Canucks prospect Dmitry Zhukenov left off of Russia’s WJC team

Vancouver Canucks prospect and Chicoutimi Saguenéens centreman Dmitry Zhukenov has been left of Team Russia’s pre-tournament evaluation camp roster ahead of the 2016 World Junior Championships. He won’t represent Russia at this year’s U20 tournament.

Zhukenov, 18, has been a mainstay on the Russian national team throughout his late teens. He competed for Russia at the U17 tournament and was a point-per-game player with Russia’s U18 side last season, which probably played a substantial role in catching the eye of Canucks management, who selected Zhukenov in the fourth-round pick at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.

Though Zhukenov has been left off of the U20 side for the 2016 WJC championship, it’s not a huge upset or a surprise. And as an 18-year-old, this won’t be Zhukenov’s last shot at representing his country at the U20 level.

So far this season Zhukenov has managed only decent results for a Saguenéens side that hasn’t been all that formidable. 

Though the Russian-born centreman has recovered from an understandable slow start, he’s only managed seven goals and 23 points in 27 games. That isn’t great production for an 18-year-old in a high-scoring major junior league. He’s currently fourth on his team in point production.

Zhukenov’s scoring rate doesn’t scream ‘future NHL player’ although the PCS machine (RIP) produces a handful of productive NHL players as ‘comparables’, including Michael Frolik, Matt Lombardi, Brad Marchand, David Krejci and Ondrej Palat. His overall PCS score – I thankfully ran the numbers just before the machine went off-line – is still solidly in the single digits though, which indicates that Zhukenov remains a long shot to develop into a contributing NHL forward and a draft day steal.

Overall Zhukenov has the look of a recent fourth-round pick. He’s producing at a decent clip in the QMJHL and he’s obviously got a lot of time to to turn his age-18 season and his professional hockey career into a success story, but his major junior results aren’t anything to write home about. 

Russia’s WJC entry promises to be deep and competitive, and it’s not a huge surprise that Zhukenov’s performance was insufficient to warrant an invite as an age-18 player. If he can find an additional offensive gear, continue to improve in the faceoff circle and fine tune his defensive game; he’ll be a strong contender to compete for Russia at next years World Junior Championship.