Vancouver Giants Add Fourth Veteran Overager Ahead of WHL Roster Deadline

The Vancouver Giants are taking another step in revamping their rebuild.

General manager and coach Michael Dyck brought in forward Brogan McNeil and defencemen Derek Thurston and Rhys Pederson over the summer to fill the team’s three designated overage spots.

Dyck added a fourth overage on Friday, acquiring winger Cam Parr from the Medicine Hat Tigers in exchange for a 2027 WHL Draft fifth-round selection and a 2030 fourth-rounder.

Saturday is the 20-year-old cutdown day in the WHL, and teams must decide on which three overagers to carry forward by 11 p.m.

Parr, a 5-foot-9, 187-pounder, is a feisty, aggressive type who fits the style Dyck wants to install. The La Salle, Man., native tallied six goals, 18 points, and 102 penalty minutes in 64 regular-season games with Medicine Hat last season.

Vancouver (3-2-1-1) hosts the Seattle Thunderbirds (2-2-0-0) Saturday at 7 p.m. (Pulse 107.7) at the Langley Events Centre, coming off a 6-3 win over Seattle on Friday in Kent, Wash.

McNeil scored twice and was named the game’s second star; those were his first two goals of the season. The 6-foot-3, 192-pound Delta native signed with Vancouver after last season in the QMJHL, where he split time between Shawinigan and Sherbrooke. He began his junior career in the BCHL with the Prince George Spruce Kings.

Thurston is also from Delta. Vancouver acquired the 6-foot-1, 195-pounder in a trade with the Saskatoon Blades for a conditional 2027 eighth-round pick. Dyck named Thurston the team captain for this season last month, and the blueliner had one goal and four points entering Saturday.

Pederson, a 6-foot-5, 202-pounder from Stettler, Alta., arrived from the Edmonton Oil Kings for a 2027 sixth-round pick and had one goal on the season entering Saturday.

The trade left forwards Josh Evaschesen and Luke Cozens, and forward/defenceman Dayton Reschny, as Medicine Hat’s three 20-year-olds.

Dyck joined Vancouver over the summer after spending three years as an assistant coach with the Toronto Marlies, the AHL farm team of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Before that, he coached Vancouver for five years, highlighted by a 2019 league championship series appearance.

The Giants finished last in the West and 21st overall in the 23-team league last season with a 25-39-2-2 record. GM Hnat Domenichelli stepped down following the season, and the club fired coach Parker Burgess.

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