Vancouver Canucks have 5 prospects in Craig Button’s top 50

TSN’s Craig Button has released his top 50 NHL prospects list. The Vancouver Canucks are shining front and centre with Elias Pettersson leading the charge.

This morning, Craig Button gave Canucks fans a reason to be giddy. His list of the top 50 NHL-affiliated prospects is out and the Vancouver Canucks have five of their prospects on that list. Players that made the list are not fully established NHL players.

Button did not include any prospects from the Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs or Winnipeg Jets. If bragging rights are your thing, there you go. Keep in mind, these four teams have had their best prospects already graduate to the NHL, but don’t let that slow you down. It does not diminish the prestige in appearing so many times in this top 50.

Elias Pettersson is ranked in the No. 1 spot, edging out Eeli Tolvanen‘s incredible rookie season in the KHL. I’m sure it was a difficult decision, but you can’t wipe the smiles from the faces of Canucks fans. Pettersson is on pace to having the best U20 SHL season of all time, so that may be the factor that pushes him to the top.

Olli Juolevi comes in at No. 24 on the list. It seems low and four defencemen from the 2017 draft rank ahead of Juolevi. The Dallas Stars’ Miro Heiskanen is ranked No. 8. I wonder if his placement on the Finnish Olympic team gave him a boost? He is also a year younger than Juolevi and is putting up similar numbers in the Finnish Liiga.

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Adam Gaudette is ranked No. 26. He is performing well this season, leading the NCAA in scoring. Gaudette should easily earn a nomination for the Hobey Baker Award. If you missed it yesterday, the Beanpot Tournament started and Gaudette had a goal and two assists against Boston College. Northeastern plays in the finals against Boston University next Monday.

Jonathan Dahlen comes in at No. 31. I talked about his decision to stay with Timra for the rest of the season. What is interesting is that Dahlen is playing with Filip Hallander and Jacob Olofsson. Their line is incredibly young and Dahlen could help his linemates boost their draft stock for the 2018 draft.

Last, but certainly not least is Thatcher Demko at No. 42. His second AHL season is going very well, having the seventh best GAA and fourth best save percentage. He is keeping Utica afloat with his strong goaltending and will be relied on heavily should the Comets make the playoffs.

Before you start planning the parade on Robson, I do recommend you take these lists with a grain of salt. Whether Craig Button, Jeff Marek, Corey Pronman or whomever makes a list, be aware of biases and trends.

Using Craig Button as an example, he tends to give the benefit of the doubt to Canadian players. Most of all, he lets short tournaments like the World Juniors or the Ivan Hlinka Tournament have a tonne of weight on his rankings.

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You can’t let a short stretch of games affect your rankings because it’s a small sample size. The tournaments are fun to watch and we can compare the relative strengths of other leagues, but it should not be the basis of player evaluation. These lists are not infallible. No list is. Just keep that in mind while you enjoy yourself.