Spokane Chiefs sign 16-year-old Erik Atchison to standard player agreement

The Spokane Chiefs announced Tuesday that they have signed forward Erik Atchison to a Western Hockey League Standard Player Agreement.

Atchison, 16, was a fifth-round selection (94th overall) by the Chiefs in the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft.

The 5-foot-11, 178-pound center, originally from Las Vegas, posted eight goals and six assists for 14 points in 13 games with the Arizona Bobcats 16U team of the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) during the 2017-18 season.

Atchison joins Jake McGrew (Orange, California), Luke Toporowski (Bettendorf, Iowa) and Luke Gallagher (Spokane) as American players on the Chiefs’ 2018 preseason roster.

“We were very impressed by Erik at our training camp (last week),” Chiefs general manager Scott Carter said. “He worked hard all year and it showed in scrimmages and our Red-White Game. He earned this opportunity and we are very happy to have him officially join our organization.”

The Chiefs begin preseason play at 3 p.m. Friday in Everett against Portland.