Another year in the books for the Canucks Army prospect series!

There have been some risers, some fallers, and of course some new additions. Recently ESPN’s Corey Pronman ranked the Canucks as the 13th best prospect system (paywall) in the NHL as it’s highlighted by high-end prospects like Brock Boeser, Olli Juolevi and Thatcher Demko. That’s a nice endorsement for an organization that was generally near the bottom of the NHL, in those type of rankings, due to being on the cusp of a Stanley Cup and then the eventual decline.

There are still some flaws in the system, and ideally there would be a little more high end prospects.

It will be interesting to see how these players trend this season, and where we will stand next season. Without further ado, here is all the links in one place:

An especially encouraging note to Carcone’s lofty production is that 84% of his production came in the form of primary points. Viewed as a rate statistic, Carcone’s 1.136 primary points per game are fourth among 2014 draft eligible forward behind just Conor Garland (ARI), Francis Perron (OTT) and fellow Canucks development camp invitee Alexis D’Aoust. Primary points are a strong indicator of who’s driving the bus offensively on any given line, so that’s valuable context in Carcone’s favour. – Ryan Biech

Sautner is still young, but other factors are out of his control that will make this upcoming season crucial.

Without any further exploration, it’s clear that Sautner made positive strides this past season and looks to be a good find for the Canucks as an undrafted defenceman. However, he will need to make equal to or even bigger steps this season, or he may get left behind.

It will be an interesting season to watch. – Ryan Biech

When one takes a qualitative glance at Grenier’s game, his smarts and offensive skills jump out especially. Grenier is at his most effective when he uses his big frame to create space and provide his linemates with an outlet pass. In terms of areas he’ll need to improve upon, Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins remarked upon his needing to get quicker and improve on his play away from the puck. – Tyler Horsfall

“(For) Canucks fans who haven’t had an opportunity to watch (me) play,” Jasek told CanucksArmy, “(I’m an offfensive) forward with dynamic skating and good hockey skills.”

The hope is that this is the season he gets to showcase those offensive talents. There are a few hurdles to clear, but he has the skill set to do so.

Will Jasek make HC Trinec in a full-time capacity? Will he play for the Czech Republic and regain his stellar form from international tournaments prior? Those questions are paramount as Jasek enters his second season in the Canucks system. – J.D. Burke

It’s likely Neill will return to Sherbrooke for his overage season. Utica’s left side on defence is packed as it is, and Neill is still raw enough in terms of talent that he could benefit from an additional year in the CHL. From Sherbrooke’s perspective, I’m sure he’ll be welcomed back with open arms. In many ways, Neill is the Phoenix. He’s not only served as their captain, but he’s also the franchise’s all-time leader in total games played. – Jackson McDonald

With expectations lowered and a full off-season of good health and complete training, he should be about to get back on track. Travis Green still seems to have faith in Cassels and believes that with a good off-season, he can come in and be a main contributor in Utica. We’ll be hoping for a return to form in Cassels’ future, and that he can use that unfortunate experience to fuel him, rather than sink him. – Jeremy Davis

What I noticed when viewing Stetcher was his ability to hold onto the puck in the offensive zone and his willingness to go to the net. The video clip I’ve linked to shows just that on multiple occasions. A lot of defencemen will just take the shot or fire the puck from the point of retrieval. In Stetcher’s case, he’s either in motion towards the net and often he’s bringing the puck with him.

This tactic exudes confidence in his abilities and has the added benefit of forcing goalies from their original position. – Ryan Biech

“I think I gained a lot but mostly to never give up.” a proud Gaudette remarked. “It taught a lot of people never to quit and battle through and if you put the time and effort in something good is bound to happen.”

The idea that a player like Gaudette never quits isn’t difficult to believe. He’s a spark plug. I don’t know how else to describe the way he plays. He battles, gets engaged physically and makes his presence felt at both ends of the rink. It’s not the most refined game, and ideally you’d like a player with so late a birth date to make an even larger mark offensively, but there’s plenty to like all the same. – J.D. Burke

Obviously, you hate to see any player sustain a major injury, but it’s clear that the Canucks benefited from Candella seeing limited action last season. We’ll never know if Candella would have sustained his scoring pace over a full season, but we can safely assume that if he had managed to do so, he wouldn’t have fallen all the way down to 140th where the Canucks selected him. – Jackson McDonald

Brisebois won’t have to struggle to quite that extent next season, as he was traded to the Charlottetown Islanders in early June. While the Islanders are not a spectacular team themselves, they’re a far cry from the group that Brisebois played with last season. Just how much of an improvement the Islanders are over the Titan will be dependent of which of their star players stick around for another season in the QMJHL – Jeremy Davis

Still, much in the same way I feel his production belies Zhukenov’s offensive capabilities, I feel his pGPS undersells his chances of developing into a full-time NHL’er. Spoiler alert, I had Zhukenov ranked higher than any of my Canucks Army peers. I think his intelligence on and off the puck, in combination with his deft touch offensively, make him a relatively strong bet to carve out a semi-productive role in the NHL one day. – J.D. Burke

The rangy defenceman measures in at 6’2″ and 185 lbs, using that size effectively in all three zones. Olson is a very calm, cool and collected two-way defenceman who makes an impact everywhere. He has a knack for finding the open lanes for his shot or passing to his team-mates. While retreating to defending, he uses his long powerful strides to keep his opponents in front of him, wide, and away from the net. Although he isn’t a noted hitter, as we saw in the video above, he can and will take the body when the situation calls for it. – Ryan Biech

Well-run teams do not go out and spend money on depth. They draft well enough to be able to promote from within. That’s why having a player like Andrey Pedan in the system is a good thing. Pedan will likely be a cost-controlled option on the third pairing next season, where he’ll get a chance to prove he belongs at this level. Some players on this list will likely give the club more value than Pedan can in the long run, but few will have the opportunity to make such an immediate impact, and that’s a large part of why he’s jumped up a full 9 spots from last year’s preseason consensus ranking. – Jackson McDonald

Given his production, pGPS shines a favourable light on Subban. Four out of the nine statistical comparables for Subban went on to carve out successful NHL careers, including Ryan Ellis and Jared Spurgeon. Also, pGPS paints a picture on just how rare of a player Jordan Subban is. There are very few players who are his size that put up the same numbers. All but one player went on to get at least a taste of the NHL too, which is another positive for Subban. – Tyler Horsfall

He will be in a battle to get ice time to start the season, but realistically that should be short lived. There will be injuries, there will be struggles – so if Tryamkin can continue to build on his play from last season, there is a spot in the top 6 for him. – Ryan Biech

Rodin has all the tools to be an effective forward at this level, and pGPS shows us that there’s precedent for similar players to achieve success in the NHL. Unfortunately, there’s only so much we can gleam from statistics and watching him at lower levels. I believe he can be solid middle-six forward with skill, something the Canucks have sorely lacked for some time now, and it’s safe to assume that the Canucks’ brain trust believes he can, too. – Jackson McDonald

With the added benefit of hindsight, it’s amazing the Canucks could snag Demko with the 36th overall selection. Of course, that belies the very real concerns that scouts and teams had about Demko’s hip, a factor which likely drove the American netminder from the first round entirely. You can’t blame other teams for being leery of the situation, but you can absolutely give credit to the Canucks for taking that bet. – Ryan Biech

Juolevi jumps immediately to the top of a list of Vancouver defensive prospect pool that has become quite impressive over the past 18 months, with Jordan Subban, Tate Olson, Troy Stecher, Guillaume Brisebois, Carl Neill and Cole Candella elsewhere in the system and Ben Hutton, Nikita Tryamkin and Andrey Pedan stepping into NHL roles. It’s been an abrupt about-face for a group that has been an area of concern for the past half decade, and Olli Juolevi is the crown jewel of them all. – Jeremy Davis

We like Brock Boeser a whole lot here at Canucks Army, and I in particular am a big booster of the Minnesota sniper. Drafted 23rd overall at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Boeser was a bit of an unknown at the time – with so many CA-approved names still on the board, we kind of forgot about Boeser, who was still a very reasonable choice at 23 in any case. Now a year later, one could certainly argue that he could have gone in the top ten. – Jeremy Davis

There have been some suggestions in the comment sections to do a ’25 under 25′ for the Canucks instead of the prospect series. But personally, I think it’s important we focus on some of the players that are not currently on the roster instead of profiling players like Bo Horvat, Emerson Etem, Sven Baertschi and Jake Virtanen again. Everyone sees those players for the majority of the season, but it’s unlikely that many people have followed the Prince George Cougars, Chicoutimi Sagueneens, or HC Trinec closely. 

We are two weeks away from Young Stars in Penticton, and then another week before the start of the CHL seasons and NHL training camps!

See you at the rink!