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Team Sweden is due to reveal its roster for World Juniors on Wednesday, but the Vancouver Giants already suggest that their goalkeeper, Jesper Vikman, is in that squad.

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The Giants acquired 18-year-old net champion Connor Martin from the Seattle Thunderbirds on Monday for an election in the eighth round of the 2024 WHL draft. Giants general manager Barclay Parneta declined to comment on whether the deal was linked to the pending Team Sweden announcement, but Martin becomes Vancouver’s third goalkeeper and joins Vikman and Will Gurski, who are both 19.

The Giants can also lose outside Fabian Lysell, 18, to Team Sweden. He is in the middle of a points series of five games with Vancouver who have seen him collect five goals and 12 points during that time. The Boston Bruins’ first pick, number 21 overall, in last summer’s NHL draft, Lysell has nine goals and 26 points in 20 games this season.

Vikman has 11-3-1-0, with 2.92 goals against the average and a save percentage of 0.912. He chose 2020 in the fifth round of the Vegas Golden Knights.

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World Juniors runs December 26 to January 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer. It has not yet been announced when the Swedish team can gather.

NEXT GAME

Wednesday

Vancouver Giants vs. Kamloops Blazers

19.00, Sandman Center . Radio: sportsnet650.ca

“I think they both have a very good opportunity to play in that team, but I do not really know what the depth looks like there. We will find out on Wednesday. I hope both get that opportunity, Giants head coach Michael Dyck said on Monday.

Dyck will be at World Juniors as Team Canada’s assistant to bench boss Dave Cameron (Ottawa 67’s), and he and forward Justin Sourdif, 19, are leaving the Giants this week for the Calgary selection camp. None of them are expected to be with the Giants (13-7-1-0) on Wednesday when they look to extend their winning streak of six games 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 the meeting with the Giants. They were also named to Team Canada’s 35 players’ selection camp list. Trials begin on Thursday in Calgary and end on Sunday.

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

Dyck and Sourdif – provided he holds Team Canada – will miss 11 Giants games. Sourdif, who is a third pick in the Florida Panthers 2020, is Vancouver’s top scorer with 29 points, including eight goals, in 20 games. He became BC’s hub player of the year and top scorer last spring after scoring 11 goals and 34 points in 22 games, and then, for various reasons, he had a strong display at Team Canada’s summer development camp at Tsuut’ina Nation near Calgary.

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“He just has to play his game,” Dyck said of Sourdif giving himself the best chance to make Team Canada’s 25 players’ final playlist. “He has to play like he did in the bubble, play like he did in the summer, play like he has done until this season. He has to be Justin Sourdif at his best.”

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

Gurski has 2-4-0-0, with 2.35 GAA and 0.908 save percentage.

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

The 6-foot-3, 183-pound from Calgary appeared in two games with Victoria and one with Seattle and is 0-1-1-0, with a 4.42 GAA and a 0.836 save percentage.

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twitter: @SteveEwen