Monday Mailbag: Mid-Round Picks, Rookies, and Disney Channel Cartoons

First of all, sorry we ran out of time and couldn’t cover this on Saturday afternoon. Of the names you mentioned, I like Lundkvist, Addison, and Sandin the most. If Jeremy or Ryan is high on someone you can bet they’re worth keeping an eye on. There are other defenders I like in that area as well, but we’ll get to that later.

Judd Brackett has generally done a good job drafting out of the USHL in previous years, so it wouldn’t surprise me. I don’t know whether they’ll “go heavy”, but I can almost guarantee they’ll take at least one USHL player.

All of Adam Gaudette, Olli Juolevi, Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen, and Thatcher Demko have a legitimate shot of making the roster. The only issue is that there isn’t a ton of space on the roster, and the Canucks are still probably going to add a centre in free agency. I’d like to revisit this question in the fall, but for now I’d set the over-under at 2.5.

I wouldn’t expect too much more growth from Derrick Pouliot at this point. He turned 24 midway through last season, which means he’s rapidly approaching “he is what he is” territory. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Pouliot was fine last season and flashed a bit of offensive potential. I think his ceiling is really just a more reliable and consistent version of what we saw in 2017-18.

In descending order from most to least likely:

While I think a Tanev trade is more likely than trading the pick down, I think it’s unlikely they target picks in the trade. It would be more in line with the Canucks’ M.O. to acquire prospects.

The Canucks should definitely be out on Joe Thronton, and if they’re in on Tavares it should only be in free agency. I like both of Reinhart and Lindholm as buy-low candidates, but I’m not sure what those trades would look like. I also think the Brandon Saad rumour has legs.

NHL teams with “Golden” in their name are basically 50/50 when it comes to early success. The Golden Knights have been a fantastic story. The Golden Seals were not. I’d like to wait until the sample is larger before I draw conclusions.

Hughes should be ready to play in the NHL in 2019-20, but may want to spend an additional year in college. If you’re looking for a RHD to play with Hughes, I would much rather see him with Tanev. If Nikita Tryamkin decides to return that also has the potential to be interesting if only for the difference in height.

Main cast: T.J.

Supporting cast: King Bob.

T.J. Detweiler is an all-time top five cartoon character. Recess was an underrated kids show and my life will be put on hold if it’s ever added to Canadian Netflix.

I certainly agree that he’s very intriguing. The thing about U.S. high school hockey is that it’s basically the Wild West. It’s very hard to get a read on players that haven’t played in the USHL at all, and it’s even harder when the player is NCAA-eligible and still chooses to play in the high school system. Rathbone’s point rates were impressive enough, but it’s also important to note that the league’s best point-producer on a per-game basis last season was 14 years old. It’s just incredibly difficult to get a handle on what a “good” season is. I don’t think anyone really has a good idea of Rathbone’s ceiling other than maybe the Canucks’ scouting staff.

When I filled in for John Abbott on Nation Network Radio on Saturday I spoke to J.D. about what a good job the Canucks did last season at making value picks in the mid-to-late rounds, especially with regards to forwards. Kole Lind, Jonah Gadjovich, and Petrus Palmu all came with significant upside and were great bets where they were taken. This year, I’d love to see the Canucks take a similar approach, but target defenders instead. The Canucks admitted they relied more on data than in previous years, and if that trend continues they could unearth a good defenseman or two in the first few rounds.

I wouldn’t be surprised if one of our writers finds time to write an article on this topic. If not, we’ll be covering each of the players you mentioned individually in our yearly prospect profiles.

Just to offer a brief overview of the four defenders you listed, both Hughes and Dobson are good at defending. The concern about Hughes’ defensive abilities stems entirely from his height, but at the NCAA level it hasn’t held him back at all. Bouchard is capable in his own zone, but his lack of footspeed is something that could get him in trouble when he turns pro. Boqvist’s defending was pretty questionable, at least at the SHL level. He had an on-ice goals-for percentage below 20%.

If the Canucks haven’t made the playoffs by 2023-24 the entire organization will need a massive overhaul. I think it’s likely the team can squeak in at least once at some point over the next five years even if they don’t acquire more picks. That being said, you’re correct to identify their reticence to acquire picks as something that’s hindered them so far. It’s hard to see the team having consistent long-term success if they continue to enter the draft with less picks than they’ve been allotted.

That’s enough for now, stay tuned for part two.