What to look for this season from the 5 junior players cut from the Canucks’ training camp roster

Simply developing his defensive skills is what we want form Kirill Kudryavtsev. He’s aggressive but could use some more strength. It’s more about him developing his body more than anything right now. The hockey stuff seems to be in a good place for him. He should be a top-scoring defenceman in the OHL this season.

Added minutes are coming to Sawyer Mynio this season and we want to see him be better with the puck on his stick at even-strength. Mynio is a penalty kill specialist and we will see him play a lot of shorthanded minutes this season.

We want to see more confidence with his breakouts but also his ability to look more dangerous in the offensive zone this season. He’s climbing the ranks of Seattle Thunderbirds defenceman and will be asked to more offensively this season.

As much as he’s an offensive defenceman, the defensive side has impressed us in the games we’ve watched since he was selected by the Canucks in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

Hunter Brzustewicz kills penalties and plays power play quarterback as well. We want to see him continue to grow his confidence while basically just focusing on raising the floor on every part of his game. When a prospect is 18, just developing skills in general and picking up things from playing games is often the hope we have.

With the move to the OHL, Vilmer Alriksson should be in a good spot to get a lot of ice time at five-on-five and on both special teams units. From the tape we’ve watched, Alriksson has a good release on his shot but it is very inconsistent. He can absolutely rip wrist shots when he gets all his size and strength behind a shot but his quick release needs some work. The OHL is a great spot for him to develop his offensive game while also possibly getting time on the penalty kill.

We’d love to see Alriksson be a staple on the penalty kill for Guelph this season. It’s something he did at times in Sweden last season.

Ty Young took a step in his development this past season with the Prince George Cougars. His numbers haven’t been sexy the past two seasons behind a weak Cougars team, but this past season, Young essentially split starts with Tyler Brennan, who the New Jersey Devils selected in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. In the playoffs, Young appeared in eight games for the Cougars while Brennan played in three.

Young was one of the youngest players in his draft class and still won’t turn 19 until September. He’s already had two Canucks development camps under his belt, so the name of the game will be for Young to continue to grow his game. He is, after all, still very young.