Looking for offence, Grizzlies add American Friedmann

Looking to add more scoring to his lineup, Victoria Grizzlies general manager Craig Didmon has added 18-year-old St. Louis native T.J. Friedmann to the roster, deleting Arizona product Sage Englund to make room.

Didmon shipped Englund, 19, to Carlton Place of the CCHL in Ontario in exchange for a player development fee. In 16 games, Englund had two goals and three assists in Victoria.

Friedmann arrives from the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL where he was a second-round pick in that league’s 2016 draft. He played just two games this year with no points.

As a 16-year-old, Friedmann played his first junior season for the Springfield Jr. Blues of the NAHL and collected two goals and seven assists in 49 games in 2013-14. Last year, he jumped to U-18 hockey suiting up for Victory Honda out of Detroit, where he was first noticed by Didmon.

The six-foot-three, right-handed forward led that team in scoring with 20 goals and 33 points in 32 league games while playing on a line with current Grizzlies forward Justin Michaelian.

“T.J. is a good-sized, skilled forward. He is only 18, so he has plenty of junior hockey left. However, I do expect him to make an immediate impact to our hockey club,” Didmon said in a statement. “We recruited T.J. heavily over last season and are very excited that he has eventually come our way.”

The Grizzlies begin a threegame road trip Friday night in Chilliwack.