Lekkerimäki’s time in Abbotsford and Elias Pettersson’s arrival ft. Cam Robinson: Canucks Conversation
17 days ago
On yesterday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal were joined by Elite Prospects’ Cam Robinson for an update on Jonathan Lekkerimäki and the Vancouver Canucks’ prospect pool.
Lekkerimäki played in six games with the Abbotsford Canucks, tallying one goal and one assist. He’s now on his way back to Sweden, while defence prospect Elias Pettersson has arrived in North America to join Abbotsford.
“From what I saw, it was basically what he was doing for Örebro all season long. Obviously, [he has] a great threat with that shot, [and is] really dangerous off face-off wins where he can get the puck and release it quickly. He’s going to cause fits for AHL goaltenders when he comes over full-time. The power and precision, and the way he can time screens at the net-front — he has that goal scorer’s mentality and knows when to release a puck to maximize its chances of going through. He looked under-strength, as we expected; you could see him getting worn down by the strength of the AHL. This isn’t anything new. We know the club wants him to build up his strength in the offseason.”
The plan originally was to bring Pettersson over from Sweden and leave Lekkerimäki there to prepare for the World Championships. Cam noted the benefits of the change in plans.
“It worked out well; he got better as the games went along,” said Cam. “He had that five-shot game, leaves on a two-game point streak. I think it was a positive experience overall for Lekkerimäki, and I expect he’ll be on that World Championship club. That will be another great feather in his cap before he crosses over for good next year.”
Harm noted the Canucks’ farm system was an area of concern last year and seems to have improved since then. He asked, “How does Vancouver’s overall prospect pool stack up against the rest of the league?”
“It helps to add Willander; he’s a prospect with a lot of upside,” Cam answered. “Lekkerimäki having a bounce-back season is massive. What Aatu Räty has been doing down the stretch, Podkolzin has been strong with his physicality and speed. I would still hesitate to say they’re in the top half of the league; they just don’t have the depth of elite pieces. I like Elias Pettersson; he’s a sneaky piece in their pipeline who could be a top-four guy. It’s better than it was a year ago, credit to the player development — whether that’s in-house or the players themselves taking steps. It worked out well that they’re in their contention window now, because a year ago, it did not look like that would be the case.”
Quads: “What’s your philosophy for the upcoming draft?”
Cam: “You want to come away with one NHLer ideally. Not drafting in the first or second round, you want to get one out of the crop. Maybe at some point you’re looking at a player like, “That’s an NHL skill, we can develop that and the rest.” Swing on upside. Go get yourself a big, rangy, right-shot defenseman or a right-shot center, even if the guy might not be a player. Because maybe he will be, and if he does, you have yourself one of those elusive assets that are so hard to come by. But yes, it’s all about upside when you’re swinging at that point of the draft. I’m sure they’ll look to try to get one guy who has a good floor who they can work with, and the rest I’d be taking big ol’ cuts.”
You can watch the full replay of the show below:
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