Vancouver Canucks 14 Thoughts for the Last 14 Days of the Season
By David Joun
Thought #13: Who is the Season’s PROSPECT MVP?
This will be a debate for the ages. Who wins, Brock Boeser of NCHC’s North Dakota or Thatcher Demko of Hockey East’s Boston College?
Brock Boeser has been a Zach Parise-calibre player in his freshman season in the NCAA. His season is not over yet, as the North Dakota Fighting Hawks have now advanced to the NCAA Championships, otherwise known as the Frozen Four. He now has 54 points (26 goals, 28 assists) in 40 games through the regular season and the playoffs. (Parise was 26G/35A in his rookie year, then 23G/32A in his second year.)
Boeser was voted the NCHC rookie of the year and also to the NCHC’s first All-Star team.
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Thatcher Demko, however, will not go easy. He has had a Cory Schneider-calibre year, posting a .936 save percentage and a 1.85 goals-against average. His 10-shutout season is a new record for Boston College netminders, breaking the one previously set by Schneider at nine shutouts. Demko was also chosen as the H-East co-player of the Year.
So who is your prospects MVP?
Well, let us not forget about the CHL stars. Dmitry Zhukenov has had a great rookie campaign in the QMJHL, and both Carl Neill and Guillaume Brisebois have captained their respective teams in the Q. In the WHL, Tate Olson is among the top-20 defencemen in scoring league-wide.
Or do Nikita Tryamkin and Anton Rodin still fall under the “prospects” category? Because Tryamkin is one of the best Canucks defencemen now that he is in the NHL and Anton Rodin was named the Swedish Hockey League’s MVP despite missing the end of the season with a leg injury.
All being said, the race for the “Prospects MVP” is a lot hotter than the Vancouver Canucks’ race for the MVP for sure.
Next: Thought #14: Speaking Numbers