The Vancouver Canucks kicked off day two of their 2024 Development Camp, following a fast-paced session on Canada Day.

For the camp’s entirety, all 28 players have been split up into two teams – Blue and White – and will be working toward an end-of-the-week scrimmage on Thursday afternoon.

Today’s activities were split into two sessions, with the morning sessions taking place on two separate ice sheets. Team Blue skated in the David Bauer Rink, while Team White skated in the Protrans rink.

Unlike Monday’s session, which appeared to be filled with nerves, most of the skaters appeared to have settled in nicely.

The players were run through various drills, which seemed to focus on individual pass-and-shoot drills with no physical elements.

As Melvin Fernström demonstrated, he once again had his shot on display for the day.

As we alluded to yesterday, the third-rounder’s game has come exactly as advertised. On numerous occasions over a two-day stretch, he’s showcased the ability to pick his corners with ease and show off some crafty hands. However, his skating is certainly a touch lower than most among the group. That’s no surprise, though. The Canucks knowingly swung on the offensive upside with the hope to hone in on the rest, and he’s holding up his end of the bargain so far.

Speaking of shots, we cannot help but gravitate toward Tom Willander, even when we’d prefer to focus on other prospects. He just stands out. On numerous occasions, we found him picking corners and navigating the skating/stickhandling stations with ease. You know, first-rounder-type stuff.

After a solid hour of fast-paced skating and shooting, it was time for session two, where the two teams amalgamated once again. That’s when the intensity began to ramp up.

The second session was primarily focused on short-area games, whether that be 3v3 or 2v2. It was here that we got to see some of the kids’ skills, and also their abrasiveness.

On one occasion, we witnessed a spirited battle between the towering Swede, Vilmer Alriksson, and fellow CHLer, Sawyer Mynio, in the corner. After going back and forth, Alriksson was left to fetch a new stick after Mynio had taken liberties with it.

For the most part, however, it was all in fun and hard work.

If you need a refresher on the list, check out our pre-camp breakdown of each.

Granted, at 6’6”, it’s a challenge for Vilmer Alriksson not to stand out, but we’ve liked what we have seen this week. He told Canucks.com’s Chris Faber after their session that he’s up to 235 lbs, and it shows. He is not only tall but out muscling most in his drills and has offered a few sequences worth giving the crowd something to “ooh and ahh” about.

We can’t wait to see him at the scrimmage on Thursday.

For the second straight day, Josh Bloom was a visible standout. Of course, at 20 years old and now going through the motions of another camp, that’s to be expected. He’s working his way through each drill with tons of gusto and setting an example for the new recruits. To put in simply, he looks like he wants a job in Abbotsford in September.

Admittedly, we did not notice Christian Felton much on day one. However, in the small games, his hands were on display a few times—enough to have a few of us observers checking our sheets to double-check the number. Starting from behind his own net, he navigated the tight-checking 3v3 defence with ease, weaving and bobbing through them like pylons. As a right-hand option who carries one of the only spots on Abbotsford’s roster (as of today), we’ll be looking for more of that come Thursday’s scrimmage.

By now, it’s probably fair to call Sawyer Mynio “my guy” among the Canucks’ prospect list. Time and again, we boast about his game. But the more we watch, the more we are convinced he will play NHL games for this team somewhere down the line.

Whether it’s skating, aggressiveness, his booming shot, or his vision, it’s all put together in a very impressive manner. I’ve put my stake in the ground and have declared that Sawyer Mynio will play NHL games at some point.

As far as goalies go, Aku Koskenvuo has probably been the most polished. Of course, this sort of environment is never polite to goaltenders as they are dealing with constant breakaways or odd-man rushes, but his technical game looks sound.

Anthony Romani looked really good today. His shot really pops, and his passing is an obvious high point in his game — it’s quite clear where his 58 goals and 111 points in the OHL came from. He still needs to polish up his skating, but offensively, he looks dangerous. We weren’t able to catch up with him today, but for what it’s worth, he seems like a great kid, to boot.

Watching for two days now, you can certainly see the intrigue in recent seventh-rounder Basile Sansonnens. At just 17 years old, he’s big and has passable skating. However, the hands and essentially everything that makes up the entire package are very raw. He’s going to be a kid who we’ll want to check back on in a few years. Intriguing, but very raw and young.

As far as invitees go, we’ve constantly been drawn to Kaden Shahan. Now that we’ve seen him in person, we can certainly see where 57 points in 56 games in the USHL come from. He’s slight, but never stops moving and has very crafty hands. It looks like he’s not afraid to drop them either:

He’s got fluid skating ability and a nice shot. NHL? Maybe not. However, he could be a fun pickup for the farm on a “show me” deal.

Here’s a clip of one of his goals from this past season.

That wraps up the notebook for today.

There are no ice sessions scheduled for Wednesday, so we’ll be back on Thursday for another double session, which includes an intrasquad game.

Comment below for players you are interested in getting a deeper look or insights on and we will do our best to cover as many as possible.