A 16-year-old defenceman will join the Vancouver Giants when they hit home ice in Langley next month.

Today, Giants general manager Barclay Parneta confirmed the signing of Burnaby’s Nicco Camazzola.

“Physically, Nicco was one of the toughest defencemen to play against in the B.C. major midget league,” Parneta said.

Signed to a standard WHL player agreement, Camazzola is the third player selected by the Giants in the 2018 WHL bantam draft who has signed with the team.

Originally selected by the Giants in the fourth round (78th overall) in the 2018 WHL bantam draft, the 6 ft. 1 in., 187-pound Camazzola was the first defenceman selected by the Giants at that draft. He joins forward Zack Ostapchuk (Round 1) and goaltender Drew Sim (Round 3). Camazzola will attend his second training camp with the Giants beginning Friday, Aug. 23.

“We are happy with how his development is trending and we expect him to be a key contributor on our blueline in the years to come,” Parneta said.

And in 40 games with the BCMML’s Vancouver Northeast Chiefs, he registered six assists and a team-high 78 penalty minutes. He also appeared in all five of the Chiefs playoff games in 2019.

As a bantam, he scored twice and added eight assists for 10 points along with 54 penalty minutes in 30 games with the Canadian Sports School Hockey League’s Burnaby Winter Club.

The Giants are “thrilled” to welcome Nicco and the Camazolla family to the Vancouver Giants organization, the GM said.

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Langley Advance Times