The 18-year-old ahead stays with the Flames for his or her ultimate set of preseason video games however he’ll be reassigned again to the Giants if he cannot keep on with the large membership
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The Vancouver Giants stay in a holding sample concerning Samuel Honzek.
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The 18-year-old ahead, who ought to be the Giants’ prime participant this yr, was set to swimsuit up for his fourth NHL preseason recreation Wednesday evening with the Calgary Flames when his squad visited the Edmonton Oilers. Calgary wraps up its exhibition slate Friday with a visit to Rogers Area to face the Vancouver Canucks.
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The Flames picked Honzek within the first spherical, No. 16 general, in final June’s NHL Draft, coming off his 23 targets and 56 factors in 43 common season video games with the Giants.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Slovak is simply too younger to play within the minors, so he must be re-assigned to junior if he doesn’t keep on with the Flames. Calgary nonetheless had 21 forwards in camp as of Wednesday morning. Honzek had no factors and was averaging 12 minutes, 54 seconds of ice time by means of his first three preseason matches.
The Giants (2-1-0-0) are on the Portland Winterhawks (2-1-0-0) on Saturday. They don’t play once more after that till Oct. 13, once they host the Swift Present Broncos on the Langley Occasions Centre.
“We don’t know. We’re hoping,” Giants coach Manny Viveiros stated of a Honzek return after follow in Ladner earlier this week.
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Honzek was the left wing on Vancouver’s No. 1 line final season, working properly in tandem Ty Thorpe, the centre who graduated out of the WHL on the finish of the marketing campaign.
Viveiros signed on as Vancouver’s head coach in August, changing Michael Dyck, who left for an assistant’s job with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies. Viveiros has talked about taking part in Honzek some at centre this season, figuring he can be a troublesome match-up along with his measurement and mobility, and that Honzek would get to deal with the puck much more in his stints within the center. Viveiros believes that the elevated versatility would help Honzek shifting into the professional recreation, too.
Dyck had talked about doing the identical with Honzek earlier than he departed. Calgary has been utilizing him as a winger.
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Viveiros was unclear earlier this week about the place he would possibly slot in Honzek upon his return.
“I would put him again at wing to get him acclimatized when he comes again. We’ll see the place we’re at,” Viveiros stated.
Different selections remaining at play for Viveiros and Co. embrace determining what do with the crew’s 20 yr olds. Tuesday is cutdown day for overages within the WHL and groups can have a most of three 2003-born gamers on their roster by then.
The Giants are at present carrying 4 20 yr olds: goaltender Brett Mirwald, defencemen Carson Haynes and Logen Hammett, and winger Skyler Bruce.
Mirwald is a lock. He has began Vancouver’s first three video games, and the Giants’ different netminder is rookie Matthew Hutchison, who turns 17 on Saturday. Hutchison (sickness) didn’t costume for Vancouver’s first three video games, with call-up Ronin Geraghty, 19, getting the back-up chores. Hutchison is skating once more, however there’s no phrase on when he will probably be able to return to recreation motion.
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Haynes, who spent final season with Vancouver, and Hammett, who came to visit from the Brandon Wheat Kings in a Could commerce for a 2024 WHL Draft fourth rounder, are each regular, stay-at-home sorts.
Bruce, who was part of the four-player, four-pick return the Giants acquired from the Winnipeg Ice finally January’s commerce deadline within the Zack Ostapchuk blockbuster, is fast and expert. He had 15 targets in 63 video games between his two stops final season.
He has been utilized the least of Giants’ 20-year-old quartet thus far, entering into only a single recreation.
Vancouver began coaching camp with 5 20 yr olds, however launched defenceman Brenden Pentecost final week. He performed 66 common season video games with the Giants final yr, tallying 4 targets and 15 factors. There isn’t a phrase but on the place he’ll play this season.
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“It simply will get worse yearly. You see these younger males. They get anxious. You want you possibly can take that away from them, however you possibly can’t,” Viveiros stated of the 20-year-old scenario. “It’s unlucky. You don’t need these youngsters to should take care of it, nevertheless it’s part of what we do, I assume.”
Viveiros additionally stated the Giants are ready for the return of Honzek and the roster to be extra settled earlier than naming a crew captain. Honzek and centre Jaden Lipinski have been alternates final season and would appear to be the 2 most sensible candidates to tackle the “C” from Thorpe, who took it over when Ostapchuk was traded.
Lipinski, 18, was a fourth-round choose of the Flames this summer time and returned to the Giants from their camp final week.
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