Vancouver Canucks 2017-18 prospects watch Week 2: Canada’s Finest

For the Vancouver Canucks who were reminded of the savagery of the Boston Bruins six years ago, their prospects hope to remind them that there is a better future.

Six years ago when the Vancouver Canucks met the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals, most of these Canucks prospects were yet to be drafted into the NHL, let alone into their junior leagues.

To put that into better perspective, Chris Tanev was a 21-year-old rookie defender and Bo Horvat was still playing Triple-A Midget hockey.

Yes, it’s a distant past now. But it still hurts in more ways that one would think. It will be up to the next generation of Canucks to ease that pain, to relieve this fanbase of the horrors of the past.

This past week, the Canucks signed one of those many hopeful prospects who are looking to bring the Cup to Vancouver.

It is interesting to note that Gadjovich is the first one signed from last year’s draft class despite being the third selection by the Canucks after Elias Pettersson and Kole Lind. Of course, Pettersson is under contract overseas with the SHL’s Vaxjo Lakers.

As for Kole Lind, he should be on the radar soon to get his pro contract done with the Canucks. With the signing of Gadjovich, the Canucks now have used up 46 of 50 pro contracts that they are entitled to, so signing Lind should not be a problem.

Week #2 Prospects Report – Including games that ended FRI, Oct. 20

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

The Utica Comets are off to a funky beginning to the season as they played just two games this past week. They play their fifth game of the season on Saturday (21st) and have just one game in the two weeks following that.

With the injury to winger Loui Eriksson, the Canucks called up forward Michael Chaput did not dress him following his call-up. Though names like Nikolay Goldobin and Reid Boucher were expected to be called up to the NHL, the Canucks decided not to call them up only to sit them in the press box.

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It should be noted that the AHL’s schedule is all over the place in October. The Tucson Roadrunners have played just two games while many others have played six games already. Four games for the Comets is nothing abnormal.

Those things in mind, let’s look at the forwards and how they fared in the two games this past week, one each against the Rochester Americans and the Syracuse Crunch, the former team for Head Coach Trent Cull.

Reid Boucher continued to put up assists, now he is up to six in four games. Though he is goal-less in ten shots, his assist total puts him near the top of the AHL. 1.5 Assists/Game would put him at second overall, only behind Teemu Pulkinnen.

Nikolay Goldobin had a stellar week as both he and Boucher had a week of plus-two ratings. He scored two goals and three assists. Chaput also had a goal and an assist to wrap up the scoring from the forwards.

Of note, last year’s leading scorer Darren Archibald is pointless so far. Joseph LaBate is one off the team lead in shots, only behind Boucher through four games.

Anton Rodin played his first game, recording four shots.

American Hockey League (Defencemen)

Patrick Wiercioch was recalled following the injury to Alex Edler and the suspension of Erik Gudbranson. He did not play after his call-up as Alex Biega filled in instead. As of Saturday afternoon, Wiercioch has been reassigned to Utica.

On the blueline, Philip Holm had a monster week, scoring once and assisting twice in two games. Evan McEneny also had an assist in the single game he played while Wiercioch scored before being called up.

After a quiet beginning to the season, Ashton Sautner was noticeable this past week, leading the Comets defencemen with six shots and four penalty minutes.

Though Chatfield did not have much to show for this week, he still leads the Comets blueline in plus-minus. McEneny is a team-worst minus-three.

Thatcher Demko gets both UTI wins

Netminder Thatcher Demko won both games for his team, stopping 57 of 59 shots. He recorded his first shutout of the season and now boasts a 1.34 GAA and a .953 Sv%.

Among AHL netminders with two or more full games played, Demko’s totals are only second to Casey DeSmith, the 26-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins prospect who is in his second AHL second after coming through the NCAA program.

The ECHL

The East Coast Hockey League began for Anton Cederholm and MacKenze Stewart, who both played a single game. Stewart had a shot and two penalty minutes.

Swedish Hockey League & Allsvenskan

After going goal-less in his first seven games, Elias Pettersson finally picked up his first SHL goal and now has eight points in ten games. His Vaxjo Lakers suffered a rare loss in their last game, being shut out 2-0.

Defenseman Kristoffer Gunnarsson had another physically solid week with seven hits in four games. For the fifth-round pick branded as a physical stay-at-home blueliner, this is a decent stat line in many ways.

Forward Rodrigo Abols had a very short week, with just two games. One of those games saw him only play three minutes, similar to a game the week before that saw him log just five minutes.

In the Allsvenskan, the Swedish AHL-equivalent, Jonathan Dahlen and the Timra IK are dominating. They are at the top of the league, thanks to Dahlen and his four points in four games. He is playing on their top line, averaging 17:32 TOI so far, which is third among Timra forwards.

This season in Allsvenskan, only six forwards are averaging above Dahlen’s point-per-game pace, four others matching it. Aside from Lucas Elvenes, the 18-year-old forward drafted this year in the fifth round by the Vegas Golden Knights, all the other forwards scoring at a faster pace than Dahlen are 24 years or older.

Kontinental Hockey League, Finnish Liiga & Czech Extraliga

In the Kontinental Hockey League, Nikita Tryamkin had an interesting week including this game misconduct penalty for excessive hand gestures.

He had a goal and an assist to go with nine hits, though. It makes you wonder if he will ever come back and be a top-four force for Vancouver.

In the MHL. Dmitry Zhukenov had another decent week, adding three assists in three games. He now has eight points in six games, leading the team in points per game and with the best plus-minus rating as a forward.

Both Olli Juolevi and Petrus Palmu in Finland were quiet this past week. Neither were able to register a point in three games. Juolevi’s icetime did increase compared to his first game back in Finland.

In the Czech Extraliga, Lukas Jasek was held pointless in four games. Altogether, the Canucks overseas prospects outside of Sweden and Russia were pretty quiet last week.

On November 1st, look for Jasek and Abols to face off against each other in Champions Hockey League action, round of sixteen. Pettersson will also be playing for his team that day.

NCAA & US Hockey League

Adam Gaudette is back at it in the NCAA, powering his Northeastern Huskies squad to a strong start. In four games, he has seven assists and nine points, good for a 2.25 points-per-game pace that is second in the entire NCAA only to teammate senior Dylan Sikura and is the best as a junior. His seven assists lead the NCAA.

Compared to his 1.41 points-per-game performance last year that led the NCAA in power-play goals, Gaudette is managing to find more assists and score away from the man advantage.

As for William Lockwood, he picked up his first goal of the season in a very Lockwood-like manner, screaming down the right wing and beating the netminder on the backhand. After his shoulder recovery, he now has two points in three games this season.

Jack Rathbone has yet to begin his USHS season.

Ontario Hockey League

It was a memorable week for Canucks prospects in the OHL this week.

Jonah Gadjovich was pointless for once, being shut out in the one game he played last week. Though he only managed one shot, the biggest news was away from the rink. He was named to the Canada-Russia series OHL roster, pencilled in to play both games.

Also named to the OHL-representing team was netminder Michael DiPietro, who is set to play only in the second of the OHL games. DiPietro had a tough week though, letting eight goals in against 90 shots.

The defensemen in the OHL had quite the week. Cole Candella had a point in each of the five games he played, though he was burned for a minus-five on one of the games. The trade to Sudbury continues to pay dividends for Candella, the 5th-round pick in 2016.

Matt Brassard had three assists in four games, but more impressively he had 25 shots on net. He was a top-five defenseman in the OHL in getting shots through on net last season and now he is at the top of the OHL in that department.

Brassard, the seventh-round selection this year, has 39 shots in 10 games now. 3.9 Shots/Game is tied for the lead in the OHL with Nicolas Hague, the Vegas Golden Knights’ second-round pick.