C Lorenzo Canonica - Shawinigan Catarectes, QMJHL (2021 Draft)

[duga]

He played for italy at least in the 18/19 season. I know him personally and played with him.
But you have to consider he dominated everybody just because he was 1.85 or smth like that at 13. He just was taller and faster than anyone. And at the moment hes scoring many tip in and one timer goals from his teammates. Plus the biggest concern is he is a very bad teammate or was atleast. And i heard he has some serious mental problems atm. So i think he isn’t really as big a deal as his numbers make u think.

Thx for the clarifications and the insight.
I indeed haven't seen him play yet. Sth I hope will chance next winter if there's a season at all.

It's rare for eliteprospects to miss updating their prospect profiles when it comes to international games. I've already checked it once 1 year ago and now again as I was interested what his numbers on that level might be. And then kept puzzling why a guy with his stats had no games at all registered, I even checked the profile of some of his Italian peers, but those had their stats updated. So I assumed, he might didn't play and wanna pull a move like some talents from Vorarlberg with history in Swiss juniors, who opted to play for Switzerland eventually.

I knew he played this mixed 3-on-3 tournament at the Youth Olympics in Lausanne though.

And while some things you write sound indeed a bit concerning, don't forget he's still not yet 16.

And in general I'm very much convinced that talents at this age should rather play a bit egoistical and try out a lot of stuff very often, even if it's not always efficient. It's getting harder and harder to add skill moves the higher the level rises. Or in other words: you got little chance to pull some moves out of your sleeves as a pro, if you haven't done them many times wrong as a junior.

IMO the SIHF and many clubs, among them the ZSC as well, put for way too long and early their emphasis too much on developing reliable team-orientated 2-way players instead of allowing the big talents character and creativity and letting them max out their skill development, before putting them into tactical vessel. Things gotten much better at the federation thx to guys like Simpson, Fischer or Wohlwend though. (As fans we still had to suffer through guys like Celio, Fust or Hanlon unfortunately)

Just remember how Brunner got deprived of playing for the junior NT by the SIHF, labelled as uncoachable (by at the time Kloten coach Eldebrink as well) and not NLA-material. LOL.

Or how much the ZSC struggeld to properly handle guys like Cu-nti, Andrighetto or Fiala (who really was a bit of a headcase though for a long time). And they all turned out pretty solid and preserved parts of their idiosyncracy for good.

So I really hope for him to pan out. Would love Italy to get a bit more competitive again.

 

[Speyer]

Canonica's stats have stagnated since last year (still around ppg in the U20 league) wich is not exactly what you want to see in a young prospect. With Stoffel and Lindemann out of the line up due to COVID he will likely get significant ice time at the WJC. Hopefully he will use it to get himself drafted.

 

[m0pe]

Canonica's stats have stagnated since last year (still around ppg in the U20 league) wich is not exactly what you want to see in a young prospect. With Stoffel and Lindemann out of the line up due to COVID he will likely get significant ice time at the WJC. Hopefully he will use it to get himself drafted.

I think he had a bit of a slow start but picked up lately.

Watched him last week and he looked dynamite. I expect a big WJC from him and don't think being drafted should be a concern at all.

 

[Speyer]

I think he had a bit of a slow start but picked up lately.

Watched him last week and he looked dynamite. I expect a big WJC from him and don't think being drafted should be a concern at all.

Ok I can't comment on his actual play I just thought his overall production was a bit disapointing as it didnt rise from last year. But there are a bunch of factors who can contribute to that that are not even in the players control. This year is also not a regular season and the current situation can be very difficult for any player. I also expect very much that he will be drafted but we seen a number of swiss prospects fall out of favor to an extreme degree in the last few years (Eggenberger, Nussbaumer, Delemont, Rochette, Knak). This is why I have lowered my expectations in general in that regard.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

He has not produced much in the WJC tournament, but neither has Switzerland. He does have some skill and I think there is enough there for him to get drafted, especially since he is at least playing hockey right now. I don't know if he is anything more than a late round pick, similar to Nussbaumer.

Hopefully he goes through with his commitment with Shawinigan. That will be the best way for him to showcase himself, and as long as he does at least as well as Nussbaumer did (which was decent, but not amazing), then he should get drafted. If he does well (i.e. PPG), he may go somewhere in rounds 3-5.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Ok I can't comment on his actual play I just thought his overall production was a bit disapointing as it didnt rise from last year. But there are a bunch of factors who can contribute to that that are not even in the players control. This year is also not a regular season and the current situation can be very difficult for any player. I also expect very much that he will be drafted but we seen a number of swiss prospects fall out of favor to an extreme degree in the last few years (Eggenberger, Nussbaumer, Delemont, Rochette, Knak). This is why I have lowered my expectations in general in that regard.

Each one of them had their own set of issues, but usually it was they were not able to improve on their promising D-1 years. They plateaued, and that was not enough to convince teams to select them.

Also, the best Swiss players were good in the U20 tournament in their draft years. None of these guys were either good enough to make that squad, or were not very good in the tournament. The ones who were drafted, and often drafted high (Niederreiter, Meier, Hischier, Siegenthaler, Josi, Malgin, etc.) all did quite well in the U20 tournament at 18, and ultimately were able to make the NHL.

That is a trend for every any country outside of Canada, USA, Finland, Russia, and Sweden though (Czechia has the occasional exception). The best thing for those prospects, if they can't crack their country's top pro league, would be to go to a league like the CHL, USHL, or to Finland/Sweden to get better playing opportunities, if they are a top prospect and have NHL aspirations.

 

[Number 57]

He has not produced much in the WJC tournament, but neither has Switzerland. He does have some skill and I think there is enough there for him to get drafted, especially since he is at least playing hockey right now. I don't know if he is anything more than a late round pick, similar to Nussbaumer.

Hopefully he goes through with his commitment with Shawinigan. That will be the best way for him to showcase himself, and as long as he does at least as well as Nussbaumer did (which was decent, but not amazing), then he should get drafted. If he does well (i.e. PPG), he may go somewhere in rounds 3-5.

He has already arrived in Shawinigan.

Although Demchenko arrived in Baie-Comeau couple days ago but they had to send him back to Russia for some reason... so you never know

 

[Speyer]

Also, the best Swiss players were good in the U20 tournament in their draft years. None of these guys were either good enough to make that squad, or were not very good in the tournament. The ones who were drafted, and often drafted high (Niederreiter, Meier, Hischier, Siegenthaler, Josi, Malgin, etc.) all did quite well in the U20 tournament at 18, and ultimately were able to make the NHL.

That is a trend for every any country outside of Canada, USA, Finland, Russia, and Sweden though (Czechia has the occasional exception). The best thing for those prospects, if they can't crack their country's top pro league, would be to go to a league like the CHL, USHL, or to Finland/Sweden to get better playing opportunities, if they are a top prospect and have NHL aspirations.

I totally agree with the first point except for Knak who was pretty good in a more limited role and didnt get drafted. Not giving young players opportunities is a big problem in the NLA right now with the exception of one or two teams. Going abroad is a tricky alternative though. You cant just commit to any team and the wrong decision can hurt your career too. Nussbaumer for example set his career back by commiting to a terrible Shawinigan team and having to start over at the back of the food chain in Biel. Knak wasnt able to get drafted in Portland either as I mentioned. I guess luck is still a very underrated factor when it comes to a prospects career.

 

[Kuracmugger]

Surprised he went undrafted i thought that he would be grabbed with a later round pick. Guess he will be drafted a year after his initial Draft year as every swiss prospect at the moment

 

[Hinterland]

He wasn't any good (at all) internationally so I'm not surprised.

 

[Speyer]

He wasn't any good (at all) internationally so I'm not surprised.

He was forced into a role as first line center on a subpar swiss team at the WJC and was clearly outmatched as one of the younger players in the tournament. A lot of the late round picks didnt even get a sniff of that level of competition this year. I cant comment on his play in Shawinigan but his numbers there were not all that bad and arguably better than those of quite a few players drafted in the later rounds. The scouts must really have seen a significant red flag in his game (maybe skating) to pass him over completely. Or they felt that he lacks both talent for a top six role and physicality/compete level for a bottom six role.

Personally I think this might be a good thing for him. A little adversity hasnt done any athlete any harm and could motivate him to put in some etxtra work in this offseason and try again next year.

 

[Hinterland]

He was forced into a role as first line center on a subpar swiss team at the WJC and was clearly outmatched as one of the younger players in the tournament. A lot of the late round picks didnt even get a sniff of that level of competition this year. I cant comment on his play in Shawinigan but his numbers there were not all that bad and arguably better than those of quite a few players drafted in the later rounds. The scounds must really have seen a significant red flag in his game (maybe skating) to pass him over completely. Or they felt that he lacks both talent for a top six role and physicality/compete level for a bottom six role.

Personally I think this might be a good thing for him. A little adversity hasnt done any athlete any harm and could motivate him to put in some etxtra work in this offseason and try again next year.

Agreed. He's not the first player to get burned by piss poor coaching of Swiss national teams. They didn't do him a favour there.

 

[Speyer]

Unfortunately not much improvement in Canonicas reagular season stats in the Q this year. His playoff stats seem absolutely terrible though. Has somenone who followed the Q an expletation for this? Did he play hurt or was he just plain bad?

In any case he certainly didn't help his case for being drafted as an overager this season. I would be almost shocked if any team would thorw a pick at him at this point. Unfortunately he seems to be the latest example of a somewhat promising swiss prospect having a dissapointing junior career. I guess he will be coming back to Switzerland next season.