Vancouver Canucks 2017-18 prospects watch Week 1: A Dominant Start

American Hockey League (Forwards)

Despite heightened expectations, the Utica Comets are off to a shaky start, losing both their games this week to start the season 0-2-0. They did play those games against the Toronto Marlies, the farm team for the Toronto Maple Leafs who boast a great prospect depth.

Up front, Reid Boucher and Nikolay Goldobin are leading the charge. They were two of the last forwards to be cut from the Canucks camp and they will have to prove themselves to be worthy of a call-up by performing at the top of their games in the AHL.

So far, that seems to have happened.

Though Boucher leads in points and assists (mostly from the PP), the most promising player thus far seems to be Goldobin, who had the lone goal in the season opener.

Meanwhile, Joseph LaBate is leading the Comets in shots with seven over two games. This season is likely the final one he spends with the Utica Comets, as I envision him either making the Canucks next season or being let go to find an opportunity with another NHL club.

Former Canucks Michael Chaput and Jayson Megna have failed to be positive influences. Speedy forward Griffen Molino has had a better start than either one of them while forward Darren Archibald, who nearly made the Canucks this preseason, is quiet so far.

It should be noted that forward Anton Rodin is sitting out after being cut from the Canucks camp. In order to be compliant with AHL-NHL veteran rules, he is being scratched. The US visa complications also kept Rodin from practising with the squad.Expect him to draw into the lineup in the next couple of games.

American Hockey League (Defencemen)

On the blueline, the Comets have not been able to produce much, contributing just one point in those two games. Like Rodin, Patrick Wiercioch has not been able to play due to the AHL-NHL veteran rules.

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It seems that the trend Vancouver saw in preseason with these blueliners is continuing in the AHL. Jalen Chatfield, Philip Holm and Jordan Subban are leading the blueline.

Chatfield, who impressed the Canucks greatly in camp after being signed out of the OHL, is the only player to have a positive plus-minus rating.

Considering that the Comets lost both games and allowed seven goals against in those two games, that’s a big positive for the rookie defenceman.

Though Holm stands at the other end of the plus-minus spectrum, he is leading the blueline with five shots which is just as many as forward Reid Boucher has. The Philip Holm that we saw in Vancouver played high-risk, high-reward hockey and that seems to be the case in the AHL as well.

And as usual, Jordan Subban leads all defencemen with an assist. He does lead also in PIMs.

The Netminders

Thatcher Demko and Richard Bachman split duties, each playing the Marlies once. Though both lost, Demko’s stats are far superior. He made 24 saves on 26 shots, good enough for a respectable statline as can be seen below.

In the ECHL…

The Canucks have two defencemen in the ECHL, with the Kalamazoo Wings. The ECHL season begins Friday and no games have been played yet. As the season progresses, do not be surprised if other Utica Comets players are added to the ECHL.

Swedish Hockey League & Allsvenskan

With the news that Jonathan Dahlen will play for the Timra IK of the Allsvenskan, the Canucks have four players playing in Sweden. The deal for Dahlen to play in the Allsvenskan, the minor league to the Swedish Hockey League, includes an out-clause that allows him to sign with an SHL team this calendar year.

The rumoured leaders to land Dahlen are the Brynas IF and the Vaxjo Lakers, which is Elias Pettersson’s team. For now, Dahlen will play with his old team and look to regain strength and conditioning after battling mono during preseason here.

Dahlen had his season debut today and was impressive. His shift leading up to the assist can be found here. He ended the night with five shots.

Aside from these regular season stats, these Swedish players participated in an international hockey club competition called the Champions Hockey League. Pettersson and Gunnarsson are advancing to the Round of 16.

In CHL action, Pettersson had two goals and five points in five games. He was a +2 and had 11 shots while averaging 12:34 TOI. Kristoffer Gunnarsson played five games without any production. He did have nine blocked shots and was a +3, however.

Pettersson picked up two primary assists today and a secondary assist, all on the man advantage. Here’s a look at the second one.

Kontinental Hockey League (MHL), Finnish Liiga & Czech Extraliga

Outside of Sweden, the hockey season had started a long time ago. The season in Russia started a month ago, with Nikita Tryamkin in action and Dmitry Zhukenov, in his rookie season out of the QMJHL, seeing a plenty of action already.

Though Zhukenov had the Rookie of the Week honours to start the season in the KHL, he has since been demoted to the MHL, the minor league for the KHL. He has been lighting it up in the league that he was drafted out of before he spent time in the QMJHL.

Meanwhile, Olli Juolevi made his Finland Liiga debut this morning with TPS, the team coached by Sami Salo and led by prospect Petrus Palmu. Juolevi was shaky early but looked more comfortable as the game went on. His stats can be found below.

In the same game, Petrus Palmu scored his fifth goal of the season, putting him at an impressive 10 points in 13 games. He has been averaging more than four shots a game in the Liiga. His offensive skills are definitely pro-level, it’s the physical play that’s the question.

As for the elusive prospect Lukas Jasek who had disappeared from the prospects radar for a long time, he has returned quite productive. He had a goal and five points in six CHL games and has good numbers going in the Czech Extraliga.

NCAA & USHS

The biggest news out of the NCAA Canucks prospects pool is that USA Hockey may consider centre Adam Gaudette for the US Men’s Olympic team for PyeongChang 2018. Gaudette was excellent in his two games so far, games that Northeastern University dominated.

After being among the NCAA leaders last year in power play goals, Gaudette is back at it. He plays later today as the Huskies face Rochester Institute of Technology.

Fun bit. Northeastern held practice at the Utica Comets’ home rink today.

Forward William Lockwood has yet to record a goal but he did have this nifty penalty shot goal in preseason NCAA action against Western University. His speed and Jannik Hansen-ness could be interesting for the Canucks in the years to come.

https://twitter.com/umichhockey/status/914285593089265664

Though Lockwood missed summer camp action in Vancouver because of shoulder issues, he seems to be just fine. In fact, he was listed on the Big 10’s season watch list as one of two top forwards to watch in Michigan State University.

Last year’s fourth-round pick Jack Rathbone is committed to Harvard University but he is staying home to play another season with the USHS Dexter school. Their season does not begin for another few weeks.

Ontario Hockey League

Before getting to the awesomeness of Jonah Gadjovich and Michael DiPietro, let’s go over the first week for the other prospects.

After getting a look with the Utica Comets, centre Brett McKenzie is back in the OHL for an extra season. Already, his dependence in the faceoff circle is evident with a 55% win rate. He was one of the leaders in the OHL last year in how many faceoffs he took.

After getting traded to the Sudbury Wolves, defenceman Cole Candella is doing quite well, posting five points in seven games. Seventh-round pick Matt Brassard is being his usual self, getting lots of shot through at the opposition net.

Now, for the real stars of the OHL.

The numbers speak for themselves but Michael DiPietro has been lights-out for the Windsor Spitfires. DiPietro’s 1.76 GAA and .945 Sv% has made him the best Windsor Spitfire player so far in the season. The Spitfires tried giving him a night off and played their rookie backup, only to get burnt big time.

As a result, DiPietro is the OHL’s top netminder.

• Leads in Games Played (8)
• Leads in Minutes Played (443)
• Leads in Goals Against Average (1.76)
• Leads in Save Percentage (.945%)
• Tied Lead in Wins (5)
• Second in Saves, Shots Against

For Jonah Gadjovich, he is establishing himself as the biggest net-front threat in the OHL. He is on pace to slightly out-do last season’s point totals, and though a big part of that is thanks to the star power of Nick Suzuki on the Owen Sound Attack, the types of goals that Gadjovich scores shows that he can do it regardless of who his teammates are.

Western Hockey League

Last but not least, the Western Hockey League! The Canucks have just two prospects here, wingers Kole Lind and Jakob Stukel, but both are making good use of their early part of the season.

Kole Lind is absolutely lighting it up in the WHL. The right winger is at 2.33 points per game, tied for fifth-best in the league, the second best as a winger and the best as a right winger. He was the player of the week in opening week.

For Stukel, the point totals are there just as they were last year. An interesting observation, however, is that his assists are down while his goals are up.

The Canucks prospects are off to a strong start this season. Even if things are gloomy with the Vancouver Canucks and their NHL play, their prospects may give fans many things to cheer about.

Drafting looks good for the Canucks as well. Their 2017 Draft already looks like a historic win, one of the best value drafts in Canucks history. The first four picks, Pettersson, Lind, Gadjovich and DiPietro now represent three of the CHL’s top players and a great Swedish playmaker.

Next: 3 Post Game Takeaways - After an Ugly Loss to WPG

With Dahlen proving that he is ready to move on from the Allsvenskan with a statement game Friday and with Juolevi starting his pro career in Finland, the more mature prospects are also making strides in their respective developments.