Welcome back to CanucksArmy’s top 20 Vancouver Canucks prospect rankings.

Today we focus on a Kamloops, BC, native who lit up the Western Hockey League scoresheet in his first year as a drafted prospect.

Sawyer Mynio, primarily known as a competitive shutdown defender and astute penalty killer, is another prime example of trusting NHL scouting staff before making snap judgements.

Drafted in the third round (89th overall) just one year ago, many had placed the selection in the “reach” category. Some pundits even went as far as leaving him unranked. Yet, the Canucks’ amateur scouting staff appeared to have sniffed out elements that the masses may not have picked up on.

In his draft year, Mynio played in the shadows behind a few prominent defencemen, including the likes of Chicago Blackhawks rookie Kevin Korchinski and the Nashville Predators’ Luke Prokop. Despite this, he put up five goals and 31 points while showcasing strong defensive acumen as a lower-minute defender. He concluded the year with an impressive plus-50 rating to finish seventh among all WHL skaters.

Despite those sheltered minutes, the Canucks saw enough to feel confident in their ability to predict what would come next. And boy, did Mynio hold up his end of the bargain.

The Seattle Thunderbirds took a huge step back last season — and we mean huge. After back-to-back trips to the WHL finals, including a championship in 2022-23, the team lost most of their heavy hitters.  Six of the Thunderbirds’ top ten producers in the 2022-23 season moved on, and with a turned-over roster, Mynio was handed a much-increased plate of responsibility and some massive shoes to fill.

The Kamloops native was up to the task and went from the 11th-most points on the 2022-23 team to the second-most points on this current iteration of the T-birds. He would set multiple career highs and was named to the U.S. Division Second All-Star Team as one of the more touted defenders in the league.

All this on a depleted Thunderbirds team that would eventually miss the postseason for the first time since the 2011-12 campaign.

As mentioned, he came into the year already regarded for his highly defensive approach. It was at the other end where his game truly shot out of a cannon — pun intended.

He put up 16 goals off the strength of an incredible release as the team’s trigger man, finishing with the fifth-highest totals among WHL defenders and second with 11 stemming from the power play. On top of his career-high goals, he also notched a personal best in assists, finishing 12th among league defenders with 37. By season’s end, he shattered his previous point totals by 22 to finish with 53 in five fewer games (63).

At first glance, several elements in his game stand out immediately. Firstly, his skating is smooth, and he can quickly pivot to navigate all four directions with relative ease. He’s also extremely competitive and brings a high-level motor to each shift. In fact, with 106 penalty minutes across his last 131 WHL games, that competitiveness can sometimes jump out a little too much. And finally, of course, there’s the release.

Standing 6’1, 180 lbs, some physical gains will be necessary for his transition. Mynio received the privilege of soaking in a single game in Abbotsford last season, and that lack of size was evident. As a freshly turned 19-year-old, however, that was expected. His quick stint was used strictly for experimental purposes to gain firsthand knowledge of what it takes to compete at the next level. Returning to Seattle for 2024-24, he’ll have one more year before deciding to take the leap or head back for one last season in juniors.

Before all of that, there is one major checklist to cross off. Mynio was recently invited to join Team Canada in this summer’s World Junior Showcase, hosted in Plymouth, USA, in late July. The four-team tournament is a prelude for coaches to get better looks at their crop before finalizing their rosters for the upcoming World Junior Championships. There is no guarantee he’ll have his name announced for the big holiday event, but it strongly reflects where his game sits among his peers.

Ceiling: The added offensive punch is just the icing on the cake. What makes Mynio a promising young defender is his aggressive approach and ability to play an effective penalty-killing game. That, combined with his improved mobility and howitzer of a release, offers an intriguing bottom-four NHL defensive pairing upside.

Floor: His transition will tell all, but with his aggressive defensive nature, his booming shot for the powerplay and his natural knack for killing penalties, he should be able to carve out a fruitful AHL career, assuming the rest of the package can translate.

ETA: There is excitement about Mynio’s potential, but in reality, he’s still a third-round pick. With roughly 50 percent of third-rounders playing in at least one NHL game, there’s still an uphill battle for Mynio. We anticipate a couple of years of AHL development before we begin to expect him to see NHL games. Depending on his decision after 2024-25, you can expect him to be ready to push for a taste in roughly three to four years.