But it won’t be with his Western Hockey League club.
The Virden Oil Capitals of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League announced Monday that Hunt, 18, would be suiting up for their squad beginning as early as this weekend after being acquired on loan from the Warriors.
The move comes after the WHL last week announced that players could play in Junior ‘A’, Junior ‘B’ and U18 AAA leagues up until Dec. 20, when players will report to their respective WHL clubs for an abbreviated training camp prior to the Jan. 8 start of the regular season.
The move makes sense for Hunt, who played only 28 games last season and put up 15 points after missing more than a month due to a skate cut to his right forearm. Like most WHLers, he hasn’t played a game since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the league, with his last game on Mar. 10.
Hunt -- who was drafted in the third round, 65th overall by the Minnesota Wild this past summer, but was projected as a first-round pick before his injury -- practiced with the Oil Capitals on Monday and is expected to make his debut with Virden on Friday in Winkler against the Flyers.
For their part, the Caps are enthused about the prospect of having an elite WHL defenceman in their line-up.
“Pretty exciting for us, for our guys and for us as an organization, and certainly happy to have Daemon here,” said Virden head coach Tyson Ramsey on www.oilcapshockey.com. “He’s played with a couple of our players, and he’s a local guy here, so he fits into our group right away.”
Hunt isn’t the only member of the team currently seeing game action.
Czech import Martin Lang is on loan to his home hockey federation and has played six games, putting up two goals and seven points in two games in the Czech U20 league to go along with a goal in four games with professional Division 3 SHC Klatovy.
The Warriors’ first round draft pick in 2020, Martin Rysavy, is also in action in the Czech Republic, having put up two assists in four games with his hometown HC Prerov in the Czech Division 2 league.
