Former Royals defenceman Demers signs with NHL Sharks

The National Hockey League San Jose Sharks have signed yet another West Island native and Lac St. Louis Hockey Association product. Three years after the Sharks inked Beaconsfield native Marc-Édouard Vlasic to a contract, the Western Conference club signed former West Island Royals and Lac St. Louis Tigers midget espoir defenceman Jason Demers to a three-year entry-level contract. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The 20-year-old Demers, part of one of the strongest atom to bantam AA clubs ever assembled in the Lac St. Louis Association while performing for the Royals, had one assist in one game for the Sharks this preseason. In 2007-08 he led all Quebec Major Junior Hockey League defensemen by recording 64 points (nine goals and 54 assists) with the Victoriaville Tigers. He also was fourth on his team with 91 penalty minutes after attending the Sharks rookie camp in September 2007. “Jason came to our rookie camp last year and really worked on the things our organization recommended would help him,” said Sharks executive vice president and general manager Doug Wilson. “We’re impressed with what he has done in such a short time and are excited with not only how he has developed, but with how he has performed in this camp.”

The six-foot-one, 195-pound Demers, selected by the Sharks in the seventh round (186th overall) of the 2008 NHL entry draft, will hone his skills in Worcester of the American Hockey League. Puck note: In other hockey news concerning former local athletes, goaltender Josh Tordjman, a Kirkland native who learned his craft in the Lakeshore Hockey Association before going to play for the midget AAA West Island Lions and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Victoriaville Tigers and Moncton Wildcats, was demoted by the Phoenix Coyotes to its American Hockey League farm team in San Antonio. Tordjman, who played in several pre-season games with the Coyotes last month, is still regarded as one of the brightest goaltending prospects in the Coyote’s system. .