Prospect Info: Canucks 2017 Prospect Rankings - #9

[Saturated Fats]

POLL #8 (177 votes)
Jake Virtanen - 77 votes
Kole Lind - 42 votes
Jonah Gadjovich - 23 votes
Will Lockwood - 10 votes
Guillaume Brisebois & Jordan Subban - 8 votes
Michael DiPietro - 5 votes
Jalen Chatfield - 2 votes
Griffen Molino & other (not specified) - 1 vote

Rank | Player | POS | 2016/17 Team | HT | WT | DOB | Drafted/Acquired | 2016 Rank | Poll% (Tot.)
1|Brock Boeser|RW|Vancouver (NHL)/Univ. of North Dakota (NCAA)|6.01|192|Feb 25 1997|23rd (2015)|1 (-)| 48.2%(166)
2|Elias Pettersson|C/LW|Timra IK (Allsve.)|6.02|165|Nov 12 1998|5th (2017)|NEW| 89.33%(150)
3|Olli Juolevi|D|London (OHL)|6.03|187|May 5 1998|5th (2016)|2 (-1)| 64.44%(180)
4|Thatcher Demko|G|Utica (AHL)|6.04|192|Dec 8 1995|36th (2014)|3 (-1)| 62.11%(161)
5|Jonathan Dahlen|C|Timra IK (Allsve.)|5.11|176|Dec 20 1997|Trade via OTT (2017)|NEW| 77.12%(118)
6|Adam Gaudette|C|Northeastern (NCAA)|6.01|183|Oct 3 1996|149th (2015)|10 (+4)| 57.24%(153)]
7|Nikolay Goldobin|LW/RW|Vancouver (NHL)/San Jose (AHL)|6.00|185|Oct 7 1995|Trade via SJ (2017)|NEW| 71.33%(150)
8|Jake Virtanen|RW|Utica (AHL)|6.01|207|Aug 17 1996|6th (2014)|4 (-4)| 43.50%(177)

8. Jake Virtanen
2016/17 season: Utica - 64GP 9G 10A // Vancouver - 10GP 0G 1A

- Is there a future for Jake Virtanen in Vancouver?

- The Province Canuck prospect profile - Jake Virtanen

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Eligible prospects
Rodrigo Abols
Brock Boeser
Matthew Brassard
Guillaume Brisebois
Cole Candella
Michael Carcone
Cole Cassels
Anton Cederholm
Jalen Chatfield
Jonathan Dahlen
Thatcher Demko
Michael DiPietro
Jonah Gadjovich
Adam Gaudette
Nikolay Goldobin
Kristoffer Gunnarsson
Philip Holm
Lukas Jasek
Olli Juolevi
Joseph LaBate
Yan-Pavel Laplante
Kole Lind
William Lockwood
Zack MacEwen
Evan McEneny
Brett McKenzie
Griffen Molino
Petrus Palmu
Andrey Pedan
Elias Pettersson
Jack Rathbone
Ashton Sautner
Mackenzie Stewart
Jakub Stukel
Jordan Subban
Jake Virtanen
Dmitri Zhukenov

Click to read more...

 

[denkiteki]

Voted Lind again tho he is actually number 8 for me.

 

[Saturated Fats]

The last one got pretty heated - which is, of course, the point of these threads.

I'll stick with Brisebois until he's in. He was #8 for me.

 

[Captain Bowie]

Lind again.

 

[Rotting Corpse*]

I picked Jordan subban because I want to fight some more.

 

[Lemmiwinks]

Voted Lind, my #8

 

[MS]

Zack MacEwan.

Would have MacEwan, Lockwood, and Gadjovich all ahead of Lind.

 

[M2Beezy]

Pettersson
Boeser

Juolevi
Gaudette
Demko
Dahlen

Gold
Lockwood
Briesbois
Gadvodich
Lind

Chatfield
Macewan
Rathbone
Holm
Diepietro
Gunarr
Palmu
Subban
Mceneny

Mckenzie
Arbols
Cassells
Brassard

Virtanen
Petit
Stewart

 

[Red]

Lind for me.

 

[denkiteki]

I picked Jordan subban because I want to fight some more.

That's actually not a bad pick depending on how you value NHL readiness since he's more likely to see any NHL action next season over quite a few other picks. Interestingly he was #8 last year and didn't exactly have a bad year but i got a feeling he'll drop a bit due to us having more/deeper prospect pool.

The only reason there was such a big argument last thread was due to the person winning... Virtanen has a decent number of supporters and a decent number of people who think he should be ranked a lot lower. The result is a debate... anyone else and you're not likely to see much of a debate.

MacEwen might draw more of a "already?" reaction than Virtanen (or Subban) but it'll be MS vs most of the forum there since i don't think too many people value a UDFA CHL prospect this highly. He went from a "ECHL bound" prospect to "maybe Utica" in my books after a good prospect game.

 

[vancityluongo]

I picked Jordan subban because I want to fight some more.

I'll bite. Would you a) trade Subban for a high 2nd round pick (33rd even) b) would you have taken any of the remaining players on the list at that spot? If not, why?

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

Gadjovich then Lind

 

[rune74]

Pettersson
Boeser

Juolevi
Gaudette
Demko
Dahlen

Gold
Lockwood
Briesbois
Gadvodich
Lind

Chatfield
Macewan
Rathbone
Holm
Diepietro
Gunarr
Palmu
Subban
Mceneny

Mckenzie
Arbols
Cassells
Brassard

Virtanen
Petit
Stewart

This is a bad list....Virtanen way down under a lot of players....wow.

 

[cc]

This was a tough one for me as it was between Gadjovich and Lind. I voted gadjovich over Lind only because I like his style of game more and he scored 46 goals in his draft year. I'm also confident that he'll improve his skating so hopefully he won't make me a liar.

I'd consider Zack but I don't think he's demonstrated enough for me. His point totals at his age aren't very impressive. He might be better now, but I think his upside is limited. Maybe he's a true late bloomer and will prove me wrong.

 

[Braeden]

Brisebois getting no respect. Shame.

 

[m9]

Zack MacEwan.

Would have MacEwan, Lockwood, and Gadjovich all ahead of Lind.

This might have been brought up in a previous thread, but if MacEwan was draft eligible this year instead of being an UFA would you have had him rated as a 1st/2nd round pick? And if the Canucks traded him today, you would expect a 1st or 2nd round pick for him in terms of value?

Brisebois getting no respect. Shame.

He's a 3rd round pick that has been tracking "okay". Not sure what expectations you would have.

 

[MS]

This might have been brought up in a previous thread, but if MacEwan was draft eligible this year instead of being an UFA would you have had him rated as a 1st/2nd round pick? And if the Canucks traded him today, you would expect a 1st or 2nd round pick for him in terms of value?

I have no idea what we'd get for him. I'd be disappointed to trade him for a 2nd round pick.

Like I said previously, if he had the birthdate of Lind/Gadjovich he'd have been a top-10 pick in last year's draft. And he has less CHL experience than those two guys.

Forget his age and look at his development curve. The guy went from a 9-goal scorer in PEI Jr. B in his draft year to a 10-goal scorer as a QMJHL rookie in his draft +2 year to a guy who was the best player on the ice most nights to close out last season. And was the best player on the ice in the prospect game last week. He is trending upward like a rocket.

He's a guy who didn't receive any sort of high-level coaching until he was 19 and it shows - he's playing the wrong position, needs to improve his motor and defensive awareness, and needs to be less individual and add some fine points to his game offensively. But his talent is massive. Again - and I don't say this lightly - he's the closest thing I've ever seen to a young Todd Bertuzzi in terms of his size and explosiveness/puckhandling in transition. And he can shoot the puck. Guys that big who can skate that well with the sort of skill level he has are incredibly rare and normally go in the top 5 picks of the draft.

I really, really, really hope that the new coaches in Utica work with his talent and put him in positions to succeed despite his defensive issues instead of trying to turn him into a defensive #4 center because he's big and physical, or limit his icetime until he learns to 'play the right way'.

Really looking forward to seeing him in the prospects tourney later this summer. Feel like there will probably be a WOAH! moment from fans here at that point.

 

[hellstick]

I voted for Lockwood again. Really believe he's going to expand on his good season last year.

 

[JumpierPegasus]

He's a 3rd round pick that has been tracking "okay". Not sure what expectations you would have.

He was up for QMJHL defenseman of the year this year with Chabot and Girard. He is incredibly intelligent with a high IQ, great leadership, and some solid puck moving abilities. His point totals weren't amazing, but they weren't terrible in Charlottetown

I think he tops out as a #6 smart defender (not saying he'll reach it, but that's what I see him as realistically/slightly optimistically). The guy you want on your bottom pairing of a championship team because he doesn't make mistakes, and if your top defenders need a rest he can go out against a top 6 and not make an error

I would put Lind/Gadjovich/Lockwood ahead of him, but I think he's our 2nd best D prospect behind Juolevi and just ahead of Subban

EDIT: But my answer to this poll is Lockwood again

 

[ChilliBilly]

Gone from clear consensus to about 8 guys who could go in any order.

Went with Gad, but really nice that we have 6 - 7 guys who could be voted in here. Probably a couple of them make the show .... no idea which ones ....

 

[MS]

He was up for QMJHL defenseman of the year this year with Chabot and Girard. He is incredibly intelligent with a high IQ, great leadership, and some solid puck moving abilities. His point totals weren't amazing, but they weren't terrible in Charlottetown

I think he tops out as a #6 smart defender (not saying he'll reach it, but that's what I see him as realistically/slightly optimistically). The guy you want on your bottom pairing of a championship team because he doesn't make mistakes, and if your top defenders need a rest he can go out against a top 6 and not make an error

I would put Lind/Gadjovich/Lockwood ahead of him, but I think he's our 2nd best D prospect behind Juolevi and just ahead of Subban

Brisebois is a weird one for me.

On paper, he's exactly the sort of defender I normally really like and rate highly - a mobile, high-IQ guy with good size and a good first pass. I generally dislike low-IQ defenders who are over-rated due to 'fluff' skills like shot/hitting/puck rushing and feel that the three real core skills for a quality NHL defender are IQ/mobility/size and that guys like this generally have a really high 'hit' rate.

But every time I see him play, I'm just so incredibly underwhelmed. He looks so small relative to his listed size (6'3 seems absurd when you watch him - a 6'1 guy like Chatfield looks so much bigger on the ice) and to me just plays a timid, uninvolved game and is incredibly weak along the boards. And while his skating is smooth, there's no real 'pop' to it and he seems slow to me.

I keep waiting to 'get it' on this player and just end up continuously underwhelmed. By contrast, watching a guy like Chatfield for a few games - who has a very similar scouting report on paper - I can see it and see the projection. Smart guy but also a high battle level and constantly involved pushing the play the right direction.

 

[denkiteki]

He's a 3rd round pick that has been tracking "okay". Not sure what expectations you would have.

He's actually tracking very well. The main problem is its much harder to judge D in the CHL and of course D takes longer to develop. That's why i haven't voted for him yet. For me he's #10 (tho i wouldn't vote him till 11 at the earliest since Virtanen would be a lot lower for me) or #2 in terms of D.

 

[m9]

He was up for QMJHL defenseman of the year this year with Chabot and Girard. He is incredibly intelligent with a high IQ, great leadership, and some solid puck moving abilities. His point totals weren't amazing, but they weren't terrible in Charlottetown

I think he tops out as a #6 smart defender (not saying he'll reach it, but that's what I see him as realistically/slightly optimistically). The guy you want on your bottom pairing of a championship team because he doesn't make mistakes, and if your top defenders need a rest he can go out against a top 6 and not make an error

I would put Lind/Gadjovich/Lockwood ahead of him, but I think he's our 2nd best D prospect behind Juolevi and just ahead of Subban

EDIT: But my answer to this poll is Lockwood again

Right, so I'm not really sure what you would be disagreeing with - he should be rated in a few spots.

I have no idea what we'd get for him. I'd be disappointed to trade him for a 2nd round pick.

Like I said previously, if he had the birthdate of Lind/Gadjovich he'd have been a top-10 pick in last year's draft. And he has less CHL experience than those two guys.

Forget his age and look at his development curve. The guy went from a 9-goal scorer in PEI Jr. B in his draft year to a 10-goal scorer as a QMJHL rookie in his draft +2 year to a guy who was the best player on the ice most nights to close out last season. And was the best player on the ice in the prospect game last week. He is trending upward like a rocket.

He's a guy who didn't receive any sort of high-level coaching until he was 19 and it shows - he's playing the wrong position, needs to improve his motor and defensive awareness, and needs to be less individual and add some fine points to his game offensively. But his talent is massive. Again - and I don't say this lightly - he's the closest thing I've ever seen to a young Todd Bertuzzi in terms of his size and explosiveness/puckhandling in transition. And he can shoot the puck. Guys that big who can skate that well with the sort of skill level he has are incredibly rare and normally go in the top 5 picks of the draft.

I really, really, really hope that the new coaches in Utica work with his talent and put him in positions to succeed despite his defensive issues instead of trying to turn him into a defensive #4 center because he's big and physical, or limit his icetime until he learns to 'play the right way'.

Really looking forward to seeing him in the prospects tourney later this summer. Feel like there will probably be a WOAH! moment from fans here at that point.

I get all that, and I'm very intrigued to see him play. I prefer power forward types like him and Gadjovich who are more physically mature as opposed to guys who are minor-league PF's at smaller weights.

Whether it's right or wrong, ultimately rankings prospects to me comes down to asset value and as a CHL UFA I don't think his value is that high. I think that having him rated this high means you are looking at how you rank players a bit differently than me, which is fine.

He's actually tracking very well. The main problem is its much harder to judge D in the CHL and of course D takes longer to develop. That's why i haven't voted for him yet. For me he's #10 (tho i wouldn't vote him till 11 at the earliest since Virtanen would be a lot lower for me) or #2 in terms of D.

Great, so you can agree that he shouldn't be rated as our 8th best prospect? That just because he's not in the top 8 doesn't mean that he gets "no respect" from people here? That's all I was saying.

 

[denkiteki]

Great, so you can agree that he shouldn't be rated as our 8th best prospect? That just because he's not in the top 8 doesn't mean that he gets "no respect" from people here? That's all I was saying.

Yeah but that doesn't mean he's only tracking "ok". That was the only part i disagreed with, i think he's tracking very well.

 

[JumpierPegasus]

Right, so I'm not really sure what you would be disagreeing with - he should be rated in a few spots.

Yes, but he isn't just tracking "okay" he's tracking pretty well. We just have a couple prospects that are also tracking well in Lockwood/Lind/Gadjovich. But he played a pretty damn good season last year which was incredibly promising