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

The 2017-18 season has begun for the Vancouver Canucks and so has it for their prospects.

The Vancouver Canucks have had an eventful beginning to their season. Game one saw the Edmonton Oilers come into town, only to have star Connor McDavid neutralized by the Derek Dorsett–Brandon Sutter duo. Game two against the Ottawa Senators was a tribute to Alex Burrows and game three against the Winnipeg Jets was the much-anticipated season debut for rookie winger Brock Boeser.

Perhaps lost in all this is the flurry of activity that has taken place in the Canucks prospects world. Through the first week of the regular season for the Canucks, their prospects have made them proud at home and away.

Before we celebrate this awesome start to the season for the many Canucks prospects, I wanted to take a look at some other prospects storylines that were missed in the first three games of the regular season.

The NoDak Connection: Drake Caggiula & Tucker Poolman

When the Edmonton Oilers visited Rogers Arena for the season opener, former North Dakota Fighting Hawk winger Drake Caggiula dressed and played against the Canucks. He was one of Brock Boeser’s linemates when the two won the NCAA National Title with North Dakota.

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The two were fellow wingers to Chicago Blackhawks prospect Nick Schmaltz. Caggiula, 23, and Schmaltz, 21, played in the NHL last season.

Tucker Poolman, the Winnipeg Jets rookie who played his second NHL game against the Canucks on Thursday, was one of the top defencemen for the North Dakota team that won the NCAA title.

The fact he and Boeser were playing against each other was largely overlooked in the larger scheme of things on Thursday.

Brock Boeser’s former teammates have found a regular spot on the NHL roster, mostly sooner than he did this season with Vancouver. Still, I do believe Boeser has the highest potential out of all of them.

Ah, of course. Being Boeser’s teammate also means that these players all once were Troy Stecher‘s teammates. I don’t think Stecher and Poolman were used together many times back in the NCAA but this web of NoDak prospects is certainly intriguing and will be for the years to come.

Week #1 Prospects Report – Includes games that ended Friday (Oct. 13) morning

Without further ado, let’s dive in and see how each of the Canucks prospects did this past week!