The Canuck Way continues to look at how the Vancouver Canucks have done in drafts past. Today, we look at the 2002 NHL Draft.
You know how the 2000 NHL Draft only brought two players to the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks, and those players played a combined 39 games. Well, somehow the Canucks managed to do worse in 2002. Once again, only two players would go on to play in the NHL, but this time only a combined 12 games were played.
Kirill Koltsov played two seasons with the Manitoba Moose from 2003-2005 but has otherwise spent his career in Russia. He has spent the last eight seasons in the KHL. Denis Grot never left Russia and played in the KHL up until last season.
Brett Skinner was the property of four NHL teams before making his debut. After being drafted by the Canucks, he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks and then to the Boston Bruins. In 2008, he signed with the New York Islanders. He would play all of his NHL games for the Islanders that season. After being part of the Colorado Avalanche franchise as well, he has bounced around the KHL, DEL, SM-liiga, SEL, CHL and AHL.
After finishing his OHL career, Lukas Mensator went back to his native Czech Republic and has played there ever since. After two seasons split between the AHL and ECHL, John Laliberte played one season in Denmark and has spent the last six seasons in Germany.
Rob McVicar played one game for the Canucks in the 2005-06 season. Other than that, he has bounced around the AHL and ECHL, while also spending one season in Denmark. Marc-Andre Roy played one season in the ECHL. In the 2004-05 season, he played in the Central Hockey League, United Hockey League and the Southern Professional Hockey League. He then played three seasons in the Ligue Nord-Americaine de Hockey in Quebec.
Ilya Krikunov never left Russia and currently plays for Sochi HC of the KHL. Matt Violin never played professional hockey after leaving Lake Superior State University. Thomas Nussli played his entire career in Switzerland. Matt Gens played in the UHL, AHL, ECHL, IHL and ECHL.
Next: 2001 Canucks Draft Retrospective
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