The state of North Dakota has been good to the Estevan Bruins in recent years, with the addition of current roster players Michael McChesney, Johnny Witzke, Jerzy Martin, and TJ Irey. With training camp now just two weeks away, the black and gold have returned to that well once again.

Estevan Bruins head coach and GM Chris Lewgood says the team has officially signed Bismarck native Isaiah Thomas for the upcoming season. Thomas, 18, joins a Bruins squad that he's already well familiar with.

"We've been working with Isaiah since he was a high school junior," Lewgood said. "He was up to skate with us a few times last year, took in some of the games down the stretch run and practiced with the team several times. I think seeing what it's like to be an Estevan Bruin got him excited."

If Thomas was enthusiastic about joining the Bruins, they're positively thrilled to have landed him. Estevan plans to play Thomas in a top-six role, possibly with fellow North Dakotan McChesney.  

"Isaiah is one of the most exciting rookies we've recruited over the last few years," said Lewgood. "He's a dynamic high school player out of North Dakota much like Michael McChesney was. He's small but very strong physically, skates extremely well, is not afraid to take the puck to the net and has some finish around the net as well."

Last year with Bismarck Century High School, Thomas put up 33 goals and 77 points in just 27 games. His dynamic offense was on full display all season, and Lewgood says he saw some flashes of other recent imports in his game.

"I don't know if it's safe to draw any conclusions from this," Lewgood said, "but I think he's a little futher ahead than Mike (McChesney) was at his age. His statistics might not say so at the high school level, but the impression he's left in our camps and practices have him a little further ahead than Mike was. That said, Mike's grown a ton since then and his production and growth has been exponential." 

"We do have high expectations of him," Lewgood added. "We think he's going to come in and play a top-six role for us. We're actually planning on moving McChesney to center and that leaves a void on the right side for a guy with speed and skill to fill, and we think Isaiah is the guy to do that."

Thomas will be in Estevan for the Bruins training camp beginning before the August long weekend. Estevan kicks off the regular season in Melville on September 14.