Kirk (6-foot-1, 156 pounds) worked his way up the development ladder in England before his promotion to Sheffield as a 16-year-old in 2016-17. Sheffield, which has former NHL players Tim Wallace and Zach Fitzgerald, has an average age of 28. Kirk compared the EIHL to the ECHL.
"He went through so many challenges to get to where he is, so why stop now?" Thompson said. "He'll probably play in the Canadian Hockey League next season to gain experience in North America. If that happened, we'd be over the moon that a kid from a mining town a couple miles outside of Sheffield would get this opportunity."
Kirk will likely be selected in the CHL import draft on June 28. He's been a key player for his country at almost every major international event since the age of 16. He played for Great Britain at the 2016 IIHF World Under-18 Championship Division 2, Group A at 16, played in the 2017 World Junior Championship Division 1 Group B tournament at 17, and this season led Great Britain to a gold medal at the 2018 World U18s Division 2, Group A, and a bronze medal at the World Junior Championship Division 2, Group A with a tournament-best 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) at age 18.
Kirk also won a gold medal as the second-youngest player on the Great Britain men's national team at the 2018 IIHF World Championship Division 1, Group A tournament in April. A 3-2 shootout win against Hungary in the final game of the round-robin tournament secured Great Britain a promotion to the elite level of the World Championship for the first time since 1994.
"The experience in Budapest (Hungary) was incredible and we got the gold so next year we'll be with the big countries," Kirk said. "We entered the tournament with the mindset we can do whatever we want as long as we believe. We got huge support when we returned home; the clapping was tremendous."
Kirk, No. 65 on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking of International skaters eligible for the draft, had 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) for Sheffield this season, the most points by an under-18 player in EIHL history.