Prospect Info: Who is Canucks #1 prospect

[jimslob]

My top 10

Horvat
Shinkaruk
Virtanen
Gaunce
Corrado
Hutton
Cassels
Jensen
McCann
Fox


I don't think I have ever had such a tough time with the Top 10.

Nice list, I would switch Shinkaruk and Virtanen myself but that is just nitpicking as they are very close in my thinking.

Isn't the bolded such a nice problem to have for a change, after the first three I think the next 7 could be listed in any order.

I think all 10 of these players have a legit shot of playing in the show at some level although I doubt that all will stick with the Canucks.

Too many forwards that are around the same age that are a couple of years away from being ready IMO but time will tell.

 

[BeardyCanuck03]

1. Horvat
2. Virtanen
3. Shinkaruk
4. Vey
5. Jensen

 

[J Canuck]

Went with Shinkaruk because I think he could be the most exciting player we'll see for a while.

 

[kanucks25]

Horvanen.

Followed closely by Virtat.

I like Bake and Jo, too.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

My top 10

Horvat
Shinkaruk
Virtanen
Gaunce
Corrado
Hutton
Cassels
Jensen
McCann
Fox


I don't think I have ever had such a tough time with the Top 10.

And to get to 10 you had to exclude the top rated goalie in this years' draft, Demko.
That's a nice problem to have for a change!

 

[Seattle Totems]

This has to be the first time ever that a shiny new 6th overall pick isn't more coveted than last years' pick in Canuck-land. It's not even close between Horvat and Virtanen on this poll. Interesting.

 

[LovemyNucks]

Zero votes between McCann and Demko but two votes for Subban?

Really!?!

I voted for Horvat but the above really surprises me. Do yourselves a favor and watch a few highlight reels of McCann...he could turn out to be the best of the bunch. Sick hands and a deceptively quick wrister. If he could just dial in his accuracy he could be a 30 goal scorer for us.

 

[Sharpshooter]

I don't know why people have such odd variations for what is considered the 'top prospect'. Going simply by who is closest to the NHL is terrible.

For me, it's pure value. Who would I pick first in a draft. Then 2nd. Etc.

You pick em the way you see em, and others will pick em the way they see em. Your picks could just be as easily called terrible for the reason you picked them as you calling other people's rankings terrible for being the most NHL ready.

 

[Sharpshooter]

Should have at least given the option for Vey, instead of 'others'.

 

[ChilliBilly]

When we do these polls a good idea to make it clear, it is:

1) the prospect most ready to step in and play for the Canucks - Jensen

2) the prospect most ready to play for the canucks near his potential - Kenins

3) the prospect you expect the best career from? (Same as above, if drafting today who would you take first) - Virtanen.

And I think Kenins should be on the list ...

 

[Sharpshooter]

How do you define upside, and how do you account for play without the puck in that projection?





Like your Gaunce ranking. There are still a few here who are high on him.

I too would have taken McKeown instead of trading the pick for Vey. With Vey, there's a good chance he tops out as a fringe NHLer. VAN took on more risk here, IMO.

McKeown was a late 1st round talent that fell. A player like that can 'cook' in the system for a while and steadily improve his game. He also would have addressed RHD depth in the pipeline - Something this org. could really use. Ah well.

It's funny to think that this team could have walked away with 4 1st round projected talents with their 4 top60 picks. Would have been a fantastic haul.

This doesn't make sense to me. Vey has undergone 'cooking' in the Monarchs system. There's no guarantee that McKeown would be anything more than a farm hand himself, let alone an NHL fringe player. There's nothing that screams from him that he's going to be much more, in comparison to Vey at least. A late 1st rounder in a weak draft doesn't mean much either. Hell, even a top 10 pick who falls to the late 1st isn't assuring you of anything, let alone someone who can crack the NHL. A case in point, Jordan Schroeder.

I think Vey is going to pan out more than McKeown over the long term of their careers, because in part one has started the process of breaking through and the other one is about 4-6 years away, imo.

 

[topheavyhookjaw]

Went Shinkaruk. I think he's as close to making the team as Horvat/Jensen, and his upside is as high as Virtanen (I wanted him at #9 when they acquired the pick).

 

[Andy Dufresne]

This doesn't make sense to me. Vey has undergone 'cooking' in the Monarchs system. There's no guarantee that McKeown would be anything more than a farm hand himself, let alone an NHL fringe player. There's nothing that screams from him that he's going to be much more, in comparison to Vey at least. A late 1st rounder in a weak draft doesn't mean much either. Hell, even a top 10 pick who falls to the late 1st isn't assuring you of anything, let alone someone who can crack the NHL. A case in point, Jordan Schroeder.

I think Vey is going to pan out more than McKeown over the long term of their careers, because in part one has started the process of breaking through and the other one is about 4-6 years away, imo.

I think we should get away from talking about McKeown at all, if we had kept the pick there's no telling who we would have picked. For me, i'm going to be comparing Vey to what i think the value of a late 2cnd round pick should be.

The answer of whether Vey was worth the pick will be cleared up by this time next year at the latest imo. The question of where he belongs on our prospect rankings will be damn tough though, probably very very close to Jensen for me.

 

[LickTheEnvelope]

I'm putting Gaunce #2. Gaunce 4 Life.

 

[StrictlyCommercial]

When we do these polls a good idea to make it clear, it is:

1) the prospect most ready to step in and play for the Canucks - Jensen

2) the prospect most ready to play for the canucks near his potential - Kenins

3) the prospect you expect the best career from? (Same as above, if drafting today who would you take first) - Virtanen.

And I think Kenins should be on the list ...

It's always #3. Some people just seem to believe that best = closest to NHL for some reason. Archibald #1 prospect hype.

 

[Verviticus]

i generally rate on "if i were another team and i was giving up assets, what would my ranking of preferred return be" with no concern for the needs of the team

 

[alternate]

Jensen is an interesting one imo. He's the closest to ready but probably has the lowest potential of the top tier. Guys like Shink, Virt, McCann, Horvat all project to be able to produce their own offence, while Jensen imo seems like more of a pure trigger man. On upside, Jensen should slide a bit down the rankings, but he's probably #1 in ripeness.

 

[DCantheDDad]

For me, it has to be Horfat. I mean Horvat.

 

[Sharpshooter]

I think we should get away from talking about McKeown at all, if we had kept the pick there's no telling who we would have picked. For me, i'm going to be comparing Vey to what i think the value of a late 2cnd round pick should be.

The answer of whether Vey was worth the pick will be cleared up by this time next year at the latest imo. The question of where he belongs on our prospect rankings will be damn tough though, probably very very close to Jensen for me.

Agreed. We may have picked someone completely different. People bring up McKeown because that's who went in that spot instead. Personally, I don't like making the comparisons because one is on the cusp of a possible NHL career and the other is years away.

Vey with only 18 games is still a prospect. He's basically had a cup of coffee in the bigs, much like Jensen. Jensen is more NHL ready than most of our prospect as well, and can play at that level, which to me makes him among the best prospects to fill NHL minutes and duties, moreso than anyone else right now.

It's always #3. Some people just seem to believe that best = closest to NHL for some reason. Archibald #1 prospect hype.

It's not always #3. That's why a little more clarification on 'best prospect' would have been helpful.

Closest can be best, since they have the best path to the NHL than others who haven't even played a minute in a pro-league like the AHL.

Archibald even in that scenario wouldn't be the best prospect. Jensen and imo Vey are closer to attaining NHL minutes for their duties than Archibald is, for many reasons including the ability to show that they could play at the pace of the NHL game and contribute offensively, while not being defensive liabilities. We can't say that of Archibald yet, imo.

If you're best able to fill a regular spot on an NHL roster over the rest of the prospect pool then you're the best prospect for that spot. Most ready is best in that situation then.

Again, a little clarification would have been helpful, but I understand after a bit the jist of the OP's intentions by saying 'best'. Maybe I was slow on understanding his intentions.

 

[m9]

i generally rate on "if i were another team and i was giving up assets, what would my ranking of preferred return be" with no concern for the needs of the team

Yup. Or if there was a draft today, what order would you draft them?

 

[fancouver]

I chose Virtanen, but pretty close with Horvat.

 

[Sharpshooter]

For me, it has to be Horfat. I mean Horvat.

 

[Diamonddog01]

This doesn't make sense to me. Vey has undergone 'cooking' in the Monarchs system. There's no guarantee that McKeown would be anything more than a farm hand himself, let alone an NHL fringe player. There's nothing that screams from him that he's going to be much more, in comparison to Vey at least. A late 1st rounder in a weak draft doesn't mean much either. Hell, even a top 10 pick who falls to the late 1st isn't assuring you of anything, let alone someone who can crack the NHL. A case in point, Jordan Schroeder.

I think Vey is going to pan out more than McKeown over the long term of their careers, because in part one has started the process of breaking through and the other one is about 4-6 years away, imo.

Yes, the comment regarding the Canucks making a riskier decision by acquiring Vey is completely inaccurate.

My list

1. Virtanen
2. Horvat
3. Gaunce
4. Vey
5. Cassels
6. Hutton
7. Tryamkin
8. Shinkaruk
9. Fox
10. Demko

Didn't include Jensen as I don't really view him as a prospect at this point.