The underachieving Vancouver Giants, thought to be contenders with Kamloops and Everett in the Western Conference, will salvage what they can out of this disappointing season with a new look tonight as they face the Victoria Royals at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.
The pre-season prognostications had the Giants as likely buyers at the Western Hockey League trade deadline in a go-for-broke bid for the Memorial Cup. But with their season going south on them, it instead turned into a fire sale this week at the deadline with Vancouver unloading its captain, Florida Panthers prospect and Canada junior team player Justin Sourdif and top defenceman Tanner Brown to the respective championship-minded Edmonton Oil Kings and Winnipeg Ice in exchange for first-round draft picks in the WHL U-15 prospects draft. Those first-round selections will be valuable assets in the Giants’ quiver long after Sourdif’s and Brown’s junior careers are mere memories.
The Giants overall acquired three first-rounders with trade moves and that could be a concern for the Royals for future years in this annual derby. The Royals are not remotely in the Memorial Cup conversation but stood pat at the trade deadline, opting for two to three more months of captain Tarun Fizer and fellow-graduating 20-year-old Bailey Peach rather than the potential future four or five seasons first- or second-round WHL prospects draft picks would have bought.
Victoria GM and head coach Dan Price said he had no comment about whether he shopped around Fizer or Peach.
“What I can say is that every team is inquiring about other teams’ players all the time,” said Price.
“There is not a player in the league that is not talked about at some point [among the GMs].”
The Royals, with a roster short-staffed due to injuries and COVID protocols, have lost five consecutive games after beating the Giants three straight times after Christmas.
“I really believe in our lineup and what it can do when we get 100 per cent healthy,” said Price.
“This room is super positive and super confident [despite the losing streak]. This group is unfazed, win or lose. They just look to the next game.”
Expected to return this weekend are import forwards Keanu Derungs and Marcus Almquist, respective Swiss and Danish U-20 internationals. Fizer is week-to-week of the notables still likely to be out.
Vancouver (15-17-2), meanwhile, is 2-7-1 in its last 10 games but can’t be discounted. The Giants are still a factor in the conference with Boston Bruins first-round draft pick and Swedish-import Fabian Lysell, Ottawa Senators-signed Zack Ostapchuk and Swedish U-20 national team goaltender Jesper Vikman. The Giants further protected themselves for this season by acquiring veteran Regina Pats defenceman Tom Cadieux at the trade deadline in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2023 WHL prospects draft and a fifth-rounder this year. You can depart with those kinds of picks when you’ve just added three first-round selections.
Meanwhile, the eighth-place Royals (12-18-4) are just two points ahead of ninth-place Tri-City with the Americans holding a game in hand in the race for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference. There is a bit of pressure building. If the Royals miss the playoffs, some will certainly question the decision not to look to the future at the trade deadline.
The task doesn’t get any easier on Saturday night with runaway conference-leading Everett (26-7-4) coming into the Memorial Centre.
