Knowing when to come out and when to stay deeper in the crease is going to be vital for DiPietro’s success at the next level, but in the AHL, he was just fine. EP PREMIUM 3 MONTHS FOR FREE. Aidan McDonough is intriguing with his power forward’s frame and excellent shot. Michaelis was one of the best players in the NCAA last season, putting up 44 points in 31 games. A positive of the experience is that Podkolzin is getting an opportunity to play against seasoned professionals on a regular basis, truly the best possible preparation he could receive for an eventual NHL career. His ability to extend plays helped him lead the Comets in Corsi for percentage last season. He put up 27 points in 31 games as a 20-year-old freshman at Northeastern University, which is respectable production. 00 hou. Stephan had this to say about him: As someone simply described as fast, mobile, and big — 6’4” and already nearly 200lbs with plenty of room to bulk up — the most pertinent question regarding Jurmo might not be if he has an NHL future, but how a player so plainly designed for success in the modern era lasted until the third round. Still, on a team with limited depth on the right side, Rafferty is an important prospect for the Canucks. Team Sweden seems to see it as well: he was a late addition to Sweden’s U-20 roster for a tournament that ultimately was cancelled, but it shows he’s on their radar for the World Junior Championships. The team played its first NHL game on October 9th 1970 losing to the Los Angeles Kings. When you take into account that Silovs has such a wide stance, it’s almost even more impressive just how quick he is at moving side to side and how explosive his lateral movements can be. As such, he’ll struggle to crack 20 points, and there will no doubt be those who question his merits as a prospect because of it. If he can, he could be a valuable depth piece for the Canucks; if not, he’ll likely stay in the AHL. Jurmo still needs a lot of development, particularly on the defensive side of the ice, but he has an intriguing skillset. Here is what Faber had to say about him: A leader through and through who is going to be steadily in our top 15 rankings for the next couple of years. The good thing is that he is only 19-years-old and has a lot of time to perfect his craft overseas. The consensus among scouts I’ve spoken to is that he has reinvented his game a bit to be more of a defensive defenceman now instead of being a two-way guy. Apr 01, 2021 Sean Fitz-Gerald When will youth sports return to normal in Canada? The best part of Persson’s game is his offensive instincts. Jack Rathbone is coming off two fantastic seasons for Harvard University, putting up a total of 53 points across 61 games. He also has impressive hands and playmaking ability and took a big step forward in his second year in the AHL, putting up 44 points in 61 games. He’s coming off a rough season with the Barrie Colts in the OHL, but has been fantastic in Latvia to start this season, both in league and international play. The following season didn’t start out as the explosive Draft+1 campaign that spoiled Vancouver fans have come to expect from their draft picks. Skating is clearly Jurmo’s best attribute, as he can flat-out fly up the ice. We publish these rankings twice a year, once before and after each regular season. These players definitely represent longshots, however, and the odds are a bit stacked against them. As you move down the pyramid, it widens, making room for all of the prospects in the system, rather than trying to rank one above the other. They're down with the rest of the prospects in the Canucks system who are fighting against the current to make the NHL: Ethan Keppen, Lukas Jasek, Karel Plasek, Artyum Manukyan, Petrus Palmu, and Mitch Eliot, Ashton Sautner, and Josh Teves, as well as goaltenders Jake Kielly and Matthew Thiessen. He combines that speed with some serious size, standing 6’4” and weighing in at 198 lbs. Brogan Rafferty is nearing the point where he’s too old to be a prospect, having turned 25 in May. This is the tier for everyone else in the system. He possesses a booming slapshot from the point that he can fire off in a hurry, and is extremely deceptive in creating open space for himself to let it go. Woo appeared to be heating up as the WHL season came to a close unexpectedly early. He will get power play time and be relied upon to create offence at 5-on-5. He will drop the gloves against anyone and is always ready to back up a teammate after a big hit. Toni Utunen is a lesser talked about prospect thanks to his quiet, defence-first style of play. Juolevi was the Comets’ best penalty killer last season and if he’s able to do it at the NHL level, the Canucks can then keep Nate Schmidt off the penalty kill and throw out the pairing of Quinn Hughes and Schmidt as a quick response pairing after each kill. However, the team just did not have enough talent to stay in the playoff race long-term. Cody Hodgson #9 of the Vancouver Canucks celebrates a goal with teammates on the bench in the third period against the Boston Bruins on January 7, 2012 at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The other big knock is his skating, though he is fine once he gets up to full speed, it feels like it takes too many steps for him to get there and he isn’t generating the power that he needs in his strides. Some players that were in this tier last year have been bumped up the pyramid, like Costmar, McDonough, and Focht. If he continues to trend upwards, he could end up finding himself in Edmonton this Winter. There’s a world where Lind is on the second power play unit for the Canucks in a few years. The Finnish rearguard has struggled to stay healthy for much of his junior and professional career, and not only has that slowed down his development, but it’s also kept him out of the NHL. He was rarely on the ice last season when the Comets were shorthanded and that could be a reason why the Canucks choose to go with Juolevi over Rafferty out of camp. The 21-year-old is a smooth-skating defenceman who can wheel the puck up the ice with confidence or launch a stretch pass out of his own zone to begin the transition up the ice. The 7th-round pick was under-scouted as a Swedish defenceman without international experience whose season in the under-20 SuperElit league was shortened by injury. Vancouver Canucks Cap Totals . Vancouver Canucks is a trademark of Vancouver Canucks Limited Partnership. Over the past three or so weeks, we at CanucksArmy have been counting down the top 16 prospects in the Vancouver Canucks organization. There are a few things to be concerned about — namely his ability (or lack thereof) to defend on the rush — but I think he’s very close to putting it all together and being an impact defenceman who can kill penalties and play on a bottom pairing. Mai 1970 wurde die Zusage nach Vancouver vergeben, die schließlich zum Beginn der Saison 1970/71 den Spielbetrieb in der NHL aufnahmen, nachdem das Team schon seit 1945 in anderen Ligen aktiv gewesen war. Can he still be an effective physical player in the NHL with his injury history? He’s a phenomenal skater, has a wicked shot, and has great on-ice vision. Elite Prospects - Vancouver Canucks - In the System. DiPietro is incredibly smooth on his skates, and although he hunches over a bit more than any goaltender I’ve seen in recent memory, (his stance is almost like an old school stand-up style where the hands are high and tight to the body and the feet are closer together) DiPietro appears bigger in the net due to his ability to quickly come out and challenge shooters. His physical game should fit right into the WHL as well. Kole Lind (RW) 10. Oddly enough, despite the increase in competition, Jurmo’s numbers actually improved in his draft season, up to five goals and 28 points in 43 games. All of the prospects in the Canucks’ system are among the best hockey players in the world. He is able to pull off dekes at full speed and loves to drive to the net. He’s got excellent acceleration and fantastic edge work, which will certainly help the Canucks in their breakout efforts and transitional play when he arrives on the scene. He is a raw prospect with a ton of upside, but still has a ways to go until he’s ready for NHL action. His playmaking ability is high end as well. Woo did take a step back last season in the WHL, only putting up 46 points after a 66-point season in his post-draft year, but that’s less of a concern for Woo, who projects as a stay-at-home, bottom-pairing defenceman that makes life difficult for opposing forwards. Well actually, it had the wrong idea — lots of wrong ideas, really, based on a lot of outdated and misinformed concepts about healthy eating — but it did have the right shape. Sure, he’s not racking up points in the KHL, but if his KHL team doesn’t want to take full advantage of his incredible skillset and give him ice time while they still have him, that’s their loss. Skip to content Even having a prospect in the top tier might seem odd, but I’m a big-time believer in Vasily Podkolzin. These are good prospects in the second tier, players that could be top-six forwards, top-four defencemen, or solid starting goaltenders. The full conversation is now available on the latest episode of the Canucks Conversation Podcast, and a good chunk of it will be posted in written format to this very website. He’s got phenomenal positional play and some of the best crease awareness I have ever seen from a young goaltender. That being said, coming out too far and being too aggressive when it’s not absolutely necessary may make him susceptible to back door tap ins when he graduates to the NHL level, but again, these are all things that can be worked on. Finland He had an 11-game point streak in February — imagine how bad his production drop would have looked without it — and finally looked fully acclimated with his new club. They both go in the same tier. I’d say the only thing that’s different about Juolevi now is that his skating isn’t something I’d call strong, and that can likely be attributed to Juolevi’s multiple lower-body injuries. Vancouver Canucks rumors, news and videos from the best sources on the web. His narrow stance certainly helps him with this, as DiPietro never seems to panic and always seems to be in the right position when making stops. For the time being, he’ll stay in Tier 5. … The top tier is for true, blue-chip prospects: Quinn Hughes was alone in Tier 1 last season and that turned out to be very, very accurate, as he quickly established himself as one of the best defencemen in the NHL. Please enter your email address to reset your password. He’s been touted as an extremely mobile blueliner since before he was drafted, and he’s continued to add to his bipedal repertoire since. Gadjovich scored 13 goals in 38 games last season and some of them were beauties. When I spoke to him in September he said that sticking up for his teammates has been a thing he has done all his life and that mentality was fluid throughout the Utica Comets roster last season. Now it's a matter of putting together the other aspects of his game. He is not shy when it comes to attempting massive open-ice hits. It’s the latest edition of the weekly tracker, where we tally up the efforts of the Vancouver Canucks’ highest-profile prospects: Vasili Podkolzin Elite Prospects Notes and Trivia. All of his movements are precise, quick, and executed with purpose. But even teams who need just temporary relief can target players moving out of cap-tight organizations. He had 30 assists last season and 18 of them were primary assists. Jack Rathbone is a borderline elite skater and fans don’t seem to be quite aware yet just how good this kid. The food pyramid had the right idea. There’s a possibility that Chatfield could stake out a spot on a bottom-pairing at the NHL level, but it’s a slight one. Two 5-on-5 goals in 31 games is just not good enough. Russia - Vasili Podkolzin and Dmitry Zlodeyev. NHL prospects considered for these rankings meet HF's prospect criteria at the time the list is published. He will need to be more of a 5-on-5 contributor this coming year. Lind had 11 assists on the powerplay this season, eight of which were primary assists. Here’s part of Faber’s report: Zlodeyev is first and foremost a defensive centre but there’s something about how he attacks the net in the offensive zone that gets me excited. Borrowed from Steve Dangle, the prospect pyramid is a better way to rank prospects, as it doesn’t require trying to differentiate between the Canucks’ 12th or 13th-best prospects, but instead sorts them into tiers. I remember looking back at film for my deep dive on Rafferty back in May and it took a handful of games for me to even find one big mistake in his own end. Player discussion threads for prospects and players in the Canucks development system. Utunen provides little-to-no offence, but is smart and positionally sound defensively, using his skating to make up for his smaller size. Who are the Canucks' top prospects heading into the 2020-21 NHL season? He’s a competitive kid who never gives up on a play, which works well with his excellent speed, agility, and flexibility. He can certainly contribute on the right half-wall, a place where he found himself rotating to at times in the 2019-20 season. This is my personal vote for favourite Canucks prospect to never make it. Canucks Sports & Entertainment Employment Opportunities. A negative, however, is how limited said opportunity has been in terms of actual minutes. March 17, 2021 Vancouver Canucks . Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal: Looking at the trade tiers for the Vancouver Canucks. Get the latest Vancouver Canucks news, photos, rankings, lists and more on Bleacher Report He is an incredible puck mover who can break the forecheck with his puck carrying ability or his outlet passes. At higher levels, however, he’s been kept quiet, and he needs to show that he’s dynamic enough for his skill to shine through at the pro level. Another thing to love about McDonough’s game is how he steps up in big situations. The 20-year-old Utunen is playing 14 minutes a night in the top Finnish league and being used on a second pairing for Tappara. That was, up until July’s training camp, when Juolevi not only forced his way onto the Canucks’ playoff roster, but was the first man called upon when injury struck the Canucks’ blueline. Hoglander’s production plateaued a bit in the SHL — ultimately leaving him with just nine goals and 16 points in 41 games — though his overall game continued to round out. pic.twitter.com/H3VZQY6OX6. No matter the case, he will be reporting to the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL in January. This is a great spot for him to develop and Canucks fans and management will be able to monitor his development with a close eye as a result. canucks.com is the official Web site of the Vancouver Canucks. Olli Juolevi (LD) 7. Canucks Prospect Report: Jurmo, Truscott, and Zlodeyev. He saw a major improvement to his decision-making at the AHL level and with that, was a dangerous force with the man advantage. Vancouver Canucks 2020-21 Prospect Pyramid November 23, 2020 by Matthew Zator The Vancouver Canucks added another crop of young talent to their prospect … Stories continue below . Utunen doesn’t possess any one elite skill and projects more as an all-around defensive defenceman. Vancouver Canucks . He was the youngest starter in the AHL last season at just 20 years of age and maintained a save percentage right around league average for a team that didn’t always defend well. The Canucks faltered down the stretch and finished nine points out of the … This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Canucks lack of depth at centre certainly improves his odds, as does his well-rounded two-way game and playmaking ability. Jonah Gadjovich tripled his goal totals in the AHL last season, but he still had just 13 goals and 17 points in 38 games, which isn’t what you want to see from a 22-year-old prospect that still has question marks surrounding his skating. I’m curious to see how this translates in the NHL but fans will notice quickly how aggressive and willing he is to lay the body.”. Again, this is a prospect who I’m a big believer in. The clear first arrival is expected to be Nils Hoglander as early as in a few weeks. What do you think of this year’s prospect pyramid? Doing that can pick them up not only a premium but a reasonable player as … Sign in or register for your free account. Zlodeyev feels like the type of player that the Utica Comets could really use. Viktor Persson is one of the most interesting picks from the Canucks’ 2020 draft class. Who do you think needs to be knocked down or bumped up a tier? Adding to the right-side on defence, Jett Woo has the hard-hitting physical game to bring a different dimension to the Canucks’ defensive depth, but matches that with a well-rounded game. Most Vancouver fans think he is the best candidate to run the Canucks current streak of three consecutive rookies playing in the NHL All Star game to four in 2021. Juolevi still has the potential to be a top-four defenceman, even if injuries have set back his development. Arturs Silovs is second on the depth chart for the Canucks’ goaltending prospects. We’ve got some answers for that, but before we get to them, let’s delve into what exactly makes Jurmo such an enticing prospect. I, like Travis Green and the Canucks’ management group, am a big believer in Olli Juolevi. The team is quicker up front and has some exciting young players coming into the lineup. He’s not going to be quarterbacking any powerplays but he will kill penalties for you. Costmar led the J20 SuperElit league in points per game out of players who played at least 10 games last year with 1.72 ppg. The Canucks pulled a shocking deal at the trade deadline, trading blue-chip prospect Cody Hodgson to the Buffalo Sabres for a skilled, but unproven prospect Zack Kassian. He has real potential to play in the NHL, though the Canucks will have to be patient. Linus Karlsson leads all under-22 players in the Allsvenskan in scoring with 16 points in 17 games, but that also means he’s 21 years old and still playing in the Allsvenskan rather than the SHL. One of the things that could hold Rafferty back is his inability to kill penalties. At just 20 years old, Toni Utunen has played in almost 100 professional games in the top Finnish league. Granted, he was a 13th forward in the majority of the game action he saw, but head coach Igor Larionov had some high praise for the youngster who has somehow forced his way into the 11th spot of our rankings. While he was a rookie in the AHL last season, he was an older rookie. Die Teamfarben sind Blau, Grün, Silber und Weiß. Speaking realistically, there’s no reason to hope for a drastic change in Podkolzin’s ice-time throughout the remainder of his time with SKA, barring significant injury troubles.