Report: Canucks Prospect Rodrigo Abols Signs with Orebro of the SHL

According to a tweet from SHL franchise Orebro’s team account, Rodrigo Abols signed with them in the wee hours of the night (morning over there, I suppose) to a two-year contract.

The Canucks drafted Abols as an overage player in the seventh round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft after years spent observing the Latvian at their prospect camps, tournaments and abroad. Though drafted from the Portland Winterhawks organization, Abols’ status as an overage player and an import meant he counted against the club’s limits for both and they didn’t see him as being worth the trouble.

After weeks in limbo, Abols found himself a member of the Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL. With his new club, Abols flourished (all things being relative) scoring 50 points in 52 games. In the playoffs, Abols added another 11 points in as many games.

Even with Abols relative success, as an overage player scoring at an okay clip in the QMJHL, it doesn’t appear as though the odds are in his favour of developing into a full-time NHL’er. Among the 55 players in Abols’ pGPS (Prospect Graduation Probabilities System) cohort, only one had a successful NHL career. That player? Jody Shelley.