Vancouver Canucks Mid Season Prospect Rankings 1

[Scurr]

Yes. Shinkaruk has basically been a PPG player against pro's this year. As still one of the youngest players on his team (only Subban and Cassels are younger) he has an 8 point lead on the next highest scorer.

Demko and Boeser are newer so they're shinier, but right now I'd say Shinkaruk deserves to be ranked higher.

Just curious… why didn't this logic translate into Subban being higher on the list?

 

[Pip]

instead of lists, was hoping to see more debate over who is our #1 prospect.

Seems to be a 3 horse race between Hutton, McCann, and Virtanen.

 

[McHortton]

instead of lists, was hoping to see more debate over who is our #1 prospect.

Seems to be a 3 horse race between Hutton, McCann, and Virtanen.

I voted Hutton, he's definitely the player right now. McCann has a lot of potential , but right now he's still lacking some size and strength. Then you have Virtanen who has the NHL body , he just doesn't really have the offensive confidence yet.

Overall I think Hutton is the safe choice for #1 prospect right now but I wouldn't be surprised if McCann or Virtanen end up to be the better player, even within the next couple years.

 

[vancityluongo]

Hutton over McCann. Even though he's three years older, defenseman develop later and peak later. Hutton at 27 will be better than McCann at 24 IMO.

 

[Numbers]

Everyone voting for Hutton should think of what Virtanen and McCann will be in 3 years.

 

[y2kcanucks]

Just curious… why didn't this logic translate into Subban being higher on the list?

As a defenseman there's a bigger emphasis on how he plays in his own zone. I do personally think he'll have a role at the NHL level, but there are question marks about how he can handle NHL forwards given his size as well.

Pedan has played at the NHL level and didn't look too bad. That's why I put Pedan ahead of Subban (slightly in my mind).

 

[VasilyHoglander]

Everyone voting for Hutton should think of what Virtanen and McCann will be in 3 years.

Virtanen in 3 years? Torres?
Ppl have Boeser over Shink cause hes the shiny new toy. Ppl seem to forget Boeser is playing in the NCAA and on a really good team and line. While Shinkaruk is playing in the A against way tougher competition and crappier linesmates while putting up PPG.

 

[beachcomber]

1) Hunter Shinkaruk
2) Thatcher Demko
3) Brock Boeser
4) Brendan Gaunce
5) Andrey Pedan
6) Jordan Subban
7) Alex Grenier
8) Michael Zalewski
9) Anton Rodin
10) Cole Cassels
11) Ronalds Kenins
12) Guillaume Brisebois
13) Dmitry Zhukenov
14) Nikita Tryamkin
15) Adam Gaudette
16) Lukas Jasek
17) Alex Friesen
18) Joe LaBate
19) Dane Fox
20) Ashton Sautner

I didn't include Hutton, McCann, Virtanen, or Horvat since they're NHL regulars.

Three, maybe four of that group will end up in the nhl at some point. Looks pretty thin again.

 

[WTG]

Three, maybe four of that group will end up in the nhl at some point. Looks pretty thin again.

6 of them have already been in the NHL at one point.

 

[Red]

Damn this was actually really tough for once. Hard to decide between McCann and Boeser for me - Boeser I do believe will end up being the better player at his peak, McCann I feel is the more versatile surefire player who will have the better career and have a longer peak, so I went with him.

 

[orcatown]

1. Demko
2. Boeser


3. Pedan
4. Rodin
5. Zalewski
6. Shinkaruk
7. Subban
8. Kenins

9. Tryamkin
10. Gaunce
11. Gaudette
12. Cannata

13. Brisebois
14. Sautner
15. Neill
16. Olsen

17. Friesen
18. Grenier

19. LaBate
20. Cassels

 

[Scurr]

Subban has a rare skill set and is trending. He has earned more respect than he is getting.

 

[M2Beezy]

So close for me between shincky boeser hutty mccann. So close...

 

[m9]

As always, based on asset value. To me it's always the scenario that the team has traded an unnamed prospect - who do I least want that player to be..

1. Virtanen
2. McCann
3. Hutton
4. Boeser
5. Demko
6. Shinkaruk
7. Pedan
8. Subban
9. Tryamkin
10. Zalewski
11. Rodin
12. Gaunce
13. Brisebois
14. Cassels
15. Kenins
16. Olsen
17. Zhukenov
18. Grenier
19. Neill
20. Gaudette

Overall I really like the top seven, then we have a couple wildcards I want to see the future for. The rest isn't overly intriguing.

And just as it's always a topic around here, Forsling would be 13 on my list if he was still Canucks property. Not nearly as concerned about losing him as others are.

 

[Love]

Going with Boeser even with the NHLers on the list (they probably shouldn't be on the list though).

 

[Jyrki21]

Subban has a rare skill set and is trending. He has earned more respect than he is getting.

You only have one vote, though. There aren't going to be many people who think he is the top prospect in the entire organization.

If this was a ranked vote, I'm sure he'd be getting some recognition (although even then not too much in the top 3-5).

 

[CRDragon]

1. McCann
2. Hutton
3. Virtanen
4. Shinkaruk
5. Boeser
6. Gaunce
7. Demko
8. Rodin
9. Grenier
10. Pedan
11. Tryamkin
12. Subban

 

[y2kcanucks]

You DO know who you're responding to right?

Yup.

Last year Shinkaruk made significant improvement by the end of the year from the beginning in terms of his overall play. His critics still called it a bad developmental year because he didn't have the numbers. This year he has the numbers, and yet the goal posts move.

It's also funny how Chris Tanev is a 1-dimensional player yet he's untouchable, yet Hunter Shinkaruk is likely more of a 1-dimensional forward but he's apparently a garbage prospect. Double standards and moving goal posts galore.

 

[denkiteki]

Kinda hard to vote because McCann and Hutton have pretty much been on the team all year so are they really still "prospects".

 

[mathonwy]

Yup.

Last year Shinkaruk made significant improvement by the end of the year from the beginning in terms of his overall play. His critics still called it a bad developmental year because he didn't have the numbers. This year he has the numbers, and yet the goal posts move.

It's also funny how Chris Tanev is a 1-dimensional player yet he's untouchable, yet Hunter Shinkaruk is likely more of a 1-dimensional forward but he's apparently a garbage prospect. Double standards and moving goal posts galore.

Yes, I noted that at the time.

To me, Shinkaruk has to be a scoring top 6 player and a PP specialist. Other aspects of his game such as poor back checking skills, poor play along the boards in his own zone don't suit him for bottom your bottom 6. He has to be an elite scorer at the NHL level or he doesn't make it IMO.

I think the pretty much the same thing applies to players like Baertschi, Rodin and Broser (when he arrives). All of these type players are expected to be scorers. Thus you see something of a log jam of that type player down the road.

Where the team is short is on high end defensive prospects. To get those you most sensibly trade from a position of surplus which is what we may have at scoring type forward.

More than this there has to be questions about Shinkaruk. The problem with his strength is obvious but I think the bigger problem is his cleverness. This shows up in his passing and puck movement. Too often he takes the puck wide and is forced into the corner or behind the net and is not able to make the lateral pass or button hook back to open up the passing lanes. In fact, I rarely see him create or use passing lanes well. Quite often he will throw hoper passes across looking for a bounce. Also, Shinkaruk is not crafty in getting out of tight situations. On the PP when teams press him he frequently makes the bad pass and losses possession. This IMO is a big limitation in considering his offensive upside. Shinkaruk can get on the end of plays but has trouble initiating them. When you are looking at highlights you are seeing Shinkaruk at the end of plays but if you watch the whole game you don't see him creating much.

I think this is what people are observing when they talk about Shinkaruk being eliminated from the play too easily and the play dying on his stick. You would just like to see him sustain possession and move the puck around with more skill.

That said, Shinkaruk is a good shooter and is scoring which counts for a lot. That makes him a prospect. But if you look past the scoring you see enough limitations that considering a trade makes some sense.

Some reject this since they seem to have real soft spot for Shinkaruk and a huge belief in him. But I believe you got to stand back and recognize the gamble you are taking by keeping so many smallish forwards and by overlooking some of the issues with Shinkaruk. If Shinkaruk can help you fetch some good defensive prospect from a team like the Islander (who seem to have a bunch of them) that might be the best thing he can do for the team.

McWTG

Saying you base it on "development" IMO is questionable. First you have to know the base from which you are starting. If a player was awful but then showed some improvement that doesn't necessarily make him valuable.

Let's take Sbisa. You have the opinion, it seems, that he is a terrible....just a rotten player who should never be on the team. Given that view, if he was to show some improvement would you call him valuable. I doubt it. I think you would say that he started from such a terrible position that any improvement still wouldn't make him valuable. Maybe you don't actually hold those exact view but you get the point.

I think Shinkaruk has developed and has some value (though not so much as you do) but the premise here is faulty. You have to consider development in context.

Moreover, Shinkaruk's development has been uneven. Some things have improved but other areas of his game have not improved much. If you said his ability to convert chances has developed I would agree. But in other areas, especially fighting thru checks is not much different.

Overall play, I would say is average. He got the all star nod only b/c people look too much at the score sheet. He needs to develop a much better overall game IMO to move to the next level.

On Forsling - Glendenning. too many people are counting their chickens before they've hatched. We have seen plenty of smaller Swedish defense men come over and get pounded out of NA pro hockey. High scoring Swedish players like Tommernes and others just couldn't survive. Forsling is slighter and we'll see how he does. Moreover, it is not like Forsling is tearing it up in the Swedish league.

Glendenning might end up playing a lot more game in the NHL. Ultimately the trade might be a wash and I don't think you can start hitting Benning over the end with this trade until we have a longer term view of how it turns out.

Using this as a prime example of Benning always getting screwed in trades is way premature.

As far building a team I don't think you can do this with a bunch of soft offensive players. I mean can you give me a team that won anything that had a bunch of softer offensive players.

As far as Rodin goes they all have chance of busting. Everything I've seen of Rodin (and I watch as much as possible) suggest he is a very high end player. But that might be wishful thinking as maybe some of your views of Shinkaruk are.

Thanks for your conciliatory remarks and I appreciate what you bring to this site but IMO you are too prone to inflate our prospects and get overly categorical in your remarks.

Give this a read

 

[y2kcanucks]

Give this a read

That's nice.

Given his age (relative to the other top scorers in the league) and his support cast, Shinkaruk is having a very strong offensive season.

But hey, let's just rank him below Zalewski because Zalewski plays defense despite likely having a ceiling of merely a 4th liner.

It's funny how in one thread Shinkaruk is barely a prospect, yet in another he (along with Edler) becomes an overpayment for Drouin.

 

[m9]

Kinda hard to vote because McCann and Hutton have pretty much been on the team all year so are they really still "prospects".

It shouldn't change anything, they can still be evaluated as assets.

 

[WTG]

This looks like a poster speaking out of his ass to another poster who watches every Comets game.

Y2K is correct.

 

[ahmon]

Boeser
Demko
McCann
Hutton
Virtanen
Shinkaruk
Pedan
Subban
Gaunce
Cassels

 

[WetcoastOrca]

This is really close. I'm having a lot of trouble putting any prospect above Demko right now. There's not a lot of separation between Boeser, Demko, McCann and Virtanen, IMO but what Demko is doing puts him just a bit above the rest. I know goalies are hard to predict but he's playing at an elite level. His progression is exactly what you look for with his save percentage going from .915 to .925 to .939 over the last three years.