Vancouver Canucks top prospects of week 22: Dahlen, Jonah, Brett

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Another busy week for Vancouver Canucks prospects. Some are in the middle of their playoffs, while the CHL regular season has concluded. Here are the top three performances of the week.

The most wonderful time of the year. Regular seasons are coming to a close and the real storylines are conceived in anticipation for the playoffs. Vancouver Canucks fans may have forgotten what the feeling is like since they have been bad for so long, but prospects are the silver lining.

Coaches from the Ontario Hockey League were recently polled for their opinions on players. Jonah Gadjovich won the vote for the hardest worker in the OHL. The big guy has finished in the top three for this honour in the last two seasons as well, but this is the first year he comes out the winner. Gadjovich was also voted the third most dangerous player in the goal area for the second year in a row.

Matthew Brassard was named the second best offensive defencemen in the Eastern Conference. He finished his regular season with 51 points in 67 games. Michael DiPietro was voted best puck-handling goaltender in the Western Conference. He also finished third in the voting for best Western Conference shootout goalie.

CHL regular season is over

On Sunday, the Canucks CHL prospects finished up their regular season. Cole Candella is the only OHL prospect whose team failed to make the playoffs. Jakob Stukel‘s Calgary Hitmen also failed to make the playoffs in the WHL, so his season is over as well.

We’ll get to the boys from the Owen Sound Attack later on. Brassard’s Oshawa Generals begin their playoff series against the Niagara Ice Dogs on March 23rd. DiPietro and the Windsor Spifires face off against the Sarnia Sting, with game 1 taking place on the same date.

Kole Lind finished his season on St. Patrick’s Day, gathering a goal and an assist. At the end of the regular season, Lind had 95 points in 58 games. Not too shabby, considering Lind had a couple injuries, including that bout with mono. His Kelowna Rockets take on the Tri-City Americans in the first round of the Western Conference WHL playoffs. They begin on March 22nd.

Playoffs in Europe

Shifting gears, let’s head to Finland. The Round of 16, which doesn’t really feature 16 teams has come to an end. Olli Juolevi and Petrus Palmu no longer have to wait, as their playoff opponents are now set. TPS Turku will take on SaiPa in the Liiga quarterfinals.

Elias Pettersson and the Växjö Lakers are done waiting for their quarterfinal opponents. The 10th seed Brynäs IF upset the seventh seed Luleå HF. Pettersson played in one playoff game this week, but had no points in a commanding 4-1 win. Växjö will play three more times this week and play on March 26th if necessary.

Adam Gaudette Update

Last weekend was disappointing for Adam Gaudette and the Northeastern Huskies. They fell 3-2 in overtime to Providence, getting knocked out of the Hockey East Tournament. Gaudette had a lone assist in the loss. To rub a little salt in the wounds, Boston University won the Hockey East Tournament, booking their spot in the NCAA playoff tournament.

Don’t get excited yet. Northeastern’s season is not over. The Huskies were named to the tournament by the selection committee and will take on Michigan in the Northeast Regional game. It’s too bad Will Lockwood is out for the season. However, Gaudette will get an up close look at Quinn Hughes. This could be some game to watch.

The two schools clash on March 24th, where the winner will play whoever comes out on top between Cornell and Boston University. That Beanpot reunion match is still on the table. Northeastern better come more prepared next week. Michigan is not a pushover school.

However, if you are itching to see Gaudette, a Northeastern loss next Saturday opens the door to him joining the Canucks. After that date, the next Canucks game would be in Dallas on March 25th. I still think Travis Green would want to get Gaudette up to speed before starting him, as he’s never shown a priority for development.

No. 3 – LW Jonah Gadjovich (Owen Sound Attack, OHL)

My, oh my. Jonah Gadjovich picked a pretty good way to end the regular season on a high note. Two goals and five assists in four games this week. Owen Sound weren’t feasting on bottom feeders alone. In fact, Flint is the only bad team they faced all week. The Attack picked up wins against the league-leading Sault-Ste. Marie Greyhounds and the formidable Sarnia Sting.

Gadjovich’s best game was against the Windsor Spitfires. I truly felt bad for Michael DiPietro. His team didn’t just lose, they got absolutely obliterated 9-2. The hardest working player in the OHL got a goal and two assists, and was named the second star of the night. Here is one of his goals from last week.

I always talk about how Gadjovich is a shot machine. He had 23 shots in these four games. Sometimes that’s more shots than the Canucks can produce in a single game! Despite injuries shortening his season, Gadjovich still had 219 shots in 42 games. That’s 5.21 shots per game, good for second in the OHL. Using the data collected from prospect-stats.com, Gadjovich leads all OHL forwards at estimated shots per 60 minutes (5v5).

Owen Sound begins their playoffs on March 22nd, taking on the London Knights in the first round. This Knights team is not as strong as it was from the past, but will put up a good fight. I will be tracking our propsects’ playoff progression and provide updates when players become available to join the Utica Comets and how the process works.

No. 2 – C Brett McKenzie (Owen Sound Attack, OHL)

Here’s a name we have not seen in a while. Brett McKenzie matched the points output from his teammate, Jonah Gadjovich. The Owen Sound centre scored FIVE goals this week, while picking up two more assists. His season ends with 22 goals and 49 points in 64 games. This total includes what he could put together with the North Bay Battalion earlier in the season (which wasn’t much).

McKenzie scored a pair of goals in a 6-5 shootout win over the best team in the OHL. He helped Owen Sound get to an early 3-0 lead and watched his team almost let that game slip away. For his efforts, the first star of the game was awarded to McKenzie.

The Attack cruised to a 7-1 victory over Flint and McKenzie was the third star of the game thanks to his goal and two assists. Just when I did not expect Owen Sound to score nine goals again, they do just that.

In a wild game against Sarnia, the Attack took a 9-4 victory. His team scored three goals in each period of the game! With two goals on the night, McKenzie earned another star selection, this time the second star.

I don’t think Brett Mckenzie has much of a future with the Vancouver Canucks, but things could change between now and the Memorial Cup. For what it’s worth, that’s one hell of a way to build momentum into the playoffs.

No. 1 – LW Jonathan Dahlén (Timrå IK, Allsvenskan)

Last, but not least is Jonathan Dahlén. I know a lot of Canucks fans were disappointed when he chose to return to Sweden to play in the Allsvenskan. It’s not the highest league in the country, we could keep up with him more easily in Utica, etc. I’ve heard it all before.

But, if you are seeing what Dahlén is doing during these promotion playoffs, you can see why he chose to stay. The young forward made a choice to stick with a team that is near and dear to his heart. And most of all, he is letting his actions do the talking.

Last week, Timrå was up 1-0 in the best-of-five series against Leksands. I guess Dahlén did not want to wait for five games because Timrå swept the series 3-0. In game 2 of the series, Timrå only needed two goals to win and Dahlén scored one of them.

Jonathan Dahlén is incredible. You may think that both of these goals are the same, but they aren’t. He scored a pair of amazing breakaway goals to hammer in the nail of the Leksands coffin. Dahlén also picked up an assist in this game. Timrå would win 4-1 and will face Karlskrona (last place in the SHL) in the best-of-seven promotion series.

The kid is putting the team on his back because he wants to make this promotion happen. Honestly, I get it. We don’t have relegation in North America and unless you’re a European soccer fan, I can see why it’s hard to understand.

Let’s put it this way. A lot of people confuse the Allsvenskan as the minor league of Sweden, an AHL to the SHL. However, it’s not that at all. Imagine if the worst teams in the NHL were demoted for their poor play and had to play against weaker teams next season as a punishment for being so bad.

When your team is in the Allsvenskan, your number one goal is to make it back to the SHL. Winning the league does not matter as much as taking one of the 14 prestigious spots in Sweden’s top hockey league. I’m sure most of you have heard of MoDo Hockey. That’s the team Henrik and Daniel Sedin played for before coming over to North America. Famous Swedish players like Peter Forsberg, Markus Naslund and Victor Hedman all played for MoDo.

Playing in the SHL is the goal. And once there, winning the Le Mat Trophy can become the primary focus. For a team like MoDo, they have struggled to make it back to the SHL for the last two seasons. That’s the other side of the sword. You can get stuck in the second tier for a while, unable to compete for the top championship in the country.

Next: Nikolay Goldobin needs more ice time

Timrå was relegated in 2013 and has not returned to the top league in Sweden since then. It is precisely why these promotion games matter to Dahlén and most of all, Timrå. I’m not just talking about the team. The city is rallying behind them, waiting in anticipation for the glorious return to the SHL. It all begins on March 25th and I can’t wait to see how this turns out.

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Vancouver Canucks top prospects of week 22: Dahlen, Brett, Jonah