Welcome back to WWYDW, the only hockey column on the internet inspired by mid-2000s dance flicks.

Speaking of stepping up, every year, someone does so in training camp. Really, most players spend their entire careers trying to prove they belong in the NHL, but never is that feeling more crystalized and intensified than in the yearly training camps, where some 50-60 players enter, and only a maximum of 23 make it out the other side as members of the opening-day roster.

Every year, certain players wilt under the pressure. And every year, other players rise to the occasion.

Each training camp has at least one star. Each year, at least one individual in each organization impresses so much in the preseason segment that they dramatically raise their personal standing within the organization.

Maybe that means earning an NHL contract, maybe it means making the team outright, maybe it means just placing oneself higher up the list of potential call-ups. Whatever the case, some players find a way to make a name for themselves in training camp, and right now, several members of the Vancouver Canucks organization are gearing up to be that player.

So who’s it going to be?

We’re not just asking who is going to have a ‘good’ camp. There are different sets of expectations for different players, and plenty of those within the Canucks organization are expected to have ‘good’ camps. We’re specifically talking about those players who will drastically outperform their expectations, those who will use training camp to force the front office and coaching staff to take a second look at them and reconsider their standing within the depth chart.

We’re talking about the show-stealers.

Like we said at the outset, every year, there’s at least one of them. Now is your chance to call it before it happens.

This week, we’re asking:

Let it be known in the comment section.

You answered below!

Thought about the question for a couple minutes and just couldn’t answer as it’s worded. I’ll be attending he Canuck games and there are too many interesting prospects to pick just one.

Klimovich looked good a year ago, then had a crappy season. Is he done or does he start putting himself back in the conversation? Where is Raty at? Bloom? Does Alriksson begin his ascent up the depth chart? Are the two big d-men picked late in 2024 actually good prospects? Anxious for a look at the whole D-corps. There are expectations on Lekkerimäki. Will he excel?

Another interesting thing to watch is the Flames are bringing Brz and Jurmo. Just how big was the price paid for Lindholm?

We’ve seen most of the others before, so I’m going with new guys. A tie between recent mid round picks Riley Patterson and Anthony Romani.

I wouldn’t use excited to really describe my thoughts. I’ve seen a lot of the best guys like Lekkerimäki, Pettersson, and Willander, and all look to be players on the cusp of the NHL, so hopefully they keep getting better.

I would say there are players I am intrigued by though. Riley Patterson for one, from what I have seen so far he looks like a real interesting player and maybe a diamond in the rough. We wouldn’t be so fortunate to have a future Jamie Benn, would we?

The other intriguing guy is the Swiss Giant Basile Sansonnens. No one has really seen anything of this guy, so I just want to see what he is all about. I don’t expect a 7th rounder to be an NHL player, but I do want to see how he looks.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki. He’s the only player with a real chance to make the big team in my view. It will be fun watching him play in preseason games, where I expect he’ll get lots of ice time in the top-six, including time with EP40. If he makes the team, that would be great; but given his age and inexperience on North American ice, I am fine with him starting in Abby.

Lekkerimäki is the only guy who pushes the needle. Period. No one else coming to camp and playing in these games is even remotely exciting. And that is fine. The team is very much set long-term as far as the core. JL is the only guy not named Willander who could supplant a player from the core; i.e. Boeser.

Aside from the obvious choices, I’d also like to see Kirill Kudryavtsev. He was such a force for the Soo last season. He is a player I’ve been watching closely.

One player who I think needs a strong set of games for the young stars is Klimovich.

This is a Young Stars tournament, so don’t be surprised if Lekkerimaki dominates this tournament.

Definitely at an advantage in answering this question after the Young Stars has already concluded. But there always seems to be someone who enters the tourney as a fairly unheralded prospects, and then walks away with everyone knowing their name, and now holding new expectations for them.

This year, that player was definitely Vilmer Alriksson. He was drafted as a project, big on size and skill but low on polish, and his performance in Penticton might have been an advanced preview of what the finished project could one day look like.

Alriksson’s still got a long path ahead of him before he sees NHL minutes, but now there’s a level of anticipation for him to start his professional career – probably in 2025/26 after one more year in the OHL.

At the very least, when Alriksson shows up in Penticton next year, he’ll have a lot more eyes pointed in his direction.