WWYDW: Jordan Subban

Something caught my eye this week as I was scrolling through twitter and looking for any Canucks-related news to sink my teeth into. With the influx of new players through the draft and free agency this offseason, I had almost forgotten about Jordan Subban.

It’s a stock response from any prospect on the bubble who’s asked about what the future holds, but you get the sense that Subban really means it, especially if he’s inherited any of older brother P.K.’s confidence.

Being the younger brother of a bona-fide superstar brought an elevated level of hype for a fourth-round selection, so it’s easy to feel like Subban has been with the organization forever. In reality, he’s just 22 years old, and playing a position that’s notoriously difficult to master, especially for someone of his small stature.

He still has plenty of time to develop, but based on what’s been said about Subban in the media by just about anyone connected to the team, it’s never seemed as though the Canucks are particularly high on Subban.

So, that brings us to this week’s question. Where do you see Subban heading in the next year or so? Does he have a future with the club? Do you think the team should be patient, or cut bait while he still has some name recognition?

No gifting of spots to anyone. If a player does not perform then they should not be on the team.
Whether it be Jake, Brock, Reid or even the anchor Loui, you don’t perform the role that is assigned to you, then you sit in press box or sent to minors.
Pretty simple. Although I hope Jake makes the team.

Unless Virtanen shows DRAMATIC improvement at training camp, he should start the season in Utica. I would be far more inclined to give a roster spot to Goldobin, who looks much more NHL-ready than Virtanen does. Virtanen did show some improvement in the second half of last season, and hopefully he can build on it. But putting him in the crosshairs of the Vancouver media would not be in his or the team’s interests at this point.

Last year, Virtanen showed up in training camp overweight and out of shape, and his season never recovered from that. Sometimes young players don’t understand what it takes to make it in the big leagues. But the good thing is that they can and do learn.
So what to do? If Virtanen shows up at camp lean and fit then wipe the slate clean and assess him precisely as you would any other promising prospect.
And if he doesn’t then cut him early and start putting out trade feelers. The Canucks had many flaws last year, but lack of effort and dedication wasn’t one of them. That needs to be maintained.

A big part of JV’s problem last year was his workout regime – he was too bulky and didn’t have the cardiovascular conditioning to play a shift at a high pace. If he’s thinner and spends more time on his stamina, I don’t see any reason why he can’t get back to where he was as a rookie. The biggest question to me isn’t whether he can make the team this season, but whether he’s got the ability to be anything more than an energetic third-liner in the future.

agree with JD that he should start in Utica, and no matter what. He shouldn’t be evaluated exactly the same as other prospects because he’s already endured multiple failures and is likely rebuilding his confidence. That’s not the kind of thing that a franchise can navigate more than once per player (eg. Kassian, Baertschi). Bring him up only if/when he is consistently excelling in Utica.