Dylan Sikura will be able to make his case next month for a spot on Canada’s 2018 Winter Olympic team.
The Chicago Blackhawks prospect was one of 26 players named to Canada’s roster for the Karjala Cup, which will run Nov. 8-12 in Helsinki, Finland and Biel, Switzerland. The tournament will be used to evaluate players ahead of the Winter Games in February in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the first to be played without NHL talent since 1994.
“We are bringing together a group of players who are on our radar for the upcoming Olympic Winter Games as part of our ongoing evaluation process, with the goal of fielding the best possible team next February,” Canada general manager Sean Burke said in a statement. “These 26 players are part of the larger group that is still under consideration for the Olympic team; 10 of these players were not with us in August in Russia, while others who remain under consideration won’t join us next month due either to their being unavailable, or because we feel we already have a good sense of where they could fit with our team.”
Sikura will miss two Hockey East conference games for Northeastern against Boston University (Nov. 10) and UMass Lowell (Nov. 11) to compete in the tournament. Canada will face off against Finland, Sweden and Switzerland in the showcase.
Sikura, 22, leads the NCAA with 12 points (six goals, six assists) in only five games this season. The Northeastern senior declined a contract offer from Chicago in March after he finished sixth in the national in scoring with 57 points (21 goals, 36 assists) in 38 games last season. Sikura, who was selected in the sixth-round of the 2014 NHL entry draft, was a contender for last season’s Hobey Baker Award — given to the NCAA’s top player.
Chicago general manager Stan Bowman said earlier this week, he plans to sign Sikura to an entry-level contract in 2018 and have him make his NHL debut soon there after.
The men’s hockey tournament at the Olympics will run from Feb. 14-25. If Sikura makes Canada’s Olympic team he would likely miss the entire Beanpot tournament, which features Boston’s four major NCAA hockey schools in Boston College, BU, Harvard and Northeastern.