Vancouver Canucks prospects ranking Top 20: #11 Jordan Subban
By David Joun
If the Vancouver Canucks want to get this rebuild done the right way, they have to start with a strong pool of prospects.
The Vancouver Canucks need to draft well to be successful in their rebuild. Thanks to the scout-turned-general manager Jim Benning, drafting is no longer Vancouver’s Achilles tendon. That’s good news for the Canucks because they finally have a prospects pool that is worth ranking.
Drafting isn’t the end of the story, however. It is quite literally just the beginning for the majority of these prospects. If the Canucks want to get this rebuild done right, they need to develop their precious prospects well.
In the recent months following the Canucks’ full-hearted shift to a full-blown rebuild, fans saw that commitment in action. The two big trade deadline deals and the 2017 NHL Entry Draft gave this city a taste of the new Jim Benning, a new organizational mindset that put skill and speed before size and heart.
The Canucks have adopted a new mentality with their prospects so we are going to take a closer look at these young prospects. We present to you Week 2 of The Canuck Way 2017 Canucks Prospects Ranking.
The Canuck Way 2017 Canucks Prospects Ranking
Our TCW staff ranked all Canucks prospects. The criteria: whatever each writer thinks is important. Current position in the organization, talent, potential, and chance of NHL success. All prospects under 24 years of age were considered as long as they did not spend significant time in the NHL.
After looking at forward William Lockwood yesterday, here is No. 11, 22-year-old defenceman Jordan Subban!
No. 11 D Jordan Subban
Height: 5-foot-9
Weight: 181 lbs
DOB: 1995-05-03 (Age 22)
Drafted: 115th Overall, 2013 Entry Draft
2016-17 Stats: 65GP – 16G – 36PTS – 36PIM (AHL Utica Comets)
The younger brother of P. K. Subban has not seen any NHL action under the Jim Benning regime despite all his offensive flash that reflects his older brother’s. Are the Canucks up to something not deploying Subban and keeping him exclusively in the AHL?
Strengths: Hockey IQ, skating & Offensive talent
Following in his brother P. K.’s steps, Jordan Subban is an offensive dynamo. Subban’s biggest offensive assets are his hockey smarts and his deceptively heavy point shot. He always plays with a forward mentality, looking to advance the puck and put it to the net.
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Subban’s offensive smarts come evident when watching him make small, subtle plays with the puck in his vicinity. He does the little things right offensively.
Subban can be flashy at times with the puck as he loves to carry it up ice. Thanks to his top-end skating abilities even, he can outpace the opposition on the counter attack rush.
He can pick his spots with his shot too, which is a lot stronger than one would imagine a 5-foot-9 player could shoot. Both his slapper and his wrister are superb. Subban scored 16 goals this past season with the Utica Comets, which was actually the most scored by a defenceman in the AHL.
Lastly, people underestimate the fire in Subban’s game despite his small frame. Subban plays with an edge.
All in all, Subban’s offensive awareness and shot allow him to be more dangerous than the everyday forward as he can score and set up from anywhere from the attacking zone.
Weaknesses: Lack of size & Defensive shortcomings
Because of how oft-criticized Subban is by the Canucks organization, his weaknesses are just as well-known as his strengths.
His diminutive figure at 5-foot-9 and 181 pounds is ill-suited for the NHL and with Troy Stecher’s emergence as a force from the blueline for the Canucks, it is difficult to imagine there is a spot in Vancouver for yet another undersized defenceman in Subban.
Subban’s biggest downfall, however, apparently has been in his defensive play. Despite the details in his game offensively, Subban has not realized his full defensive potential. Subban’s smarts should allow him to be much more effective than he is right now.
Perhaps the reason that this organization is not giving Subban any NHL time is not that he is bad defensively but that he can be much better defensively.
Projection: Top-6 offensive defenseman, PP specialist
Although Subban has the skill and the pedigree of becoming a top-four defenceman with powerplay capabilities, his defensive lapses limit him to a third-pairing projection at this moment. That and his lack of size combined may be factors negative enough to keep Subban entrenched forever in the AHL, at least with the Canucks.
However, if Subban matures into a smart defender sooner rather than later, he will be a welcomed addition to a Vancouver team that has lacked an offensive dynamo from the blueline for so many years.
Next: Prospects Ranking Top 20 - #12 William Lockwood
– 2017 TheCanuckWay Prospects Ranking Top 20 –
#12 – F William Lockwood
#13 – G Michael DiPietro
#14 – D Guillaume Brisebois
#15 – D Evan McEneny
#16 – F Petrus Palmu
#17 – D Jack Rathbone
#18 – D Jalen Chatfield
#19 – F Cole Cassels
#20 – D Kristoffer Gunnarsson
The Honourable Mentions
Could the Canucks end up trading Jordan Subban? As one of the last remaining prospects from the Mike Gillis era, Subban is likely heading into a make-it-or-break-it season with the Comets. Subban will play in the NHL in a year from now, I can guarantee you. Whether that is with the Canucks, that I cannot say.