Vancouver Canucks top prospects of week 20: Stukel, Pettersson, Lind

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The Canuck Way is ready to bring you up to date with another packed week of prospect news. Here are the top three performances of the week.

The Vancouver Canucks played a couple of exciting games last week. Fans were treated to some high scoring games, led by Bo Horvat, Brock Boeser and Daniel Sedin. Alex Edler cemented in his place as one of the best Canucks defencemen of all time. Brendan Leipsic did not look out of place, which shows you the insane amount of depth on the Golden Knights. And Tyler Motte was well…Tyler Motte.

Over on the farm, things are not so rosy. The Comets are in a six-game losing streak and went from a comfortable playoff position to teetering on the edge. Vancouver’s AHL affiliate threw away a couple easy wins against bad teams during this stretch. They say that you always regret the opportunities you don’t take.

Utica will eventually get out of this slide, but not having Philip Holm or Nikolay Goldobin is hurting them. The Canucks papered Goldobin and Motte, but Utica won’t see them until April. Sven Baertschi‘s season-ending injury will mean another call-up is in order. Their depleted lineup is starting to get healthy, but players on tryouts will have to support them along the way. Unfortunately, With no reinforcements on the way, we hope the Comets can pull out of this tailspin quickly.

In prospect news

Let’s start across the pond. Over in Finland, TPS Turku played in three games last week. During that stretch, Olli Juolevi scored a goal on the power play, his first one since January 23rd. Juolevi has 18 points in 36 games and is second in scoring among Liiga defencemen under the age of 20. Who’s in first? Miro Heiskanen with 22 points in 28 games (he missed some games while at the Olympics). Keep in mind that Heiskanen is a year younger than Juolevi.

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On a more positive note, Petrus Palmu had three points in those three games. There isn’t a lot more that I can say about Palmu that has not already been said. I do like Palmu’s story and root for these smaller guys to make it. He will be an interesting prospect to watch in the future.

As we make our way back to North America, I can give a quick update on Jack Rathbone. The Dexter School standout has 30 points and still leads defencemen in points-per-game in the New Englands Prep School League. It does appear that Dexter School plays fewer games than the other two schools I have access to on the list.

Even though Adam Gaudette did not play any games this week, Northeastern knows their opponent for the Hockey East Quarterfinals. They play Massachusetts in a best of three series that starts on March 9. Northeastern played this school twice this year in a home and home, splitting the series with a 5-0 victory and 3-0 loss.

Last, but not least is Michael DiPietro. He picked up his seventh shutout of the season last week, leading all OHL goaltenders in that category. His .912 save percentage and 2.74 GAA rank are both ranked fourth for OHL goaltenders that have played more than seven games this season.

Let’s move on with the top performances of the week!

No. 3 – RW Kole Lind (Kelowna Rockets, WHL)

How good was Kole Lind‘s week? I think Larry David expresses it best. As all you may have already heard, the Canucks signed Lind to an entry-level deal. The kid is on a blistering pace this season, putting up 37 goals and 87 assists.

In this last week alone, Lind scored five goals in three games. He rounded that out with another assist to bring that point total to six on the week. Not bad for a second round pick. Lind earned the first star in a 7-6 loss to the Prince George Cougars, where he scored a hat trick and picked up an assist. Kelowna lost all three games last week, but all in all, still good for Lind.

Because of that upper body injury, Cody Glass had a chance to pass Lind in points. Additionally, Aleksi Heponiemi has been destroying the WHL all season on the deadliest forward line in the league.

Despite the lack of bragging rights available on the highest of ends, Kole Lind is yet another bright spark in another dark Canuck’s season. The GIFs alone are great entertainment on its own, but the way Lind taunts the home crowd on the road is special.

The Canucks do not have agitators in their lineup; not to the same degree as Ryan Kesler, Alex Burrows or Max Lapierre. Adam Gaudette has a similar type of attitude and Brendan Leipsic carries the same reputation.

Assuming those three are still with the Canucks in three to five years, I could imagine the kind of chaos those guys would create. Enough daydreaming. Here is the thread for Lind’s hat trick.

No. 2 – C/RW Elias Pettersson (Vaxjo, SHL)

Elias Pettersson isn’t in the number one spot? Sacrilege! Settle down, people. Pettersson still have a very good week. Vaxjo played in three games where Pettersson scored three goals and added two apples to his weekly total.

The best player in the Vancouver Canucks prospect school is up to 21 goals and 30 assists this season. And what’s my favourite thing to do when Pettersson pads those stats? Telling you which players he passed on the all time list. And GIFs. Lots of GIFs.

Yes, Canucks fans. You can now brag to your friends that Elias Pettersson has officially had a better U20 SHL season than Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin and Peter Forsberg. The past week puts Pettersson back on top of the SHL and he only needs three points in his three remaining games to tie Kent Nilsson.

If (or when) Pettersson gets there, he could not do it in the same number of games as Nilsson (36), but the feat is still astounding. Canucks can be happy with a very promising draft+1 season from the young forward.

Vaxjo’s GM and GIFs

Before the GIFs, I want to quickly go over what Vaxjo GM Henrik Evertsson sees in Pettersson since he has the closest view of him. Rick Dhaliwal got a chance to speak with him and you may be interested in what he said.

Evertsson on Pettersson's great season : "Nobody saw 50 points, it's not easy to get 50 points it's phenomenal. We didn't expect it but he is an over-all talent, his shot stands out." #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) March 2, 2018

Evertsson on Pettersson passing Peter Forsberg's numbers : "Players like Forsberg and Sundin were more complete players, Elias is not far behind but lacks the physical maturity." #Canucks
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) March 2, 2018

The need for physical maturity is something scouts have brought up since he was drafted. His physical development is a work in progress, but ultimately I am not concerned about it.

Pettersson will work hard and slowly add muscle as he goes. You don’t want a situation where he adds too much weight in an offseason. Just look at how Linden Vey and Jared McCann got much slower after the Canucks told them to add weight. In a game about speed, balance will be the key. Jake Virtanen eventually learned that lesson in Utica. I don’t think that mistake will be made with Pettersson.

As for his production, everyone paying close attention to Pettersson would have been satisfied with point-per-game production. Much like Brock Boeser did at the NHL level, it was nice to see Pettersson shatter expections in the SHL.

We also learned from the interview that Pettersson won’t be joining the Utica Comets this year since he will likely play for Sweden in the World Championships. Alright, now the thing you have been waiting for. Bask in the Elias Pettersson GIFs, courtesy of Ryan Biech. Please note that this post is unable to contain all of the flash-based awesomeness that is Elias Pettersson. If you are not following Ryan Biech on Twitter, DO IT!

No. 1 – LW Jakob Stukel (Calgary Hitmen, WHL)

This makes two consecutive appearances for Jakob Stukel and at the number one spot to boot. The kid from Surrey replicated last week’s efforts. Three goals and four assists. It’s almost a case of deja vu. However, Stukel took one extra game to do it.

His game on Friday was a wild one. The Hitmen were up by two shortly into the middle frame of the game. Stukel blew by the defenders and scored a beauty. The Oil Kings were wearing their fashionable Don Cherry jerseys, but decided to goon it up after Stukel’s goal.

Unfortunately for Stukel and his hitmen, Edmonton scored three unanswered goals and and won it in overtime. For his efforts, Stukel earned the second star of the night. It was a hard-fought game, but Calgary came up short.

That fourth game on Sunday was his best. The Hitmen took it all out on the Red Deer Rebels. In a 6-2 routing, Stukel scored a pair of goals in addition to two more assists. Yes, his goals were an insurance goal and an empty netter, but both assists were primary and he was in on the game-winning goal. Stukel earned the first star of the night.

Next: Canucks face tough decision in the top five of the draft

We’re winding down to end of the regular seasons for some of our prospects. For those wondering about when prospects can join Utica, they have to wait for their team to be eliminated from the playoffs. I don’t think any of our European prospects will come over for the end of Utica’s season, but expect to see them at Prospect Camp, the Young Stars Tournament and training camp this summer.

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