<p>The bulk of the Vancouver Canucks’ junior-bound prospects were reassigned before the pre-season stage of training camp, with only two exceptions: Sawyer Mynio and Vilmer Alriksson.</p>
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<p>While Alriksson has already enjoyed his first taste of exhibition action, making an impression with a <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/canucks-vilmer-alriksson-hit-fight-nhl-ice">spirited tilt against a nine-year NHL veteran</a>, Mynio made his pre-season debut on <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/jumping-conclusions-3-dramatic-canucks-3-1-loss-kraken">Friday night in Seattle</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps Mynio felt comfortable playing in his &#8220;home team&#8221; crowd as a Seattle Thunderbird. Whatever the reason, he played a sound game on a mixed corps of NHL veterans and young defenders.</p>
<p>Paired with Filip Hronek on the team&#8217;s top defensive unit, Mynio logged 19:32 of ice time, the third-highest among the Canucks&#8217; defencemen.</p>
<p>His performance, along with Kirill Kudryavtsev and Christian Felton, caught the attention of 34-year-old defender Tyler Myers, who was impressed with the poise and composure of all three young defenders.</p>
<p>&#8220;I thought our young D men played really well tonight. They played hard and were making some good plays on breakouts. They should be proud of how they played,&#8221; said Myers.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">“They played hard. Making poise plays for young guys. We had three veterans around them trying to help them out.”</p>
<p>🗣 Tyler Myers speaks on the defensive pairs between veterans and prospects, his wrap-around goal, and tonight&#39;s game overall.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/theprovince?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@theprovince</a> <a href="https://t.co/fB0jgI8tM3">pic.twitter.com/fB0jgI8tM3</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) <a href="https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1839893769266852218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Receiving praise from a veteran like Myers is a great honour, but what did the head coach think? For the second time in a week, Rick Tocchet provided a glowing review, specifically mentioning Mynio&#8217;s name.</p>
<p>“ [Mynio] is a great prospect for us. He&#8217;s poised out there,&#8221; Tocchet said.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">“We started to support each other…There were some good efforts out there.”</p>
<p>🗣 Head Coach Rick Tocchet speaks on the team playing better in the second half, the efforts of the young defencemen, and more.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> | <a href="https://twitter.com/theprovince?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@theprovince</a> <a href="https://t.co/UpCMSqs3RX">pic.twitter.com/UpCMSqs3RX</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) <a href="https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1839895221401989347?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2024</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Earlier in training camp, Tocchet highlighted <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/canucks-boeser-miller-chemistry-heinen-training-camp">Mynio as a standout prospect</a>, so doubling down is always an encouraging testimony for a budding youngster.</p>
<p>Despite the praise, Mynio is bound for his fourth, and potentially final, season in junior hockey, where he&#8217;s expected to take on an even more significant role after a breakout year that saw him notch 16 goals and 53 points. As the primary defender, he&#8217;s expected to play heavy minutes in all situations for the Thunderbirds. Though the T-birds are in a rebuilding phase now, they have a solid recent history, winning a championship in 2022-23, a team Mynio was part of. With his mix of aggression, skating ability, powerful release, and winning pedigree, Mynio is shaping up to be a sturdy third-round selection for this management group.</p>
<p>Unless reassigned, Mynio&#8217;s next, and potentially last, opportunity to showcase himself will be on Saturday night as the Canucks visit the Calgary Flames for game four of their pre-season slate. The Thunderbirds play just down the road tonight, so it would make sense for the Canucks to reassign Mynio to his junior club today.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE: </strong>The Canucks assigned Mynio to his junior club on Saturday morning.</p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong></p>
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Sawyer Mynio during the Vancouver Canucks' 4-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets at the 2024 Young Stars Classic from Penticton, BC.

The bulk of the Vancouver Canucks’ junior-bound prospects were reassigned before the pre-season stage of training camp, with only two exceptions: Sawyer Mynio and Vilmer Alriksson.
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&nbsp;

While Alriksson has already enjoyed his first taste of exhibition action, making an impression with a <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/canucks-vilmer-alriksson-hit-fight-nhl-ice">spirited tilt against a nine-year NHL veteran</a>, Mynio made his pre-season debut on <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/jumping-conclusions-3-dramatic-canucks-3-1-loss-kraken">Friday night in Seattle</a>.

Perhaps Mynio felt comfortable playing in his "home team" crowd as a Seattle Thunderbird. Whatever the reason, he played a sound game on a mixed corps of NHL veterans and young defenders.

Paired with Filip Hronek on the team's top defensive unit, Mynio logged 19:32 of ice time, the third-highest among the Canucks' defencemen.

His performance, along with Kirill Kudryavtsev and Christian Felton, caught the attention of 34-year-old defender Tyler Myers, who was impressed with the poise and composure of all three young defenders.

"I thought our young D men played really well tonight. They played hard and were making some good plays on breakouts. They should be proud of how they played," said Myers.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1839893769266852218

Receiving praise from a veteran like Myers is a great honour, but what did the head coach think? For the second time in a week, Rick Tocchet provided a glowing review, specifically mentioning Mynio's name.

“ [Mynio] is a great prospect for us. He's poised out there," Tocchet said.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1839895221401989347

Earlier in training camp, Tocchet highlighted <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/canucks-boeser-miller-chemistry-heinen-training-camp">Mynio as a standout prospect</a>, so doubling down is always an encouraging testimony for a budding youngster.

Despite the praise, Mynio is bound for his fourth, and potentially final, season in junior hockey, where he's expected to take on an even more significant role after a breakout year that saw him notch 16 goals and 53 points. As the primary defender, he's expected to play heavy minutes in all situations for the Thunderbirds. Though the T-birds are in a rebuilding phase now, they have a solid recent history, winning a championship in 2022-23, a team Mynio was part of. With his mix of aggression, skating ability, powerful release, and winning pedigree, Mynio is shaping up to be a sturdy third-round selection for this management group.

Unless reassigned, Mynio's next, and potentially last, opportunity to showcase himself will be on Saturday night as the Canucks visit the Calgary Flames for game four of their pre-season slate. The Thunderbirds play just down the road tonight, so it would make sense for the Canucks to reassign Mynio to his junior club today.

<strong>UPDATE: </strong>The Canucks assigned Mynio to his junior club on Saturday morning.

<strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong>
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Canucks’ Tocchet praises Sawyer Mynio following preseason debut

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