffs this season.

“I had a slow start to the season,” he said, “but I played really good in the second half of the season.”

This summer Cozens will train hard as he works to become a stronger player on the ice.

He’ll join six other Hurricanes prospects at provincial U-16 summer camps ahead of Octob­er’s 2016 Western Canada U-16 Challenge Cup and has also been invited to the B.C. Male U-16 provincial camp this July in Shawnigan Lake, B.C.

“I definitely want to prove all the teams wrong that passed me up,” Cozens said. “And show Lethbridge that they were lucky to get me.”