With a 93 per cent average in his core Grade 12 courses, Dylan Garand has been named the winner of the Daryl K. Seaman Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s top scholastic player for the 2019-20 season.

The 17-year-old Victoria native will graduate from Valleyview Secondary School with honours this June after he maintained an overall academic average of 96.5 percent.

“Dylan is respected by his teammates as well as our staff, both as an excellent academic student and he provides excellent leadership,” said Victor Bifano, the Blazers Academic Advisor. “He has managed his academics and hockey with a profound degree of maturity.”

On the ice, Garand posted a 28-10-2-1 record with a 2.48 goals against average and a .914 save percentage in 42 games as the Blazers won their first B.C. Division title since 2012.

The Blazers drafted Garand in the third round (58th overall) of the 2017 WHL Bantam Draft. He now has his eyes set on the 2020 NHL draft, after he was ranked sixth among North American goaltenders by NHL Central Scouting.

Garand beat out eastern conference nominee Jakob Brook of the Regina Pats, and will now be up for the CHL’s top scholastic player of the year award.