While some of the Vancouver Canucks’ depth players are fighting for their jobs, the club is on the lookout for free talent to bring into the organisation.
Going into the 2016-17 season, Vancouver Canucks fans had high hopes for Utica Comets forward Alexandre Grenier. The 25-year-old winger went scoreless in his six-game NHL stint last season, but showed some promise during his short time up in Vancouver.
Unfortunately, he did not get a bigger chance this year, despite injuries and illnesses plaguing the Canucks.
What does that mean for his future with the organisation?
Grenier Losing Ground
Ben Kuzma (Vancouver Sun) — Grenier is losing ground in Vancouver Canucks crowded RFA roster chase
"Vancouver Canucks coach Willie Desjardins questioned passion and consistency after the big right winger played just two National Hockey League preseason games, cleared waivers and was dispatched to the American Hockey League.On Sunday, Desjardins also showed some concern about the restricted free agent’s foot speed, which makes you wonder where the 25-year-old forward fits in among a group of seven RFA wingers, if you include centre Michael Chaput, who looked good on the right side Saturday with Henrik and Daniel Sedin."
The Canucks may not have scoring depth. What they do have, however, is too many fringe NHL players hoping to get into the league or stay in it.
Jayson Megna and Michael Chaput came to Vancouver hoping to spend as much time in the NHL as possible. They got lucky and got stick around for almost the whole season. Then there are Reid Boucher, Joseph Cramarossa, Joseph LaBate, Mike Zalewski, Borna Rendulic, Jack Skille and Drew Shore.
Must Read: What Drew Shore Brings to the Team
It’s a long list of players that all have the same objective, and could all fill the same role.
That list also displays one of the Canucks’ biggest problems: both their NHL and AHL rosters are full of players who will either be career fourth-liners or never make it at all.
Vancouver lacks scoring depth in the NHL, and they have no promising prospects in Utica either. The one exception, Jake Virtanen, currently sits 13th in Comets scoring with six goals and 14 points in 50 games.
So, clearly, something needs to change.
In 2017-18, the Canucks need to take the next few steps in the rebuild: let go of old fringe players, draft well, sign CHL and NCAA free agents and bring in prospect forwards Brock Boeser and Adam Gaudette.
That development will likely cost a few player — like Grenier — their jobs, but it’s what the Canucks need to do in order to rebuild successfully.
Jalen Chatfield Becomes a Canuck
Ryan Biech (Canucks Army) — Canucks sign CHL UFA Defenceman Jalen Chatfield
"As always, from a purely basic process outlook at the signing – adding a prospect at no asset cost, other than money, is always a wise venture. You never know what could happen in the future as players do not always follow a linear development curve and thus some players may fall through the cracks."
Canucks Army’s Ryan Biech makes a good point here. Signing prospects in the Canucks’ situation cannot be a bad decision.
Jalen Chatfield is not having a great offensive year with the OHL Windsor Spitfires, which is somewhat alarming. But since the Canucks are neither drafting nor trading for him, they’ve got nothing to lose.
As Biech points out, Chafield’s standout attributes are his “skating, good read of the play and puck movement.” Skating and hockey sense are without a doubt the two most important abilities a player must have to succeed in the NHL, so that is a great start.
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In today’s NHL, puck-moving defencemen have become absolutely essential to their teams’ success. With Ben Hutton, Troy Stecher and Olli Juolevi, as well as low-profile prospects like Chatfield, Jordan Subban, Guillaume Brisebois, Tate Olson and Carl Neill, the Canucks could be well-set for the future.