Having extremely limited resources on both the draft pick and cap space front will always force ‘win now’ teams like the Bruins to look high and low in the amateur ranks for additional help.

And it appears that the Bruins have found their latest project.

Announced by Providence Bruins general manager Evan Gold on Tuesday, the Bruins have signed winger Owen Pederson to a two-year AHL contract through the 2024-25 season.

• A 6-foot-3, 193-pound left wing, Pederson will make the jump to the pro game after scoring a career-high 32 goals and 74 points in 65 games with the WHL’s Winnipeg Ice this past season.

  Pederson’s 32 goals, which tied him for the 26th-most in the WHL this past season, was a solid 15-goal bump up from his 2021-22 total, and a four-goal boost from his previous career-high set in 2019-20. His 74 points, meanwhile, ranked sixth among Ice skaters, and was a 24-point increase from his previous career-high of 50 points, which was also set during the 2019-20 season.

  Pederson also added four goals and 12 points in 19 playoff games for a Winnipeg squad that ultimately fell just three wins short of the Ed Chynoweth Cup in a five-game final against Seattle.

  It’s certainly worth noting that in addition to being an overager (he turned 21 this past March), Pederson was on a team simply stacked with high-end talent, with two top-11 picks from last year’s NHL draft (Matthew Savoie and Connor Geekie), and a projected top-10 pick in this year’s draft (Zachary Benson).

  Overall, the left-shooting Pederson has recorded 94 goals and 198 points in 200 WHL games since 2018.

• 🎥WHL Highlights - December 17, 2022
  
  🏒@bdnwheatkings (3) at @WHLWpgICE (4) - OT
  
  ICE reign supreme as Owen Pederson nets two — including the game winner.
  
  STATS 📰 | https://t.co/J891W7Q9t1 pic.twitter.com/FgqhsHzkxM

  — The WHL (@TheWHL) December 18, 2022

• In addition to the frame, the read on Pederson is that he can score from what you’d consider ‘high-danger’ areas and that he can complement linemates well enough.

  The thinking here from the Bruins is obviously on the longer term side of things, too, as his signing to an AHL contract makes him ineligible to play at the NHL level until signing a standard NHL contract.

  But it also doesn’t mean a jump to the pro game is all that far away, as the Bruins have been more than willing to sign guys to pro contracts should their development progress to their liking.

  Their most famous recent example of this has to be defenseman Kevan Miller, who had originally joined Providence on an AHL deal after a strong collegiate career at Vermont, and parlayed that into a pro contract and what was ultimately a 352-game NHL career with the Bruins.

  Luke Toporowski, who joined the B’s on an AHL contract last year, could become the next example of such a development plan after scoring 15 goals and 29 points in 47 games for Providence last year.

• 

  BOSTON, MA – JUNE 24: Bruins fans hold a giant flag with the Boston Logo on it prior Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Elsa/Getty Images)

• As for the immediate future for the newest Bruin added to the mix, the expectation is that Pederson will be at this summer’s development camp, which is currently set to begin on July 3 and run throughout the week at Brighton’s Warrior Ice Arena.

  All on-ice sessions at Warrior Ice Arena will be open to the public.

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