CanucksArmy Prospect Mailbag – April 25, 2018

Figured I’d bring back the Prospect Mailbag!

With most of the Canucks prospects seasons done, we turn our attention to the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. Obviously, there will still be some questions about the incumbent Canucks prospects but the majority of the questions fielded for the next few months will be with eyes on the Draft in June.

Back in December, Jeremy Davis points to Kotkaniemi as an underrated player in this draft class due to the underlying numbers like pGPS and SEAL. At that time, I agreed with him based on the games that I had seen him play in Liiga and Ivan Hlinka. Since then, Kotkaniemi has continued to play well in Liiga, had a strong 5 Nations Cup and has played well at the U18’s thus far.

Based on the consolidated rankings that Jeremy puts together, he is currently sitting 16th with Barrett Hayton being the only natural centre (and playing there regularly) ahead of him. In my honest opinion, I would be hard-pressed to pass up on Kotkaniemi for Hayton and I do like the Sault St Marie forward.

I think he is getting underrated by many people because he is just unexciting. On the ice, he doesn’t make dynamic plays that give you a sense of wow. He just makes really smart plays on a consistent basis against professionals. When he plays against his peers, that lack of lively play continues, but he just racks up the points.

The fact that defencemen Adam Ginning was ranked ahead of him by NHL Central Scouting is baffling. I don’t mind Ginning as a low ceiling player but the fact that Kotkaniemi was lower is mindboggling to me.

McKenzie – Could see it happening because of how thin the Comets could be down the middle next season. He played really well after being traded to Owen Sound and I don’t think an NHL career is in his future, but I think we could see him get an ELC. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t, simply because of things like his pGPS that are so low.

Candella – I don’t want to say zero, but I would be surprised if the Canucks do sign him.

After writing all this out, Rick Dhaliwal confirms my thought:

Entering the season, I thought that Cole Cassels was a completely lost cause with the organization and that they would let his entry-level contract run out and walk away. But with all the injuries that hit the Canucks and Comets, Cassels was given a larger role and played well. He hasn’t been able to sustain the same point pace but he has been better to close out the season.

At this point though, I don’t think he will be an NHL regular. I envision the Canucks signing him for another year and he could earn a call-up for a cup of coffee when injuries hit as a fourth line centre. With that being said, I doubt it amounts to anything and really just a benefactor of the where the Canucks are right now. I think of someone like Alex Friesen when it comes to Cassels – may get a game or two but ultimately continues his career somewhere else. (Friesen was good in the Allsvenskan this season)

I’m glad someone asked me about MacMaster.

I’ve been very impressed with the Quinnipiac Alum – he is a worker out there and has some good awareness/vision. Personally, I hadn’t watched much ECAC this year but had seen him a few times over his collegiate career with his work ethic and speed being two skills that stood out.

It’s really interesting to see him stick in the Comets playoff lineup over players like Kole Lind despite only playing 7 more games in the regular season. The fact that they were able to get in the system on an AHL deal is good and I hope they can keep him around.

In terms of prospect, he is still “young” compared to collegiate players who have played all four years in the NCAA, not turning 23 until January. If he continues to do what he has been doing, I can see a team signing him to an entry-level contract, simply because he is as a good of a bet as any other prospect.

Ogie is correct to some degree here.

With many prospects rapidly making the NHL, it’s created a skewed view on an unrealistic expectation on prospect timelines. On the flip side, there is data to suggest that if a player hasn’t reached the NHL by a certain time, there isn’t much hope that they will be an impact NHL’r.

Juolevi falls into both of these categories.

Under a normal microscope, Juolevi is in his draft plus two season and *normally* would be playing in the OHL. Instead, he is playing that D+2 year against men in the Liiga. That is a good sign for any prospect. I only missed a handful of TPS Turku games since Juolevi was assigned there and I can comfortably say that he is still a work in progress. There are some encouraging signs, including his offence and puck movement, and then some things he needs to work on, like his defensive zone play and awareness to the oncoming attack. There are obviously the physical sides of adding strength.

As the question suggests, there is some real hype for Juolevi and the impact he can make for the Canucks and that is exacerbated by the lack of other high-end defensive prospects. Next year, he will start his entry-level contract and then go from there. I think we will see him given a chance to make the big club but ultimately find his way to AHL for a good portion of the early parts of the year. Which is fine. He will get the opportunity to be ‘the guy’ down there.

The organization does need to improve the defensive pipelines at the NHL level and in the system.

We are starting to see an influx of really talented Czech players that are helping to raise the level of play in all of their leagues/teams – I’d also like to add Martin Necas and Filip Zadina to that like of names there.

In Champions League games – the teams played a fairly tight checking system against the big clubs from the SHL and Liiga but had some players that could change the outcome of the game quickly.

Still, think that they are behind the other European leagues and their programs but it’s really encouraging to see them churning out such high-end prospects.

When I’ve watched Addison – I’ve had some concerns about his abilities to contain forwards in the offensive zone. Obviously, he will get stronger and learn how to be more effective but it’s something that has stood out to me.

His offensive game is really good and may be enough to sway the other way.

Ultimately, I think there will be players with less risk at that spot. There is always a bunch of ‘first round talent’ players that fall into the 30-40 range and I don’t view Addison as a first round talent.