On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal were joined by Dave Hall to preview the Vancouver Canucks’ upcoming prospect showcase against the Seattle Kraken. With a mix of excitement and curiosity, the trio dug into key storylines and players to watch.

“There’s a brisk feeling in the air, it’s hockey season, and it’s time to get too excited about everything,” Hall said. “That top line of [Jonathan] Lekkerimäki, [Vilmer] Alriksson, and [Braeden] Cootes, I’m especially excited to see Cootes, but that line is too good to pass up.”

Harm pushed back against what he sees as premature skepticism surrounding Vancouver’s 2022 first-round pick.

“People are underestimating Lekkerimäki a tad bit on his overall potential,” Harman said. “He’s a smaller winger who needs to beef up, when we saw him at the NHL level he’s clearly a work in progress. But when I step back and look at his age 20 season, he scored more than half a goal per game in the NHL, and players who do that usually become top-six players in the NHL one day. Even just to stick in the NHL at 20 and hold your own, his defensive game wasn’t a worry. I think there was a lot more to be excited about from Lekkerimäki’s season last year than the market realizes.”

Dave reminded fans not to lose sight of his age. “People seem to forget he just turned 21 this summer. That was by far the longest season he had ever played, and that’s a big physical jump going from the Swedish league to the NHL and AHL. People forget that there’s still time for him to grow and adjust. He was scoring goals at a clip that was pretty unparalleled compared to other 19- and 20-year-olds in the league. I don’t think we’re anywhere near close to pushing the panic button. He may not be ready this fall, but that’s not out of the ordinary. Everything is fine in my opinion. Let’s hope he stands out this weekend and has a nice tournament, because these are the showcases you do want to see him pop in.”

Hall also shared his expectations for Aatu Räty, who looks poised to graduate into a full-time NHL role.

“He’s a shoe-in to make the team — he’s a faceoff ace, can kill penalties, and obviously the waiver status complicates things,” Hall said. “He’s going to make the team, I don’t know if he’s going to hit that 40-point plateau, if for nothing else but the fact he won’t get that kind of opportunity. He might sniff PP2 perhaps, but I see him as a third, if not fourth-line player this year. Typically, it’s hard for those players to eclipse 40 points, especially as rookies. I would guess he’d be somewhere around the 20–30 point mark.”

Hall added that there are still areas to watch in his game. “There’s still some stuff to work on, and he suffered an injury last year so his offseason has been super short to work on that skating that we all know he needs to improve.”

Hall pointed to one under-the-radar player he’s excited to monitor.

“I want to see what Riley Patterson does this weekend and this year,” he said. “He was just traded to Niagara, and it seems like they’re going to give him more of an opportunity to play up the middle. He’s a right-handed shooter, if he can move into the middle and carve out a nice niche there, that instantly props him up higher in the prospect pool. He hadn’t been given the keys in the Barrie Colts lineup, so I’m hoping he can ease into that top-line role in Niagara and have a big, bust-out season.”

Hall also touched on Vancouver’s 2023 first-rounder, Tom Willander.

“Willander is that ‘I’m going to beat you at all costs’ kind of guy,” Hall said. “He’s not so much a systems guy as he is pure will and heart. If a guy gets by him, he’s going to do what he can and use that skating ability he has to get you out of that spot. He has some tweaking to do, which goes for most of his game, not just defensive. There was an adjustment already for him going from the Swedish level to the NCAA, now he’ll have to do that for the pro level. That comes with adjusting to the number of games, much like we saw with Lekkerimäki last year. I think there’s going to be a transition. The Canucks will give him every opportunity to make this team, but I would not be shocked to see him in Abbotsford to be that number one guy and working on his systems.

You can watch the full segment below!

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