Vancouver Canucks top prospects of week 8: Tryamkin, Gadjovich, DiPietro

SOCHI, RUSSIA - AUGUST 9, 2017: Russian Olympic team's defenceman Nikita Tryamkin ahead of their Sochi Hockey Open 2017 final match against SKA St Petersburg at the Bolshoi Ice Palace. Artyom Korotayev/TASS (Photo by Artyom Korotayev\TASS via Getty Images)
SOCHI, RUSSIA - AUGUST 9, 2017: Russian Olympic team's defenceman Nikita Tryamkin ahead of their Sochi Hockey Open 2017 final match against SKA St Petersburg at the Bolshoi Ice Palace. Artyom Korotayev/TASS (Photo by Artyom Korotayev\TASS via Getty Images)
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The Vancouver Canucks have turned things around lately with wins against Nashville and Toronto, and a few of their prospects have also turned things around for the better.

The news that the Vancouver Canucks have lost forward Derek Dorsett forever struck me hard. It sucks. He battled so hard to get back on the ice and compete the way he has for hundreds of games. He was playing arguably the best hockey of his career, carrying the Canucks’ middle-six defensive load.

The game that he and Sutter shut down Connor McDavid and the young Edmonton Oilers? That’s going down as one of the best nights in Canucks hockey this season, no doubt. As a guy who always had room for a couple of “grit guys” in the lineup regardless of endless criticism of Erik Gudbranson and Dorsett in Van City, I am really going to miss Twigy going forward.

That being said, it did take Dorsett’s absence to get Nikolay Goldobin into the Canucks’ lineup. Goldobin has looked decent in his couple NHL games this season, okay defensively and good offensively.

In Goldobin’s absence, the Utica Comets have yet to lose a game in regulation. They are not having trouble scoring either, as they scored nine goals going 2-0-1 in those three games without Goldobin.

Thatcher Demko was great on two of the three games, holding the opponent to a single goal twice. Despite letting in seven goals at home against the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, he ends the week having saved 94 of 103 shots, good for a .913 save percentage. In 15 games this season, Demko has a 2.50GAA and a .920 Sv%.

On the offense, Reid Boucher was on fire this week with three goals and two assists. He now has 22 points in 19 games. He is most likely the next on the call-up list should another Canuck forward go down.

Let’s take a look at this week’s top prospect performers. I think you will be surprised. For the first time in a while, we don’t have an Elias Pettersson or a Jonathan Dahlen on our list.

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No. 3: D Nikita Tryamkin (Avtomobilist, KHL)

For the second time in as many months, Nikita Tryamkin has been awarded the KHL’s top blueliner of the month.

Although we in Vancouver like to forget that Tryamkin is still playing hockey somewhere in this world, he has been one of the top defencemen in the KHL this year. He has 21 points in 36 games, seven of those points being goals. For those who care about plus/minus stats, he is second in the league at a +18.

Only five defensemen have more points than Tryamkin (Philip Larsen and Marc-Andre Gragnani being two of them). He is second in the league in hits (83) while averaging just under 21 minutes a game.

In the context of his team, the Yekaterinburg Avtomobilist, Tryamkin leads the blueline in almost all categories (goals, assists, points, plus/minus, PIM, 5v5 goal, SOG, shifts/game, hits, and blocks).

The 23-year-old BFG

Considering that he is still just 23 years old (who knows, he could still be growing?), I believe that the Canucks should not give up on hoping Tryamkin comes back. If and when he does, the Canucks blueline looks so much better with him, Olli Juolevi, Troy Stecher

and Rasmus Dahlin

.

At this moment, Tryamkin is the KHL’s undisputed top U24 defender. Would it be too big of a stretch to think that Tryamkin could be a top-six defenseman for Team Russia in PyeongChang? I do not think so unless the KHL stops its players from participating.

Last but not least…

…Good thing that Gudbranson and Tryamkin didn’t play against the Maple Leafs because Matthews would have lost his mind out of frustration had the two played.

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No. 2 – G Michael DiPietro (Windsor, OHL)

It is going to be awfully difficult for the Windsor Spitfires to win another Memorial Cup. The only reason they are seventh overall in the 20-team OHL is their defense that starts and ends with Michael DiPietro now that Mikhail Sergachev, Jalen Chatfield and Logan Stanley are gone and four rookie blueliners are playing.

Surprisingly, the Spitfires boast the third-best defense in the OHL. The Spitfires have relied on DiPietro heavily. He has played 1408 minutes to date while his two backups have played a combined 157 minutes.

More from Prospects

Among netminders with 1000+ minutes, DiPietro ranks second in Sv% (.919), third in goals-against average (2.56) and third in wins (15).

After a shaky stretch after the Canada-Russia games, DiPietro rebounded nicely. He has won three straight now, the last win a marvelous 38-save shutout against the Oshawa Generals.

In his last two games, he has saved 69 of 71 shots, good for a .972 save percentage this past week. Considering he had given up three or more goals in six straight games leading up to this week, it is good to see DiPietro back in elite form.

His shutout was the second of the season and the tenth of his OHL career, which is a new franchise record for the Spitfires.

And of course, we should not forget that DiPietro is getting a look for the Olympics and is almost a lock for the World Juniors.

No. 1 – LW Jonah Gadjovich (Owen Sound, OHL)

The second OHL player on this week’s list and at the top is forward Jonah Gadjovich, who continues to generate points by doing what he does best – being hungry for rebounds and wreaking havoc in front of the opposition netminder.

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In three games this past week, Gadjovich had three goals and six points. In the game against the Guelph Storm, he had a season-high 13 shots on goal, scoring two and assisting on another.

He is now on a nine-game points streak with 14 points in that span. He still has yet to go more than two games in a row without a point. In fact, he has only been held off the scoresheet four games this season.

The latest point streak now has Gadjovich had 14 goals and 25 points in 19 games. Most impressive, perhaps, is his 102 shots on net. He is the only OHL player averaging more than 5 shots per game.

Gadjovich is likely set to join DiPietro on Team Canada for the World Juniors. His ability to battle in front of the net, screen goaltenders, tip shots and bury rebounds is unique in this year’s class of CHL players, from what the Canada-Russia series showed.

Kole Lind makes a triumphant return

Speaking of the Canada-Russia series and the World Juniors, WHL’s Kole Lind is also vying for a spot on Team Canada. He returned to the Kelowna Rockets lineup after missing nearly three weeks with mono, scoring a goal and an assist on his first game back. He is maintaining a 1.71pt/g pace, good for eight in the WHL and the best among WHL right wingers.

Next: The best shutdown line for the Vancouver Canucks

The World Juniors are coming up, with the roster decisions coming in the coming weeks. How many Canucks prospects will we see make the World Juniors and who will make the Olympics in South Korea?

The list does not start and end with Elias Pettersson, that’s for sure.

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