Vancouver Giants negotiate for goalkeeper hint team will lose Jesper Vikman to Sweden for World Youth

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Sweden’s team is scheduled to reveal its World Youth roster on Wednesday, but the Vancouver Giants are already hinting that their goalkeeper, Jesper Vikman, is on that team.

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The Giants acquired 18-year-old goalkeeper Connor Martin from the Seattle Thunderbirds on Monday for an eighth-round pick in the 2024 WHL Draft. Giants general manager Barclay Parneta declined to comment on whether the The deal was tied to the Swedish team’s pending announcement, but Martin becomes Vancouver’s third goalkeeper, joining 19-year-old Vikman and Will Gurski.

The Giants could also lose 18-year-old winger Fabian Lysell to Team Sweden. He is in the midst of a five-game streak with Vancouver that has seen him rack up five goals and 12 points during that span. Lysell, the Boston Bruins’ first-round pick, No. 21 overall, in last summer’s NHL draft, has nine goals and 26 points in 20 games this season.

Vikman is 11-3-1-0, averaging 2.92 goals and a .912 save percentage. He was a fifth-round pick for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020.

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The Junior World Cup will be played from December 26 to January 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer. It is not yet known when the Swedish team could meet.

NEXT GAME

Wednesday

Vancouver Giants vs. Kamloops Blazers

7 pm, Sandman Center . Radio: sportsnet650.ca

“I think they both have a very good chance to play for that team, but I really don’t know what depth looks like there. We will find out on Wednesday. I hope they both get that chance, ”Giants head coach Michael Dyck said Monday.

Dyck will be in the Juniors World Cup as a Canadian team assistant to bench chief Dave Cameron (Ottawa 67’s), and he and 19-year-old forward Justin Sourdif will leave the Giants for the selection field in Calgary this week. Neither is expected to be with the Giants (13-7-1-0) on Wednesday as they look to extend their six-game winning streak with a visit to the Kamloops Blazers (17-4-0-0).

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It is unknown if the Blazers will have forward Logan Stankoven or goalkeeper Dylan Garand for that meeting with the Giants. They were also included in the team of Canada’s 35-man pick camp roster. Testing begins Thursday in Calgary and ends on Sunday.

Dyck is an assistant coach for Team Canada for the second year in a row. Giants associate coach Keith McCambridge takes over the Vancouver bench, while former Chicago Blackhawks defender Brent Seabrook has signed on as interim assistant coach while Dyck is absent.

Dyck and Sourdif, assuming he stays with Team Canada, will miss 11 games to the Giants. Sourdif, who is a 2020 Florida Panthers third-round pick, is Vancouver’s leading scorer with 29 points, including eight, in 20 games. He was BC’s center player of the year and top scorer last spring after a total of 11 goals and 34 points in 22 games, and then by various reports he performed well at Team Canada’s summer development camp in the Tsuut’ina nation near Calgary. .

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“You just have to play your game,” Dyck said of Sourdif giving himself the best shot at making Team Canada’s final 25-man roster. “He has to play like he did in the bubble, play like he did in the summer, play like he has done up to this point this season. It has to be Justin Sourdif in his prime. “

After Wednesday’s game with Kamloops, Vancouver’s next 10 games include five against Victoria Royals (6-11-3-0), three against Prince George Cougars (8-14-0-0), and one each against Triumphs. City. Americans (5-12-3-0) and the Kelowna Rockets (11-6-0-2).

Gurski is 2-4-0-0 with a GAA of 2.35 and a .908 save percentage.

Martin has already been traded twice this season. He was traded from the Victoria Royals to the Thunderbirds on November 4 for an eighth round in 2022.

The 6-foot-3, 183-pound Calgary appeared in two games with Victoria and one with Seattle and is 0-1-1-0 with a GAA of 4.42 and a .836 save percentage.

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twitter: @SteveEwen