Vancouver Canucks top prospects of week 8: Tryamkin, Gadjovich, DiPietro
By David Joun
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
- Canucks prospects Lekkerimäki and Jurmo win medals at World Juniors
- How Canucks prospect Joni Jurmo has done so far at 2022 World Juniors
- How Canucks prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki has faired so far at WJC
- 4 Abbotsford Canucks players to watch this season
- 5 fun facts about Canucks newest signing Andrei Kuzmenko
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.