Canadian ice hockey player (born 2003)
Ice hockey player
Logan Stankoven (born February 26, 2003) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward for the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted in the second round, 47th overall, by the Stars in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.[1]
Playing career
In his first full major junior season in 2019–20, Stankoven scored 29 goals and 48 points in 59 games with the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL. He missed an opportunity to become the first 16 year old player to score 30 goals in a season since Nolan Patrick in 2014–15 as a result of the league shutting down early with 5 games left on Kamloops' schedule due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]
Following his selection by the Dallas Stars in the second-round, 47th overall, of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Stankoven was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract on September 29, 2021.[3]
Stankoven won several awards for his performance in the 2021–22 season for Kamloops, in which he played 59 games, scoring 45 goals and recording 59 assists. He was third in points for the league that year, and fourth in goals. He was named a First Team All-Star in the BC Division and winning the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL's best player and the Brad Hornung Trophy as its most sportsmanlike player.[4] Stankoven later received the CHL Player of the Year award from the Canadian Hockey League, winning out over the QMJHL and OHL's most valuable player candidates.[1][5][6] In the 2022 WHL playoffs, Stankoven led all players with 17 goals and 31 points.[1] The Blazers reached the Western Conference Finals, where they were ultimately defeated by the Seattle Thunderbirds, bringing their postseason to an end.[7]
In the 2022–23 season, Stankoven recorded 34 goals and 63 assists, coming fourth in WHL scoring despite playing in only 48 of 68 scheduled games. He was a finalist for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy for the second consecutive season.[8] In recognition of his efforts to raise over $50,000 for Canadian Blood Services and Kamloops' Royal Inland Hospital, Stankoven received the Doug Wickenheiser Memorial Trophy as the WHL's humanitarian of the year.[9] He was subsequently also named to the CHL's First All-Star Team.[10]
Entering the WHL playoffs as contenders, the Blazers were defeated by the Thunderbirds in the Western Conference Finals for the second consecutive postseason. However, as Kamloops was hosting the 2023 Memorial Cup and thus automatically qualified to that nationwide tournament, this was not the end of their postseason. On the prospect of winning the Memorial Cup on home ice, Stankoven remarked "it would be a nice way to kind of cap things off."[11] The Blazers were ultimately eliminated by the Peterborough Petes in the quarterfinal.[12] Despite only playing four games, Stankoven lead the entire tournament in scoring with nine points, earning the Ed Chynoweth Trophy. He incurred no penalties in the course of doing so, and was also honoured with the George Parsons Trophy as the tournament's most sportsmanlike player.[13]
International play
Stankoven was a member of the Canadian national under-18 team for the 2021 IIHF World U18 Championships. He scored the game-winning goal in Canada's 5–3 victory over Russia in the gold medal game.[14]
Initially named to Team Canada for the 2022 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships that was scheduled to be played in December 2021 and January 2022, the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic after Stankoven had played only one game.[1][15] However, he rejoined the team when the tournament was rescheduled for the following summer, winning gold. With four goals and six assists in the seven-game tournament, he was named one of the team's three best players.[16][17]
On December 12, 2022, Stankoven was again named to Team Canada to compete at the 2023 IIHF World Junior Championship.[18] After the team opened the tournament with a loss to Czechia, the forward lines were reorganized with Stankoven centering Connor Bedard and Joshua Roy. The Bedard/Stankoven/Roy line became the backbone of the team through the rest of the tournament, and the three were named Team Canada's three best players following the semi-final victory over Team USA in which they scored four of Canada's six goals.[19][20] In the final, Canada defeated Czechia in a rematch, winning their second consecutive gold medal.[21]
Career statistics
Regular season and playoffs
Bold indicates led league
International
