The Fargo Force have announced that the club has signed forward Masun Fleece to a USHL tender for the 2023-24 season.

A native of Rolling Hills, Fleece has prepped at Shattuck St. Mary’s school in Faribault, Minn., the past two seasons. In the 2021-22 season, he led the SSM 14U team in scoring with 45 goals and 61 assists for 106 points in 51 games. This year as a 15-year-old, he played at the 16U level, and finished fifth on the team with 68 points on 29 goals and 39 assists in 53 games.

“We are extremely excited to have Masun sign with us,” said Fargo GM Cary Eades. “He is a player who we have monitored his development very closely in the past 12 months as our coaching and scouting staff has seen him play live and on video a number of times. His work ethic, speed and tenacity, as well as his reputation of being a great teammate sets him apart from others as we went through the tender process. Additionally, players coming out of Shattuck are extremely well prepared, on and off the ice, and have had tremendous success as they move up the hockey ladder.”

“Our coaching staff, led by head coach Nick Oliver, has done an outstanding job of developing and mentoring young players in our organization this season. Our top rookie, Mac Swanson, has been in the top 20 in league scoring all season as a 16-year-old. Masun is a different style of player than Mac, however, but we feel his maturity, skill set and determination will allow him to be a contributor to our team next season, even though he’ll be one of, if not the youngest player on our team. We are excited to welcome Masun and the Fleece family to the Force hockey family.”

Back home, Fleece also spent time with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings.

The USHL tender process allows teams to sign up to two 2007 birth year players in exchange for their first and second-round picks in the 2023 USHL Phase I Draft, which will take place May 2.

As a result of signing Fleece, the Force will surrender their first-round pick in Phase I of the USHL Draft this upcoming spring.

The final day for USHL teams to sign a tender is April 29. Each tendered player will be on their respective team’s roster the next season and play at least 55 percent of the team’s regular-season games.

Photo/Masun Fleece Instagram

(April 10, 2023)