Photo Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin/USA TODAY Sports

Jordan Subban’s Belleville Bulls were swept out of the playoffs earlier this week, which means the Subban watch is on.

A fourth-round pick of the Vancouver Canucks at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, the Canucks only have until June 1 to get Subban under contract – lest he be re-entered in the draft pool for the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. 

It would seem the negotiations are proceeding as planned. On Wednesday the News 1130 Sports twitter account reported that Subban’s agent, Mark Guy of Newports Sports Agency, plans to discuss an entry-level deal with the Canucks this week.

Undersized and overskilled, Subban would be a tremendous addition to Vancouver’s steadily improving pool of blue-line prospects. Though the club is a bit heavy on young right-handed shooting assets – including Frank Corrado and Adam Clendening, both of whom are right on the fringes of being everyday NHL players – the club’s pipeline arguably doesn’t include a blue-line prospect with Subban’s level of offensive upside. 

Among OHL defenders this season Subban was one of only two blue liners to lead their team in scoring (Windsor Spitfires defender Trevor Murphy was the other), he led all OHL blue liners in percentage of his own team’s goal scored, and along with hotshot Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Anthony DeAngelo was one of only two OHL blue-liners to score 25 goals. His statistical profile is positively glowing. 

Subban’s lack of size – he’s listed at five-foot-nine – is a concern though, as CanucksArmy’s Josh Weissbock explained in February:

In terms of his status Subban would be unlikely to count against the club’s 50-contract limit, assuming that he’s signed to a deal that kicks in for the beginning of the 2015-16 league year (as Ashton Sautner and Ben Hutton were recently). If he’s signed by the club to such a deal then he can then sign an amateur tryout contract (ATO) with the red hot Utica Comets, in which case he’d be eligible to compete in the AHL playoffs.

The Comets are deep on defense, and with the club riding a 10 game winning streak it’s proven difficult for young players to get into the lineup. So it would be rather surprising were Subban to make any sort of tangible impact in the AHL this season if he’s signed. 

What’s important to take away from this news though is that, for now, this all still seems to be on track, which is precisely how it seemed when we summarized the situation three weeks ago. Hopefully an entry-level deal will be announced officially in the coming days or weeks.