Prospect Info: The 2023-2024 Prospects Thread Pt. 3

[ManVanFan]

IF he doesn't make the team, can he come back and play in the playoffs for Abby?

 

[krutovsdonut]

Classic case of a garbage-time flash in the pan. Showed good smarts initially, but I had serious doubts about whether he could handle a real season of pro. Guy was 24 at the time and still only 170 lbs, and then he didn't make any gains in the offseason. I thought it was likely that he'd bust, but he busted harder than I was expecting.

let's call it the griffin moleno rule. no college free agent signing can be assessed based on playing garbage time right after a full ncaa season. they are in peak playing shape, confident, and have nothing to lose, plus very little coaching restraints and living their dream. you are seeing their best self.

 

[AHLdepth]

He fooled a lot of people including all of Canucks’ management.

I'd like to think that Sasson simply absorbed all his potential, he seems to be a guy who has come in at above what his advertised ceiling was when we signed him

 

[MS]

He fooled a lot of people including all of Canucks’ management.

That one-way contract they gave him for next year is ... not idea.

Classic case of a garbage-time flash in the pan. Showed good smarts initially, but I had serious doubts about whether he could handle a real season of pro. Guy was 24 at the time and still only 170 lbs, and then he didn't make any gains in the offseason. I thought it was likely that he'd bust, but he busted harder than I was expecting.

The weird thing is that he’s actually done pretty well defensively. He’s just totally changed how he played.

This guy was a puck-moving, offensive defender in the NCAA and when he signed we saw lots of impressive clips of him skating the puck up the ice and joining the rush. Did the same in Vancouver last year – a guy who was obviously looking to make good plays with the puck when he got it and push the play up the ice effectively. Then he lit up the prospects tourney in September. And then he got cut in camp and … I don’t know what happened.

Basically what we’ve seen in Abbotsford this year is a hyper-conservative player who moves the puck as safely as possible, defers to his partner, lots of glass-out, never joins the play. I can barely remember him being involved in a scoring chance in 30 GP at that level and I’ve watched probably 25-28 of those games. 21 SOG in 32 games. He’s usually in good position because he’s played so conservatively and is a fairly reliable depth AHL player because of that but in terms of NHL projection … there’s nothing there.

I figured the worst-case would be that he was a 0.5 points/game quality AHL puck-mover but he’s been so much worse than that.

Thanks. McWard was someone I had wanted to keep an eye on this year. I had some expectations as a right shot D that played a steady college game. I had hopes that he could be an everyday 3rd pairing player after a year or two in the AHL.

I don't generally fall in love with players, every player just has a value. I was hoping that Klimovich would continue to build. Seemed like a player that could turn into a physical bottom 6 guy but his development... he should have went to the Q for two years. God damn Benning.

McWard and Filip Johansson to me are pretty much the same deal. Slightly undersized two-way AHL defenders who skate pretty well and move the puck pretty well at this level and are ‘ok’ defensively – a bit soft in coverage, prone to some errors, but generally reliable enough – but simply don’t have any traits that project moving up levels. Same tier/type as a guy like Wyatt Kalynuk who was in Abbotsford last year – good AHL players, maybe good enough for a cup of coffee at some point but don’t really do anything that translates into being an effective NHL player, offensively or defensively. And at age 23/24 I don’t know how much room there still is for growth.

 

[VanJack]

Having caught a majority of the Abbotsford Canuck games on the AHL Network, I'd say that McWard was having a solid rookie season, before he went down with injury.

He's a rare right-shot d-man with good wheels, and someone who can actually carry the puck into the offensive zone. The Canucks signed him as a 21-year old after two solid seasons in the NCAA with Ohio State.

I think the Canucks kind of scooped him up from under the noses of some other NHL teams, who figured he was going back to Ohio to play his junior season. McWard turns 23 in June, and had a solid training camp last September. He's knocking on the door of the NHL.

As for Klimovich, he's the great mystery in the Canucks prospect pool. After a solid 17-goal season a year ago, he's basically fallen off a cliff. Hasn't even dressed for 25 games. Canucks aren't saying what the issue is, or whether it is injury related,. But he's still only 21, so I guess he's not out of options yet.

 

[Lindgren]

I didn't notice anyone observing that everyone's favourite analyst, Rachel Doerrie, had the Canucks at 20th in a piece for ESPN ranking every prospect group:

The value of the pipeline rests with two high-end prospects, Tom Willander and Jonathan Lekkerimaki.

Trading Hunter Brzustewicz in the Lindholm deal hurt the system's overall value, but Lekkerimaki and Willander are projected for a top-six scoring role and top-four minutes muncher, respectively. Both players carry tremendous value at their respective positions and are more likely to be impact players than not.

Aatu Raty has elevated his stock this season and should be a useful role player in the NHL. Depth defensive prospects Elias Pettersson and Kirill Kudryavtsev have increased their value this season. Pettersson is has a No. 4/5 projection at the NHL level, and Kudryavstev's development has seen his projection elevate to a tweener that can fill in on the bottom pair.

Doerrie's Prospect Rankings

Apologies if it was already noted.

 

[nucksflailtogether]

I didn't notice anyone observing that everyone's favourite analyst, Rachel Doerrie, had the Canucks at 20th in a piece for ESPN ranking every prospect group:

Doerrie's Prospect Rankings

Apologies if it was already noted.

Seems as accurate as you would hope for.

 

[Nucker101]

I didn't notice anyone observing that everyone's favourite analyst, Rachel Doerrie, had the Canucks at 20th in a piece for ESPN ranking every prospect group:

Doerrie's Prospect Rankings

Apologies if it was already noted.

Seems fair to me, the Canucks prospect pool is pretty shallow

 

[MS]

Seems fair to me, the Canucks prospect pool is pretty shallow

We should be around 15th. Like, what exactly is the justification for Calgary being ahead of us?

 

[Nucker101]

We should be around 15th. Like, what exactly is the justification for Calgary being ahead of us?

I feel like there's a cluster of like 5-7 teams including both VAN/CGY that are interchangeable

Edit: I see Zary "graduated" so yeah I think the Flames are overrated here.

 

[ManVanFan]

I feel like there's a cluster of like 5-7 teams including both VAN/CGY that are interchangeable

Edit: I see Zary "graduated" so yeah I think the Flames are overrated here.

Hunter probably put them ahead of Van.

 

[LemonSauceD]

that list is kinda mid.

 

[Frostage]

That one-way contract they gave him for next year is ... not idea.



The weird thing is that he’s actually done pretty well defensively. He’s just totally changed how he played.

This guy was a puck-moving, offensive defender in the NCAA and when he signed we saw lots of impressive clips of him skating the puck up the ice and joining the rush. Did the same in Vancouver last year – a guy who was obviously looking to make good plays with the puck when he got it and push the play up the ice effectively. Then he lit up the prospects tourney in September. And then he got cut in camp and … I don’t know what happened.

Basically what we’ve seen in Abbotsford this year is a hyper-conservative player who moves the puck as safely as possible, defers to his partner, lots of glass-out, never joins the play. I can barely remember him being involved in a scoring chance in 30 GP at that level and I’ve watched probably 25-28 of those games. 21 SOG in 32 games. He’s usually in good position because he’s played so conservatively and is a fairly reliable depth AHL player because of that but in terms of NHL projection … there’s nothing there.

I figured the worst-case would be that he was a 0.5 points/game quality AHL puck-mover but he’s been so much worse than that.



McWard and Filip Johansson to me are pretty much the same deal. Slightly undersized two-way AHL defenders who skate pretty well and move the puck pretty well at this level and are ‘ok’ defensively – a bit soft in coverage, prone to some errors, but generally reliable enough – but simply don’t have any traits that project moving up levels. Same tier/type as a guy like Wyatt Kalynuk who was in Abbotsford last year – good AHL players, maybe good enough for a cup of coffee at some point but don’t really do anything that translates into being an effective NHL player, offensively or defensively. And at age 23/24 I don’t know how much room there still is for growth.

Do you think he could have been affected by an injury and spiraled to conservatism? I also thought he'd be better and so did the Canucks staff.

Hopefully, he heals up and regains his form during the summer but I am not holding my breath.

 

[sting101]

I think McWard has NHL upside. Decent size/strength and is a good enough skater with a heavy shot.

I never got the hype here around Hirose. Didn't think he would be this bad.

I'm not that high on Johansson either. Not a good enough defender and not enough size/strength to project to the next levels

 

[Lindgren]

The Soo won tonight, tying their series with Saginaw 2-2. Bloom and Kudryavtsev were pointless. Neither is lighting it up this series.

 

[Jay26]

I notice Jack Malone is on an ATO with the Comets, but he's still a Canucks prospect (as per EP his rights are still held by the Canucks). How does that work? Did the Canucks just loan him there because Abbotsford is full of prospects on ATO's already or what's going on with that?

 

[Vector]

I notice Jack Malone is on an ATO with the Comets, but he's still a Canucks prospect (as per EP his rights are still held by the Canucks). How does that work? Did the Canucks just loan him there because Abbotsford is full of prospects on ATO's already or what's going on with that?

ATOs don’t count as they are try-out contracts. Canucks, almost assuredly, told his agent they won’t be signing him so he was given permission to independently go after professional opportunities then reach official free agency in August.

 

[MS]

I think McWard has NHL upside. Decent size/strength and is a good enough skater with a heavy shot.

I never got the hype here around Hirose. Didn't think he would be this bad.

I'm not that high on Johansson either. Not a good enough defender and not enough size/strength to project to the next levels

I just don't see it with McWard. I don't think he really does anything that projects.

Slightly undersized, not really great defensively and a bit soft, pretty good skater but not really anything to write home about running a breakout or a contained situation either.

Like I said above, he reminds me of a guy like Wyatt Kalynuk who was a pretty nifty all-around AHL player but really did nothing to project as anything more than a cup-of-coffee guy in the NHL.

__________

You have to do *something* really well to move up levels.

Christian Wolanin is probably the best breakout-transition defender in the AHL and is elite enough at that that you could see where he could stick as a depth NHL player even if he's pretty mediocre defensively.

Juulsen is ++ physical and strong defensively and an elite PK-type guy in the AHL and that works moving up levels. Even Brisebois is a 6'3 shutdown pairing guy in the AHL with mobility.

When Friedman went down for 4 games his compete and mobility were just levels above the other guys and he was the best player on the ice.

McWard is kind of .... Juulsen offensively mixed with Wolanin defensively. Unless he has some sort of huge breakthrough, I don't see it. Same with Johansson who is a very similar player.

 

[VanJack]

I'd like to think that Sasson simply absorbed all his potential, he seems to be a guy who has come in at above what his advertised ceiling was when we signed him

You have to give some props to the Canucks scouts on this one.....There was nothing too riveting about Sasson's NCAA stats.....and there was little to indicate that he'd be so much better as a pro.

But clearly the Canucks were intrigued by his motor and his work rate....both of which have stood him in good stead in his first year in Abbotsford. His skating really stands out, and as a natural center, he's got a shot at being a bottom-six NHL forward at the very least.

Not bad for an undrafted guy, who's only net cost was a two-way NHL contract.

 

[RobertKron]

You have to give some props to the Canucks scouts on this one.....There was nothing too riveting about Sasson's NCAA stats.....and there was little to indicate that he'd be so much better as a pro.

But clearly the Canucks were intrigued by his motor and his work rate....both of which have stood him in good stead in his first year in Abbotsford. His skating really stands out, and as a natural center, he's got a shot at being a bottom-six NHL forward at the very least.

Not bad for an undrafted guy, who's only net cost was a two-way NHL contract.

Huh?

If a player is over 6', knows how to skate, has any semblance of two-way game, and puts up 1PPG+ as a second-year player in the NCAA, that's basically an automatic ELC somewhere. Sasson had interest from multiple NHL teams.

 

[Lindgren]

Saginaw won that pivotal 5th game, 3-2 in OT. Kudryavtsev assisted on both goals for the Soo; Bloom was pointless for Saginaw.

KK has 1/8/9 in 9 games, which puts him second in scoring for defensemen in the OHL playoffs. (Actually tied for second with Hunter B., but Hunter has played one more game.)

 

[AHLdepth]

Huh?

If a player is over 6', knows how to skate, has any semblance of two-way game, and puts up 1PPG+ as a second-year player in the NCAA, that's basically an automatic ELC somewhere. Sasson had interest from multiple NHL teams.

He was a good sign for sure, and probably did have interest amongst some teams, true.

But he was definitely a "does the little things" type of scouting report. His offense was never his calling card (or so was scouted), and the fact that he was on a line with 2 more highly coveted guys that signing periods lead to question marks about whether enough offense could translate. His skating, while always pretty good, has also taken another step, enough that it might very well earn him games next year. That, to me, is definitely coming in above his advertised ceiling.

 

[RobertKron]

He was a good sign for sure, and probably did have interest amongst some teams, true.

But he was definitely a "does the little things" type of scouting report. His offense was never his calling card (or so was scouted), and the fact that he was on a line with 2 more highly coveted guys that signing periods lead to question marks about whether enough offense could translate. His skating, while always pretty good, has also taken another step, enough that it might very well earn him games next year. That, to me, is definitely coming in above his advertised ceiling.

Sure, he's definitely done well for himself. This player was getting an ELC from someone last spring basically no matter what, though.

Edit:

 

[wetcoast]

I feel like there's a cluster of like 5-7 teams including both VAN/CGY that are interchangeable

Edit: I see Zary "graduated" so yeah I think the Flames are overrated here.

I think that it's a fair ranking as the Flames do have the quantity over us if one was making a top 15 between the 2 organizations.

I also think that Artem Grushnikov can become a decent bottom pairing to #4 defensive PK type of guy for the flames but then again I was high on Jett Woo on draft day......but I might have had my analysis more favourable after seeing his mom.

 

[VanJack]

Linus Karlsson has quietly had a bit of a breakthrough year in the AHL. He's officially a PPG player, having finished with 23 goals and 60 points in 60 games. If not for callups to the Canucks and a couple of injuries, he might have been a threat for 30 goals.

So what is his future? NHL bottom-six winger; or back to Europe.? Not sure he has much more to prove at the AHL-level.