Prospect Info: Vancouver Canucks 2016 Top 25 Prospects - #1

[Saturated Fats]

Nucks fans!

With the Free Agent 'Frenzy', Draft and Trade Window fading into the rear-view mirror, it's time-again to go about ranking the Canucks current crop of prospects.

Last year's voting went as such:

Rank | Player | POS | HT | WT | DOB | 2014 Rank | Poll%
1| Jake Virtanen |RW|6.01|207|Aug 17, 1996|2 (↑1)| 80.00%
2| Jared McCann |C|6.00|185|May 31, 1996|6 (↑4)| 68.21%
3| Brock Boeser |RW|6.00|191|Feb 25, 1997|Not Ranked| 57.14%
4| Thatcher Demko |G|6.04|195|Dec 8, 1995|10 (↑6)| 48.87%
5| Cole Cassels |C|6.00|180|May 4, 1995|12 (↑7)| 51.45%
6| Hunter Shinkaruk |LW|5.11|180|Oct 13, 1994|3 (↓3)| 58.67%
7| Brendan Gaunce |C/W|6.02|207|Mar 25, 1994|5 (↓2)| 34.59%
8| Ronalds Kenins |LW|6.00|201|Feb 28, 1991|17 (↑9)| 38.96%
9| Frank Corrado |D|6.00|190|Mar 26, 1993|7 (↓2)| 53.59% 10 | Adam Clendening | D | 6.00 | 190 | Oct 26, 1992 | Not Ranked | 26.06%
11| Ben Hutton |D|6.03|200|Apr 20, 1993|9 (↓2)| 27.48%
12| Jordan Subban |D|5.09|185|Mar 3, 1995|15 (↑3)| 32.76%
13| Guillaume Brisebois |D|6.02|175|Jul 21, 1997|Not Ranked| 38.46%
14| Alexandre Grenier |RW|6.05|200|Sep 5, 1991|20 (↑6)| 39.81%
15| Andrey Pedan |D|6.05|215|Jul 3, 1993|Not Ranked| 54.62%
16| Dmitri Zhukenov |C|5.11|170|Mar 24, 1997|Not Ranked| 33.33%
17| Nikita Tryamkin |D|6.07|228|Aug 30, 1994|14 (↓3)| 43.97%
18| Nicklas Jensen |RW|6.03|202|Mar 6, 1993|4 (↓14)| 58.88%
19| Lukas Jasek |RW|6.00|170|Aug 28, 1997|Not Ranked| 72.09%
20| Evan McEneny |D|6.02|212|May 22, 1994|Not Ranked| 32.08%
21| Dane Fox |C/LW|6.00|188|Oct 13, 1993|11 (↓10)| 31.33%
22| Anton Cederholm |D|6.02|209|Feb 21, 1995 |21 (↓1)| 35.71%
23| Joseph Labate |C|6.04|210|Apr 16, 1993|25 (↑2)| 23.26%
24| Mackenze Stewart |D|6.03|240|Aug 10, 1995|Not Ranked| 27.71%
25|Carl Neill|D|6.01|216|Jul 6, 1996|Not Ranked| 30.56%

Since then, we have added, subtracted and graduated from the prospect pool.

Graduated to Team
Ben Hutton

Added
Olli Juolevi
Troy Stecher
Michael Garteig
Yan-Pavel Laplante
Tom Nilsson
William Lockwood
Cole Candella
Jakob Stukel
Rodrigo Abols
Brett McKenzie

Subtracted
Jared McCann (2015 - #2)
Hunter Shinkaruk (2015 - #6)
Ronalds Kenins (2015 - #8)
Frank Corrado (2015 - #9)
Nicklas Jensen (2015 - #18)
Dane Fox (2015 - #21)

For the sake of clarity (and argument), Nuckles and I have agreed that we'll use what HFBoards uses when considering if one is a 'prospect'. This will mean players like Jake Virtanen and Nikita Tryamkin are still eligible for inclusion.

Each poll will be left open for 24 hours - but discussions are obviously welcome for after that.

Have fun!

2015 ranking - http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1936325
2014 ranking - http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1719893
2013 ranking - http://hfboards.mandatory.com/showthread.php?t=1486113

Click to read more...

 

[Favre4]

I voted Virtanen #1. I still believe he has miles of potential. So sad to think our #2 an #6 prospects have been moved.

 

[Verviticus]

its ok to move prospects. the sad thing is that we got nothing for them

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

An interesting debate could definitely be had for the top 3.

 

[Favre4]

I still believe shinkaruk is gonna be some kind of player.

 

[opendoor]

This organization's prospect depth at center is absolutely disgusting. They've been one of the worst teams in the NHL the last 3 years, have a 36 year old #1 C, and the best prospect they can muster up down the middle had 7 points last year in the AHL.

 

[Verviticus]

An interesting debate could definitely be had for the top 3.

whether or not i think boeser has a good chance of being a better player than juolevi, juolevi without question has the highest value of the three only because its largely defined by where he was picked

 

[Saturated Fats]

This organization's prospect depth at center is absolutely disgusting. They've been one of the worst teams in the NHL the last 3 years, have a 36 year old #1 C, and the best prospect they can muster up down the middle had 7 points last year in the AHL.

Not gonna disagree with you there.

But you could say something similar of the D depth were it not for Juolevi (in a situation where we'd drafted, say, Logan Brown).

So it's a difficult and not-ideal spot to be in.

 

[PancakeHero]

I vote Demko.

I think the top assets are: Demko, Virtanen, Boesser, Juolevi, Tryamkin in that order.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

Not gonna disagree with you there.

But you could something similar of the D depth were it not for Juolevi (in a situation where we'd drafted, say, Logan Brown).

So it's a difficult and not-ideal spot to be in.

Almost like we should have held onto #33 and gotten a decent C and a decent D prospect.

Imagine!

 

[opendoor]

Not gonna disagree with you there.

But you could something similar of the D depth were it not for Juolevi (in a situation where we'd drafted, say, Logan Brown).

So it's a difficult and not-ideal spot to be in.

Yeah, it's not really a critique of who they picked at #5. Juolevi is a fine selection given who was available. It's more that because they've traded away so many picks and prospects they simply have no depth anywhere in the system except on the wings. Not a good situation for a team that has been as bad as the Canucks have been to be in.

 

[Thad Castle]

Juolevi or Boeser. I voted Juolevi.

 

[Scygen]

Went with Demko, think he's a little farther along then anyone else.. and an elite Goaltender is more valuable then an elite winger IMO.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

whether or not i think boeser has a good chance of being a better player than juolevi, juolevi without question has the highest value of the three only because its largely defined by where he was picked

Do you mean if we were going to trade them, teams would be more interested in Juolevi?

Perhaps.

But perhaps Virtanen has even more value, as a #6 who has some NHL games under his belt already.

 

[Saturated Fats]

Almost like we should have held onto #33 and gotten a decent C and a decent D prospect.

Imagine!

... Yeah, fair enough. The Centers picked from 33-40 were Rasmus Asplund, Jordan Kyrou and Pascal Laberge. None is a guaranteed stud, but certainly would've been a welcome addition to a prospect pool that's looking to be at its shallowest point since 2012.

 

[Huggy43]

Crazy that 5 of our top 10 last year are gone & we have RealGud, Granlund & whoever we drafted with the pick from Florida to show for it.

Voted Boeser on his potential to be a game changer.

 

[Saturated Fats]

Crazy that 5 of our top 10 last year are gone & we have RealGud, Granlund & whoever we drafted with the pick from Florida.

Candella.

Kenins isn't really a net loss - he had a garbage year, and would've likely fallen into the 20's of the rankings were he still around.

We also clearly overrated Clendening. Forsling, however...

 

[Captain Bowie]

Juolevi->Boesser->Demko->Virtanen

 

[Intoewsables]

Toss up between Juolevi and Boeser for me. I'd usually go for the forward all else equal, but I think I've got Juolevi a tick ahead.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Virtanen played the full year in Vancouver last year, so he really shouldn't be considered a prospect.

For this round I'm voting Brock Boeser, though I expect Juolevi to get a lot of votes because he's the shiny new prospect.

 

[VanJack]

Voted Juolevi, but only because he's the highest drafted player since the Sedins...and impact blueliners are at a premium...but no denying what Boeser accomplished in the NCAA as a true freshman.

 

[Hammer79]

Juolevi or Boeser. I voted Juolevi.

Yeah, that's my top 2 as well.

 

[Scholarships]

Juolevi

 

[hellstick]

Boeser, Virtanen, Juolevi

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I vote Demko.

I think the top assets are: Demko, Virtanen, Boesser, Juolevi, Tryamkin in that order.

I think Demko has the ability to become the highest impact player of the grouping. In terms of assets, though, goaltenders are seldom worth much of anything. Virtually every team already feels set in the position, either now or in the near future.

Voted Juolevi for potential eventual value.