ESPN prospect guru Corey Pronman released his mid-season Top 50 prospects and Top 10 goalie prospects (paywall, but well worth it) and two Canucks prospects made the cut. The Canucks 2015 first round pick, Brock Boeser, made the cut coming in as the 31st best skater and 2014 second round pick Thatcher Demko ranked third among goaltenders. 

Criteria for a prospect “graduating” are either 25 NHL games played in any one season, 50 total NHL games played in his career or a current spot on an NHL roster (as of Jan. 11). This precludes the likes of Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann from the “prospect” distinction.

The inclusion of both players in their respective categories is not surprising as they are easily the two best non-pro prospects for the Canucks. That said, I’ll be looking into a puzzling omission on the other side of the jump.

Here is Corey Pronman’s explanation of why Boeser is still a top prospect:

A fairly accurate assessment, closely aligned to my own.

Boeser played a depth role for the bronze medal winning US, and although he didn’t stand out in a positive way, Boeser was still noticeable with 3 points in 7 games. While back at the University of North Dakota, Boeser has been dominant through his entire freshman season playing on a line with Chicago Blackhawks first round pick Nick Schmaltz and undrafted senior Drake Cagguila. I would expect that line to continue their dominance in the second half of the season with hopes of challenging for the NCAA title. With his commitment to UND before being drafted, Boeser was always going to be a ‘longer’ term prospect, but the early signs have been fantastic. 

Based on the ranking, including players that have already graduated, Boeser would be ranked the 21st best prospect from the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. Passing players like Jake Debrusk, Joel Eriksson Ek and Jakub Zboril but having prospects like Travis Konecny (24th overall), Kirill Kaprizov (135th overall) and Anthony Beauvillier (29th overall) leapfrogging him.

Goaltenders are not included in the Top 50 prospects but are in a separate group highlighting the top ten. There was no write-up for Demko, but being ranked the third best goaltending prospect is exactly where he should be. After a fantastic start to the season, Demko has cooled down considerably and is now currently suffering from an upper-body injury. The two goalies ranked above him are well deserving of the distinction. If Demko can return from injury and get back to being the stable last line of defence for Boston College, he will remain in the conversation as the best goaltending prospect in hockey.

The notable omission from the Canucks standpoint is Hunter Shinkaruk, who didn’t even make the honourable mentions. After a trying first professional season, Shinkaruk has rebounded nicely for the Comets. There are a few prospects in the top 50 with lower point totals this season in the AHL, which makes Shinkaruk’s exclusion even more confusing. For example, Toronto Maple Leaf prospect William Nylander is ranked in the top 5 and is currently ranked 3rd in AHL scoring, while Shinkaruk is 19th in AHL scoring and currently has 1 more goal than Nylander – although, Shinkaruk has played several more games. Yes, Nylander is a younger player, higher drafted and likely more skilled, but the difference between the two isn’t exceptionally drastic. If Shinkaruk continues to build on his first half, he should be back in the conversation as a top 50 prospect. Pronman did mention on twitter that Shinkaruk was one of the last names to be cut from the Top 50 (and honourable mentions).

Even though only two players were mentioned in the rankings, the future still looks bright for the Canucks, as players like McCann, Virtanen, Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi make up the young nucleus of the current roster and thus were excluded.