The Esmark Stars of the North American Prospects Hockey League (NAPHL) are pleased to announce that 18U forward Tyler Stewart has signed a North American Hockey League (NAHL) tender agreement with the Johnstown Tomahawks of the NAHL’s East Division.

Stewart, 17, a native of Burrell, PA, is in his first season with the U18 Stars. He skated the past two season with the highly regarded and nationally ranked top 10 Pittsburgh Vipers AA U16 squad under Si Bishop.

To date, Stewart (5'10", 160 lbs.) has registered 15 points (8 goals, 7 assists), including 1 power play goal,  in 12 NAPHL games this season to lead the Stars in NAPHL scoring.

Overall, the  junior at Burrell High School, leads the Stars Midget Major club in scoring recording 52 points (24 goals, 28 assists), including 2 power play goals, in 38 overall games, and helping pace the Stars to a 28-8-1-1 record to date.

"Tyler most definitely has world-class skill set," said Esmark 18U head coach Dave Kosick. "And because of that ... we have fielded a lot of calls from junior teams across the nation who have been overwhelmingly impressed by what he does in the offensive zone."

Stewart joins teammate Jackson Dobbs, who also signed with the Tomahawks, as the first Esmark players to sign NAHL tenders this season.

A tender is a contract, of sorts, a player signs announcing his intentions to play for that particular NAHL team and that NAHL team only. Once a player signs a tender with an NAHL team, his playing rights belong to that team within the NAHL and he may not be recruited by any other NAHL team. Each team is granted ten (10) tenders, which include two (2) tenders exclusively used on players from the NAPHL - plus or minus any trades - which became active on Nov. 1. Tendered players are not eligible for the NAHL draft, which will be held on June 4, 2019.