Wrapping up Day 1 of the NHL Draft for the Vancouver Canucks

“We like six players and we know we’re getting one of those guys we want,” he says. “For us there is a clear cut defenseman (who stands out above the rest). Maybe for other teams it’s different, but there is a clear number one for us.”

I remember a time when Jakob Chychrun was their guy. From what I can gather now, he’s not even in their top three… defenceman. The organization loves Olli Juolevi, though. So too do they appear to covet Pierre-Luc Dubois, a player that Canucks General Manager Jim Benning scouted extensively before going to the U18 World Hockey Championships. I’ve never bought into their interest in Matthew Tkachuk personally, but everything they’ve said publically suggests he’s another player they’re considering.

Cameron was an assistant to Desjardins on the 2010 Canadian World Junior team that finished runner-up to the United States in Saskatoon. It’s interesting to note that Ben Cooper was the video coach for that team and he now serves in the same capacity with the Canucks. So Desjardins has gone down that road once to add to his staff. Perhaps he’ll do so again as he looks to replace Glen Gulutzan who was introduced as the head coach of the Calgary Flames one week ago.

Although he wouldn’t name names, Canucks general manager Jim Benning revealed yesterday that he and Desjardins will meet with a handful of prospective candidates here in Buffalo.

“I sat down with Willie the other day and we put together a list of guys we want to interview for the position,” Benning explained. “We’re going to start that process (this) morning. We’re going to interview two or three guys and we’re going to continue it on when we get home next week. I’m hoping in the next week to ten days we have someone in place.”

Because Subban is still a Montreal Canadiens player and Stamkos remains under contract – teams can’t begin to approach his camp about a contract until the opening of the free agent negotiating window on Saturday – it’s understandable that a complainant, in this case, might feel that his comments fall into the “inappropriate public comments” standard. 

Vancouver covets two players in this draft above anyone else likely to fall to them at fifth. At the top of that list is Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles. Not far behind Dubois is Olli Juolevi of the London Knights.

The thinking, according to my source, is that if the Canucks can’t secure the former of those two, they will do everything in their power to maximize their value with fifth overall and secure a selection later in the top ten of the draft. Though the Canucks think Juolevi is the best defenceman in this draft, it is believed that they regard Mikhail Sergachyov of the Windsor Spitfires in a similar light and are willing to draft him should they find themselves without access to the Finnish stud defenceman.

So if Dubois isn’t available to the Canucks at fifth overall, expect them to — at the very least — make a concerted effort to trade down with any of the teams sitting between sixth and tenth overall. From that point, it sounds as though they are likely to select Juolevi. And if Juolevi isn’t available to them, they will be just as happy to select Sergachyov.

While addressing the team’s needs on defence is tempting, selecting a forward at 5 is likely a wise decision. That may seem counter-intuitive, given that based on what we know about prospect graduation, defensemen selected in the first round are more likely to play 200 games in the NHL than their forward counterparts. But one of the limitations of using the 200 game benchmark is that it only tells us whathappened, and not why it happened. 

Because defence is a premium position, a defenseman selected in the first round is likely to be given every chance to succeed, and many of those that do manage to reach the 200-game plateau do so based on reputation, or because NHL general managers often overvalue things like size and physicality in defenders. For example, Cam Barker, Jared Cowen, and Luca Sbisa would all be considered successful by pGPS, but you’re unlikely to find someone who’d categorize any of those players as first-round talents. Depending on a team’s draft position, just selecting an NHL player could be considered a success, but since the opportunity to pick in the top 5 doesn’t come along very often, (unless you’re the Edmonton Oilers,) the player the Canucks select at #5 should be held to higher standard of success than just being a warm body at the NHL level.

Canucks General Manager Jim Benning has been hot on Juolevi’s trails for much of the season, scouting him extensively as his London Knights played their way to the Memorial Cup. This match aligns closely with the Canucks comments of late too, which suggest they had a defenceman in their top six.

Juolevi posted 42 points in 57 games this season for the Knights, playing primarily on their top pairing and both phases of special teams. He’s renowned mostly for his ability to complete an excellent first pass and transition play from his own end with ease. Juolevi might not have the highest ceiling among defencemen in this draft, but his hockey IQ distinguishes himself from the rest of this class and makes him an excellent player at both ends of the ice.

Although not included in the piece, part of the reasoning why was if you are getting a top 6 forward or a top 4 defenceman at that spot – then taking the forward is the best course of action. But if a potential top pairing defenceman was available, then you would take the defenceman. So given that, Dubois looked like the logical conclusion.

However over the past few weeks, Benning had changed his wording and had mentioned that they liked 6 players and had suggested that in their ‘Top 6’, they had a top pairing defenceman there. The ‘light bulb’ went off. Why the change?

Well – it’s clear they felt that Juolevi has top pairing potential, and you can see why they may feel that way as he is a smooth skating puck moving defenceman who can help in the offensive zone without being a liability in his own zone. Add the fact that Juolevi just seems to be a winner wherever he goes, it’s clear why the Canucks passed on Tkachuk and took Juolevi. 

The Canucks opted for the 18-year-old from Helsinki after their initial target coming into the draft Pierre Luc Dubois of Cape Breton was taken third overall by Columbus. When Jesse Pulujarvi fell to Edmonton with the fourth pick, the Canucks were left to decide between Juolevi and his London teammate Matthew Tkachuk.

The Canucks opted for the blueliner.

 “Oh yeah, it’s awesome to be going to Vancouver,” the personable Juolevi told the media in the interview area at the First Niagara Center. “It’s a great city. I was at the Top Prospects game in Vancouver and I saw how great the city is and how much they love hockey. It’s awesome.”

Juolevi , who was rated fifth among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting in the season-ending rankings, had nine goals and 42 points for the high-scoring Knights in his first season in North America. Yesterday, Canucks general manager Jim Benning said he felt one defenseman in the draft had separated himself from the others and tonight, he made it clear Juolevi was that player when he called his name at the podium.

BUFFALO, NY – Jim Benning exercised great caution when he invoked the name Niklas Lidstrom while describing what made Olli Juolevi so attractive the Vancouver Canucks felt they had no choice but to nab the Finnish defensman with the fifth overall selection in Friday’s National Hockey League draft. 

In no way was the team’s general manager making a direct comparison between the London Knights blueliner and the Detroit Red Wings legend, but Benning was trying to convey just how much he liked the 18-year-old’s all-around game and his ability to have an impact at both ends of the ice.

“He’s good in his own end, he reads the play well and has good defensive awareness,” Benning said of Juolevi’s many strengths. “And when he gets the puck on his stick, he has his head up and he can move the puck up ice, he can skate the puck up ice, he’s good on the power play, he can walk the line on the power play, he gets his shot through and on the net and of all the defensemen we liked his all-around game the best.”

Benning admitted the selection of Juolevi was a mixture of drafting by organizational need and taking the best player available when it was the Canucks turn to select. He said the Canucks had the four players taken ahead of Juolevi as the top four players in the draft. Then it became a decision of the skill of Matthew Tkachuk or the all-around game of Juolevi.

The Canucks felt choosing the first defenseman in this year’s draft was the way to go.

Day one of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft is in the books.

Saturday will be fast and furious with round 2-7 being done in the same amount of time it took to do round one today. Although it may go by quickly, the importance of these picks cannot be overstated. Successful organizations will find talent in Day 2 of the draft, and although the Canucks don’t currently possess a 2nd round pick, anything can happen. So let’s take a look at some of the best prospects that will available when day 2 begins.