The Canucks have trimmed their preseason roster again, making two more cuts and sending D Guillaume Brisebois and C Dmitry Zhukenov back to their QMJHL teams.
In between back-to-back games against the San Jose Sharks, the Canucks reassigned two of their 2015 draft picks to their respective junior teams. This move was confirmed by assistant coach Glen Gulutzan today and disseminated online by the local media.
Guillaume Brisebois, picked in the third round (66th overall) this past June, will return to the Acadie-Bathurst Titan, where he will retain the team captaincy for the 2015-16 campaign. The Titan were dreadful last year, but there is hope that the squad will improve, partially due to landing skilled forward Vladimir Kuznetsov first overall in the CHL import draft. Brisebois point totals last year were middling, but look more impressive when the team’s lack of scoring ability is taken into context. Brisebois contributed to 19.31% of Acadie-Bathurst’s goals last season according to CHLStats.com, sixth among 17-year old QMJHL defencemen.
Dmitry Zhukenov was selected in the fourth round (114th overall) of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. He was considered a bit of an off-the-board pick, given his middling MHL numbers, although his tournament stats were more impressive. He gained some fans in Vancouver after a strong showing at the Young Stars Classic in Penticton, where he played both centre (his drafted position) and the wing. Zhukenov was selected 10th overall in the CHL import draft in June and has committed to the Chicoutimi Sagueneens for the upcoming season, meaning we can see more of him and get a better grasp on his abilities.
Both Brisebois and Zhukenov took part in the Young Stars tournament and looked good. However, both are on the small side (at 187 and 176 lbs respectively), and likely wouldn’t have fared too well against true NHL competition. They’ll join Carl Neill as the Canucks three QMJHL prospects – the Q has already been underway for a couple of weeks. Acadie-Bathurst (1-2-1) and Chicoutimi (0-3-1) both play their next games on Friday.