Vancouver Canucks: The Prospect Pool is Being Depleted

One year into the job, Vancouver Canucks GM Jim Benning had his AHL Affiliate team packed with great prospects. Now one year removed from their Calder Cup Finals run, the shelves are empty and still emptying out.

The Vancouver Canucks have proved last year that they are not afraid of bringing youth into the lineup. When Jake Virtanen and now-departed Jared McCann followed sophomore Bo Horvat‘s lead and stayed for the full season in Vancouver, it was a good sign that the scout they hired as the General Manager was doing his job of assessing and drafting prospects.

But see, there must have been some kind of a glitch.

One year removed from the Calder Cup Finals, the AHL’s Utica Comets are sitting out after a first-round exit from the playoffs. And if anyone has been following the Comets closely enough, they know precisely what I am going to talk about.

Lack of talent.

Recognize that ex-Comet in the picture? I hope the man who traded Hunter Shinkaruk away doesn’t remember him when he scores 40 points for the Calgary Flames.

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The Vancouver Canucks have depleted their AHL stock of players after attempting a youth movement at the NHL level. For this reason, expect GM Jim Benning to look to make free agent acquisitions to bolster the Canucks’ depth as well as their AHL talent pool.

Let’s look back at last year’s historic season down in the AHL. The Comets had 11 players reach the double-digits in the goals column. Ten cracked the 20-point mark in the regular season. Netminding was superb, led by none other than Jacob Markstrom himself.

Here is a look at last year’s player stats. Take a look and see for yourself.

Now tell me how many of those players are coming back to Utica for the 2016-17 season.

Leading scorer Cal O’Reilly has found himself a home in Buffalo with his brother Ryan and the Sabres. Brandon DeFazio has landed with the Boston Bruins. Dustin Jeffrey is now a division rival with the Arizona Coyotes.Bob Sanguinetti played 40 games with the Rochester Americans this past season. Bob Sanguinetti played 40 games with the Rochester Americans this past season. There are five of your top ten players from the 2014-15 season, all gone.

Also of note, Cory Conacher, went overseas to play with Bern SC of the Swiss-A, who ended up with 52 points in 48 games this past season. Don’t forget about Adam Clendening, either.

That was last year’s offseason when all those players opted to find new homes via free agency. The 2015-16 season couldn’t have been much worse, you say?

Well, there was Frankie Corrado, the waiver nemesis. He was lost through waivers to the Toronto Maple Leafs to begin the season, in case you forgot.

Then there is the Gillis-era duo, Hunter Shinkaruk and Nicklas Jensen, who were traded for two pending restricted free agents, Markus Granlund and Emerson Etem. Two more names to cross off from the 2014-15’s top 10, eh?

So here we are, with not much left of the Utica Comets. But that got worse.

Sven Baertschi is now with the Canucks. Brendan Gaunce is making the jump to the NHL. Alex Biega earned himself a spot as Chris Tanev‘s replacement at the mid-way point of the NHL season.

The list does not end there, however, as more is to come. Alex Grenier, Alex Friesen, and Darren Archibald are all set to become free agents this summer along with Mike Zalewski, Ronalds Kenins, and Taylor Fedun. Don’t forget about Andrey Pedan who is on the bubble.

So what’s the point, you ask. Most of these names have never played a game in Vancouver, right? This is Utica’s problem and not Vancouver’s, right?

First of all, the Canucks are responsible for the trades that sent players like Jensen and Shinkaruk on the way out. If these trades were to be made, the Canucks should have fetched some AHL pieces back for the Comets’ sake.