The NHL is on a rare and long hiatus, giving us time to discuss the things that really matter: prospects.
That’s right. With no drama on the Vancouver front to talk about, CanucksArmy has called in the big guns and has asked me, Dave Hall, to run a prospect-focused mailbag, something that we haven’t done since I’ve been a part of the team.
And judging by the response, it probably shouldn’t be the last.
We received a tremendous number of submissions in the mailbag — too many to respond to all. If your question was missed, fret not; we will catch it next time.
If you liked the mailbag’s prospect version, leave a comment so we can start a petition to get prospects in the rotation.
We’ve got a lot to get to, so let’s dive right in.
I think I’d be remiss if I did not run with the boss’s question out the gate, right?
The truthful answer is that this Canucks’ system isn’t chock-full of high-end talent. Sure, a select few filters to the top without question, but there is a real log-jam of “hopeful projects” and older “tweener” type players.
That’s difficult to “rank.”
Realistically, the difference between each of our ranked prospects from, let’s say, 5-12 is very minimal. It’s not that the prospects within that range aren’t skilled; it’s just simply easier to pinpoint and predict what will come of a prospect such as Tom Willander or even Elias Pettersson (D).
For lack of a better term, it’s a bit of a crapshoot in that mid-to-late range.
While every team has those types of mid-range prospects, they typically don’t carry an entire prospect pool filled to the brim. Truthfully, this Canucks prospect pool is just that, with the exception of maybe four.
The number of back-and-fourths I’ve gone through to place the mid-to-lower tiers is borderline psychotic, and realistically, it could go on forever. Am I ever truly content with the placements? Probably not.
Aside from that, I absolutely love rankings, as they provide a good opportunity to discuss these kids more in-depth and bring the fanbase up to speed.
I hope you approve, boss!
I’ve decided to incorporate both questions as they somewhat tie into one another.
To quote Vince Vaughn from Wedding Crashers:
“I’m gonna go see Dr. Finklestein, and I’m gonna tell him we have a whole new bag of issues (Canucks’ centre depth). We can forget about Mom (Canucks defensive depth) for a while.”
For what feels like years, the depth chart on the defensive side has been a serious concern — especially on the right side. And today, it feels like that concern has finally been addressed. Not only at the NHL level, but even the farm has some enticing young names on the come-up, with more on the way.
Whether through drafting or trades, a core consisting of Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, Marcus Pettersson, Tom Willander, Elias Pettersson and the rest of the tweener and young crop finally feels sufficient to shift focus for a year or two.
To answer question two, the answer must be up the middle if we’re talking about the NHL draft.
As of today, here’s the shortlist of viable centre depth beyond Elias Pettersson, Pius Suter, Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger.
Aatu Räty
Max Sasson
Ty Mueller
Nils Åman
Don’t get it twisted. I’ve been bullish on both Max Sasson and Ty Mueller’s games for quite some time. I love their brand, and I believe both can play consistent NHL roles someday.
But their upside is massively capped. When I say I love their brand, I mean in a reduced, energy-type role.
By now, we’ve seen what Nils Åman has to offer. His game comes with far less speed and offensive punch than both names mentioned above. Suitable for now, but not the long-term answer.
Aatu Räty is an intriguing prospect. He’s an absolute wizard in the face-off dot, and he’s shown that he can produce at a decent — not great — level at the American league level. With that said, can he play in a top-six role at the NHL level? I am just not convinced that his skating and skillset are up to snuff to cater to that responsibility.
I continuously try to get there; I really do. But at the end of the day, I think his upside is limited.
Even if Räty does hit as a middle-six option – 2-3C – there’s still not enough needle-moving going on here.
I’ve loved what this management has done with their late-round drafting, but it has not come close to bringing in enough serious talent for the long term up the middle.
It’s time to hold onto some draft picks and start filling that centre pipeline. Fast.
Jake O’Brien (OHL) or Braeden Cootes (WHL) (ranked 8th and 21st in Central Scouting’s North American skaters) would be good places to start.
I hate to say it, but the Vancouver Canucks prospect pool is indeed, mid.
It’s not the worst in the Pacific Division, so they have that going for them. But it’s not overly strong.
It’s propped up by two “blue chip” prospects, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Tom Willander. However, that stock drops off a cliff after three or four.
As you’ll see from our CanucksArmy prospect ranks, the depth chart is primarily filled with long-term projects. Yes, we hope they succeed in filling out their projected upside, but there’s very little guarantee in that.
The good news is that it certainly isn’t the worst in the Division.
If you ever have someone tell you that the Canucks prospect pool sucks, just go over and take a look at the Edmonton Oilers depth chart. It’s grim. Sure, they have two of the best players in the league, Connor McDavid and Lean Draisatl, but their prospects pool is in serious trouble.
In addition, with the graduation of both Brandt Clarke and Alex Turcotte, the foundation has been dwindling down in Los Angeles. This is wild, as they have sported one of the top-ranked prospect pools for nearly a decade.
Of course, we have the Vegas Golden Knights, who couldn’t keep a prospect in their system if their lives depended on it. They have an addiction to staying relevant, and as a result, they leverage youngsters as if they were allergic.
But watch out for the Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks, and Seattle Kraken, as they all have strong pipelines worth getting nervous over as Canucks fans.
This leaves us with the Canucks and their Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames. Both are fine; both are mid-level.
I have time for this.
Since joining the system, the 24-year-old Bellurssian has sometimes looked like the superior netminder. This was more prevalent last season, but there’s a good argument to say that Tolopilo had stolen the “starting job.”
Silovs just had some shaky moments, put himself into unnecessary scrambled stations, and had a tough time tracking shots from a distance — which happened to show itself at the NHL level, too.
Tolopilo is cool, calm, and collected and doesn’t typically get into scrambled situations. He really doesn’t seem to get rattled between the pipes, and from all the talks I have had with the coaches, they find him very coachable with a good foundation.
If I’m being totally honest, neither goaltender has looked particularly dominant this season. Both are riding sub-900 save percentages, and even though they are picking up wins as of late, they haven’t typically been 30-plus save performances.
The problem for Tolopilo is that Arturs Silovs is the Canucks’ drafted baby. While they may like Tolopilo, the fact is that he’s a 24-year-old and upcoming RFA. If help is needed, the call is more than likely going to be the developing draftee. Especially since neither truly stands over the other in the statistic column.
I guess this depends on what you consider to be the issue.
Is Tom Willander the most utilized defender at even strength on his Boston Terrier squad? No, he’s actually third. Is he still playing a ton of minutes at even strength? Absolutely.
He’s averaging 17:46 of even-strength minutes per game, the third-highest on his team. But add that he also plays heavy minutes on both special teams units, and you get an average of 22:43 per game. But he’s also seen games as high as 29 minutes per game this season.
The thing about BU is that you have to understand that they have a second Hutson. This time, it’s Lane’s younger brother, Cole. Simply put, Cole Hutson is the offensive driver of the team, and if you catch any of his games at BU or watch him navigate the World Juniors for the USA, it doesn’t take long to understand why he steals the majority of ice time.
But that’s not Willander’s game.
The Vancouver Canuck product is sound enough to run his own pairing, and it’s a wise move of Jay Pandolfo (BU’s Head Coach) to spit the two skaters up to form two firm lines. As a result, the sophomore Swede takes the back seat and skates one minute (on average) less than Cole Hutson, who leads the team in ice time.
Oh well.
Don’t sweat it. Whether it’s his ice time, offensive production, or his game in general, the kid is having an excellent season and is pro-bound  —whether that’s in Vancouver or Abbotsford remains to be seen — effective in a few weeks.
I feel very confident in saying that.
This one is fun.
Personally, I believe that this is a fair question. While I may disagree that the Canucks should become buyers (not that you are insinuating this), I do understand that their defensive prospect crop likely carries the highest probability of pulling weight in a trade package.
Right off the bat, I believe you can remove Elias Pettersson and Victor Mancini from this list. Pettersson is physical, skates well, and has already shown that he can handle the speed and size of the NHL. Unless the package is incredible, I don’t think you can move on from him.
Mancini, their shiny new toy who just made his debut in Abbotsford, is probably safe due to the simple fact that they clearly had eyes on him for some time. If reports are correct, he was a surprise focal point of the deal that sent JT Miller to the New York Rangers.
I love what Cole McWard brings, but I’m also not sure he carries much pull in a trade package. He has solid depth, but I wouldn’t personally put him in the same echelon for these purposes. If he’s being dealt, it’s simply a throw-in piece for the other side’s depth pool.
This brings us to Kirill Kudryavtsev and Sawyer Mynio.
I’ll preface this entire answer by saying I am a huge fan of both defenders. If you’ve followed me here at CanucksArmy, you know I have been on “Team Mynio” since day one. In a perfect world, both would remain within the system.
Let’s go through some pros and cons for Kudryavtsev.
Since being drafted in the seventh round (2022), the development he’s gone through is nothing short of amazing. He’s turned himself into a steady two-way presence, now capable of running the top power play unit at the American League level.
He skates decently well, he’s incredibly effective with his stick, and he sits second among Abbotsford Canucks’ defenders in points as a rookie. He led the defensive corps for quite some time, though.
For all those reasons, it’s probably safe to say that he carries a slightly higher trade value as a proven product at the pro level.
The big issue I see with Kirill, as opposed to Elias Pettersson, is that he’s slowly running out of real estate within this Vancouver defensive corps.
Let’s assume Tom Willander is in the mix. You can probably expect their corps to look as follows:
Hughes – Hronek
M. Pettersson – Willander
E. Pettersson – XX
Yes, as recently as this season, Kudryavtsev can and has played on the right side. But does he cater to a third-pair right-side as an NHL defender? Maybe. But let’s just say that I’m not fully convinced of that.
At the end of the day, Kirill’s strong transition boosts his stock on the trade market, but the space in the depth chart drops his stock within the system. He’s not going to play top-four minutes. He’s not going to be running any power play units. And he’s probably not going to be on the penalty kill.
That sort of pigeonholes his role, no?
As for Mynio, his nasty and aggressive defending screams bottom pairing, penalty killing defenceman for the future. He’s added an incredible offensive game to his repertoire — look at the goal he scored last week — but his bread and butter has been his shutdown ability. That’s what he was initially drafted for, anyway.
The downside to his game is that we’ve obviously not seen his transition to the pro level yet. He has to put on some weight to keep that snarl up at the NHL level, but the competitiveness is baked in.
Long story short, I’d rather keep both and have them marinate and hopefully transition through somehow. But, for argument’s sake, I’m calling Kirill Kudryavtsev the better, more potent trade stock option to deal in a package.
That’s all for today, folks. If your question wasn’t taken in today’s installment, we’ll try to catch it in the next one!
Enjoy the remainder of the 4 Nations Face-Off and the last stretch of NHL hockey!
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