Fansided

Vancouver Canucks top prospects of week 24: DiPietro, Dahlen and Lind

By Scott Rosenhek |
VANCOUVER, BC - MARCH 29: Adam Gaudette
VANCOUVER, BC - MARCH 29: Adam Gaudette
1 of 4
Next

A pair of prospects made their NHL debuts last week as the playoffs continue in the CHL and Europe. Here are your top Canucks prospect performances.

2018 has a different feel to it. As another predictably bad season comes to an end, the conclusion of the current season is not as soulless compared to what came before. By this point, we expect the Vancouver Canucks to mentally check out and hopefully lose out for the benefit of the draft.

However, injuries have ripped this roster wide open. The prospects caught between the AHL and NHL are getting the chance to show what they have. Despite flirting with the league’s contract limit at the start of the season, the Canucks made room to sign Adam Gaudette.

Canucks fans were treated with two prominent debuts. Gaudette was showcased against the Edmonton Oilers and Columbus Blue Jackets. Although he did not collect any points, there was something promising there with Jake Virtanen and Brendan Gaunce on his wings.

Honestly, I was a nervous about Gaudette’s debut. This market has a serious problem with setting appropriate expectations. After the dust settled in Edmonton, it appears fans are being reasonable (for now).

Additoinally, Thatcher Demko made his debut on Saturday. For the most part, he played as well as anyone could have asked. The post saved him several times in that first period and the team in front of him threw away a 4-1 lead with 10 minutes to go. But Demko finished strong, backstopping a 26-save win; his first in the NHL. Congratulations, Thatcher!

Ryan Biech also let us know that 2015 sixth round pick, Lukas Jasek signed an amateur tryout with the Utica Comets. He made his debut on Saturday and impressed, scoring a goal and adding a pair of assists. Not bad for his first pro game in North America.

More from The Canuck Way

Playoff updates

Olli Juolevi and Petrus Palmu advance with TPS Turku to the Liiga semifinals. The duo had no points in two games this week and will look forward towards facing off with Tappara this Wednesday. Växjö now has an opponent for the SHL semifinals. The Malmö Redhawks begin game one with Elias Pettersson starting today.

First round of the OHL playoffs has officially come to a close. Let’s start with the Canucks prospects who were eliminated. Matt Brassard and the Oshawa Generals lost a tough series against Niagara 4-1. Through those five games, Brassard had a goal and two assists.

Rick Dhaliwal confirms that a shoulder injury will prevent Brassard from joining the Utica Comets on an ATO. I am interested to see if the Canucks sign him. It would be preferable to wasting a contract slot on Cole Candella.

Owen Sound advances to the next round, sweeping the London Knights. It’s worth noting that Jonah Gadjovich has not registered a point in the playoffs yet. Brett McKenzie picked up an assist in their lone game this week. They will face their toughest task against the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds next.

/

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

The playoffs tend to separate the contenders from the pretenders. Generally, the higher seeded team is favoured, but if parity is present, theoretically anyone can win. There is no advantage for winning a division and the Kelowna Rockets learned that the hard way.

Kole Lind and his squad played in two games this week. They had to win at least one of those games to keep their season alive. Unfortunately, they could not pull it off. Kelowna lost both games 5-3, allowing Tri-City to complete the sweep and eliminate the Rockets.

Lind had a goal and three assists this week in his losing efforts. With his season over, he signed an ATO with the Utica Comets and will report there shortly. The Comets could certainly use the reinforcements as Nikolay Goldobin and Tyler Motte won’t return until next week.

I am very interested to see how Lind will adjust to the AHL. The game is so much faster and Lind will be lighter than the other pros around him. Skating is so important in the modern game and the transition from junior to the minor leagues can come as a shock.

Playoffs are on the horizon for the Comets, so I can’t wait to see how he does. I just hope Lind gets enough opportunities like Jake Virtanen did with Travis Green back then. He could just as easily sit for most of the games if Trent Cull does not deem him ready. Whatever happens, I am still excited to see how this plays out.

/

No. 2 – LW Jonathan Dahlén (Timrå IK, Allsvenskan)

So, things aren’t going so well for Timrå. Already down 1-0 in the promotion series, they find themselves on the brink of elimination and being sent back to the Allsvenskan next season. In three games this week, Timrå only won once. The series is 3-1 for Karlskrona, so it is make or break for Jonathan Dahlén and his team.

In those three games, Dahlén picked up four points, including a pair of goals. Ryan Biech has the GIF for one of them.

Dahlén is doing everything in his power to push Timrå over the top. Despite Karskrona being the worst team in the SHL this year, the series is showing how difficult promotion can be. We will have to wait and see how this team fares in the face of adversity. Who knows? Maybe Karlskrona struggles to close out the series.

I’m sure the Canucks are keeping a close eye on Dahlén. The team does have one more recall for the season, so if Timrå is eliminated, Dahlen could be brought to Vancouver. Or even better, join the Comets on their playoff run.

/

No. 1 – G Michael DiPietro (Windsor Spitfires, OHL)

The story of Michael DiPietro‘s season is a roller coaster. I’m not just talking about his play either. The Windsor Spitfires are in a rebuild and I wondered if the team would move their starting netminder. Alas, DiPietro was left a man on an island. The team would live and die by how well he played, which would be a nightmare for most goaltenders.

Good thing, Mikey isn’t most goaltenders. Yes, the season has had it’s ups and downs, but some of his best games were in this playoff series against Sarnia. Things looked good last week, when the series was even at one game a piece.

However, the team’s difficulties with goal-scoring would eventually be their undoing. DiPietro was playing his heart out, facing 147 shots through four games this week. That total was 242 over the course of the series. Out of fairness, his team needed to score goals. I don’t think there is anything more he could have done, short of doing the impossible and shutting out Sarnia four out of seven times.

The Spitfires were eliminated in six games and DiPietro left with a .934 save percentage. Not bad, considering he was under siege in nearly every game of that series. Once again, Rick Dhaliwal has the inside scoop of what could happen with him soon.

There is no rush to sign him, but I do like the sound of him getting to join practices with Utica. Assuming no injuries, I see no issue. One final thing to note about DiPietro’s season. There aren’t many advanced statistics for goaltenders, but I do like the use of GSAA, or goals saved above average.

A simple explanation is that this value compares goaltenders to the average in their league. Michael DiPietro has a GSAA of 30.54, which is the second highest value in the OHL according to prospect-stats.com.

Next: It is time to let go of the Sedins

Despite being on a rebuilding team, he has shown that his skills are well above the OHL average. This bodes well for the future of Canucks goaltending, especially with Thatcher Demko making more and more progress. Vancouver won’t need to draft another goaltender this year, but could look to bolster this area in the next three years. For now, the most pressing need is on defence. Fortunately for them, the best player available could very well be a defenceman.

Next
Home / Prospects