Prospect Info: Canucks 2019 Prospect Rankings - #12

[MS]

It should affect your projections, you just don't want to make the mistake of overlooking pedigree and the entire body of evidence.

It's no secret that the players that typically fall out of favour the most are usually the guys that suffer injuries or are the ones making big leaps up in competition. Do both of those things in the same year and you will get a compounding affect. Unsurprisingly, the 3 guys that have fallen the most are the 3 guys that suffered injuries, while also making a big jump in competition in Juolevi, Gadjovich and Lind.

Nothing wrong with questioning these guys. Just don't be surprised if things look drastically different next season if they are healthy.

What’s actually no secret is that prospects who can’t skate generally crash and burn when transitioning to the AHL. See Cole Cassels and Dane Fox. And so it really shouldn’t be surprising that those three guys with major skating issues nosedived.

What’s also no secret is that after guys crash and burn as rookie pros, almost none of them ever recover.

 

[Hoghandler]

What’s actually no secret is that prospects who can’t skate generally crash and burn when transitioning to the AHL. See Cole Cassels and Dane Fox. And so it really shouldn’t be surprising that those three guys with major skating issues nosedived.

What’s also no secret is that after guys crash and burn as rookie pros, almost none of them ever recover.

Sure, prospects that skate very well usually translate the quickest to the AHL and NHL. They pass the eye test better than others because they appear to be in the flow of play more, and often are. That doesn't mean you want to overlook the lesser skaters when they are young pro's though. Weaker skaters often take some extra time to adapt to the big step up in speed.

I'm not saying these 3 are good prospects in relation to guys league wide, I'm saying relative to our own pool they are probably being underrated because they had to make the jump to pro, while dealing with injuries. The guys in our pool that people are most happy with all seem to have a couple things in common - they didn't jump up to the next level and they stayed healthy. Woo, Madden, Brisebois, Demko, MacEwen, Lockwood etc...

These aren't great prospects. But they might be underrated compared to their Canuck counterparts. Next season will tell the story.

 

[MS]

Sure, prospects that skate very well usually translate the quickest to the AHL and NHL. They pass the eye test better than others because they appear to be in the flow of play more, and often are. That doesn't mean you want to overlook the lesser skaters when they are young pro's though. Weaker skaters often take some extra time to adapt to the big step up in speed.

I'm not saying these 3 are good prospects in relation to guys league wide, I'm saying relative to our own pool they are probably being underrated because they had to make the jump to pro, while dealing with injuries. The guys in our pool that people are most happy with all seem to have a couple things in common - they didn't jump up to the next level and they stayed healthy. Woo, Madden, Brisebois, Demko, MacEwen, Lockwood etc...

These aren't great prospects. But they might be underrated compared to their Canuck counterparts. Next season will tell the story.

Weaker skaters still step up and move through levels quickly.

Lind isn’t done as a prospect but he’s in a pool where the odds of making it are exceedingly small. Once guys flop as first-year pros, very few ever come back from that.

In fact, going though our history, I can’t find a single draft pick who flopped as a first year pro the way Lind/Gadjovich did and then recovered. David Bruce might be closest. He was drafted 36 years ago.

Also, again, Lind’s injury was a minor thing that cost him 8-10 games. This was not a season where he was coming back from a ripped ACL.

 

[Hoghandler]

In fact, going though our history, I can’t find a single draft pick who flopped as a first year pro the way Lind/Gadjovich did and then recovered. David Bruce might be closest. He was drafted 36 years ago.

Also, again, Lind’s injury was a minor thing that cost him 8-10 games. This was not a season where he was coming back from a ripped ACL.

Lind was more productive than Jake Virtanen at the age of 20 in the AHL. Virtanen also didn't deal with injury that year - and is coming off a 15 goal NHL season at 22.

I thought Lind started to look pretty good in the 2-3 games leading up to the injury. Was more confident and making plays with the puck. Coming back from injury he didn't look like the same player. Looked awful for long stretches mid season. The injury hurt him because he was slow to begin with, already lacked strength and it hurt his ability to make strides in these areas. He is still a longshot to be a quality top 9 NHL player, but I want to see how he looks next season before claiming he's a lost cause. Especially after how he tracked well in his draft +1.

Same goes for Juolevi. He finished the '17-18 strong in Finland and has had to deal with 2 brutally devastating setbacks. Want to see where his game is with a bit of healthy runway ahead of him. I found his puck movement at the AHL level not just good, but tremendous. Guy made it look easy hitting forwards in stride from 70 feet away.

Gadjovich I was't very high on. Could carve out a career as a banger but didn't see much offensive upside at all.

 

[Get North]

For all the slack this prospect pool gets, they are ranked #7 on a HFBoards poll in the prospects section.

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

For all the slack this prospect pool gets, they are ranked #7 on a HFBoards poll in the prospects section.

How were they selected? By fan vote I'm guessing?

 

[Get North]

How were they selected? By fan vote I'm guessing?

Correct. Posters are free to vote.

 

[MrBojangles]

We're getting into the "unlikely to have an NHL career" category. Players can always surprise but it's slim pickins.

That said, it's nice to have close to a dozen on the board that have a legit chance of playing in the NHL.

GAdjovich and Lind already bust?
Second rounders just two years ago

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

GAdjovich and Lind already bust?
Second rounders just two years ago

Hopefully this doesn't discourage Jimbo from collecting seconds in the future. His heart was set on Kole Lind.

 

[Lemmiwinks]

For all the slack this prospect pool gets, they are ranked #7 on a HFBoards poll in the prospects section.

I personally disagree with the ranking; I'd have us no higher than 10th. Juolevi's name recognition is skewing perception among other fanbases.

 

[iceburg]

GAdjovich and Lind already bust?
Second rounders just two years ago

Not at all. I actually picked Lind above Brisboise, but that's not really my point. It's more a law of averages. Historically, teams are extremely fortunate to have 10 players in any given year in their prospect pools that ultimately go on to have NHL careers. That comes from a larger pool of players that project to have NHL careers. Some simply fall off for various reasons including poor development, injury, lack of a certain required attribute...
So, I'm not saying Lind and Gadjovich won't make it, I'm saying not everyone in the top 12 will. Lind and Gadjovich are just less likely to make it than those above them.

 

[VanJack]

Kinda depressing really. We're down to the 12th overall prospect and neither Lind nor Gadjovich are the front-runners.

I went off the board, picking Jasek. An older prospect but coming off a decent season in the AHL after breaking in with bang at the end of the previous season. Like his skating and compete-level. Could be poised for something of a breakthrough with the Comets.