The Moose Jaw Generals will be without their captain for the remainder of the season.

Nolan Jones has been called up to the Western Hockey League and will join the Lethbridge Hurricanes to finish off the 2017-18 campaign.

“It’s a great opportunity to play up with the older guys, even if it’s just for the remainder of the season, I can learn a lot from them and it’s a good opportunity to build for what’s coming in the future,” said Jones.

The Moose Jaw product was originally selected in the second round, 41st overall, by the Hurricanes in the 2016 WHL Bantam Draft. He wasn’t able to crack the roster as a 16-year-old to start this season, instead returning for his second season with the Generals, who have struggled this season.

Generals head coach Ray Wareham said he spoke with Lethbridge G.M. Peter Anholt and they felt it was the best move for Jones’ development to join the Hurricanes before the end of the season here in Moose Jaw.

“It’s the semester break here, so for Nolan’s development it was probably good for him to go there and start the second semester fresh and challenge himself,” said Wareham. “It wasn’t the kind of year that we were hoping to have here, but he did his job for us and now he gets a chance to move on and better himself.”

In 35 games with the Generals, Jones registered seven goals and 18 points, while also serving as the team’s captain. He said going back to midget AAA helped his development.

“We didn’t have the season that we wanted team-wise, but it was a great opportunity for myself to develop some leadership skills,” Jones said. “Being one of the vets on the team, I had to lead the younger guys, keeping everything positive, even when things weren’t going our way.”

After failing to make the Hurricanes out of training camp, Jones feels that his game has developed to the point where he’s ready to make the jump up to major junior.

“I feel like I’m ready, but there’s always things that you need to work on to get to that next level,” said Jones. “To compete at this level with the older guys, you need to work on speed because all the guys are fast.

“It will be tough at first, but I feel like I’ll adjust quickly playing and practicing with the older guys.”

Jones made his WHL last season, playing in three regular season games. He suited up for the Hurricanes earlier this month against the Kootenay Ice and will be with the team full-time now.

The Hurricanes return to the ice on Friday when they host the Swift Current Broncos.

As for the Generals, Wareham wants to see players step into the leadership void with Jones gone for the rest of the season.

“Brendan Kemp has been fantastic all year and you’re starting to see Casey McDonald and Jaxson Georget to get a bigger voice with Nolan gone and there’s some other guys in there that we’re hearing more now,” he said. “It’s good because now they get to challenge each other and make each other better.”

The Generals dropped both games without Jones over the weekend against the Regina Pat Canadians. They return to the ice on Thursday to host the Beardy’s Blackhawks at Mosaic Place.