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Victoria Royals trade Kanzig for Alberta forward

The Victoria Royals engineered a blockbuster Western Hockey League trade Wednesday involving two 19-year-old NHL-signed players.
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Keegan Kanzig is headed to the Calgary Hitmen.

 The Victoria Royals engineered a blockbuster Western Hockey League trade Wednesday involving two 19-year-old NHL-signed players.

Victoria sent towering defenceman Keegan Kanzig, under contract to the Calgary Flames, to the Calgary Hitmen in exchange for forward Greg Chase, who is under contract to the Edmonton Oilers.

Chase ended last season in pro hockey, scoring a goal in five games with the Oilers’ American Hockey League affiliate Oklahoma City Barons.

In 15 games back in junior this season with the Hitmen, Chase had two goals and 13 assists before leaving the Hitmen this month in an unspecified disagreement with the club.

The six-foot, 188-pound native of Sherwood Park, Alta., was selected in the seventh round of the 2013 NHL draft by the Oilers and looks to be a steal.

He had 35 goals and 50 assists for 85 points and was plus -29 last season for the Hitmen.

Despite his issues with the Hitmen, Chase was still selected to play for the WHL all-star team in the recent Subway Super Series against the Russian junior all-stars and is a candidate for the Canadian team to the 2015 world junior championships at Toronto and Montreal in late December and early January.

Interestingly, Royals head coach Dave Lowry was head coach of the WHL team in the Super Series and will be the assistant coach for Canada at the world junior championships.

“[Chase] adds a completely new dimension to our offence,” said Royals GM Cam Hope.

Scoring depth has been an issue for Victoria. Chase certainly fills a need.

“He is a dynamic forward and an elite player in this league,” said Hope.

To get an impact player, the Royals had to give up one.

The six-foot-six, 245-pound Kanzig is a stay-at-home defenceman and has spent his entire four-season, 217-game WHL career with the Royals, the franchise (then known as the Chilliwack Bruins) that selected him in the first round of the 2010 bantam draft.

Kanzig was listed as a healthy scratch for Wednesday night’s Royals game against the Kelowna Rockets.

“You can never replace what Keegan brought to the Royals. He has been a great citizen for us,” said Hope.

“But it’s a testament to the maturity and growth of our defensive corps that we can part with a guy who was a central piece of our team.”

The move makes sense and could be beneficial for Kanzig in one regard — the NHL Flames own the junior Hitmen and can now watch his development up close in Calgary.

Part of the deal included a second-round 2016 bantam draft pick going from Victoria to the Hitmen and a couple of lower-round 2015 picks coming to the Royals.

Chase is expected in the Royals lineup Friday when Victoria plays the Everett Silvertips at the Memorial Centre.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com