Top 5 Vancouver Canucks prospects that will surprise at training camp

Training camp beings in a several weeks, so we wanted to look at five prospects who may surprise you at training camp this year.

The Vancouver Canucks have a lot of prospects competing for limited spots. We keep hearing that competition was made for the younger players, so we will see if the Canucks are true to their word and make room for standout players (my money is on no).

The order we go through today is not ranked by how good each player is relative to the other. In fact, it’s an indicator of how much a surprise it would be should they make the opening night roster. What does that mean? Well, the obvious options will be lower down the list.

You are going to notice that the Canucks’ best prospect, Elias Pettersson is not on this list. There are a couple reasons why I chose to do that. First, when he makes the team, it won’t be a surprise. And second, Elias Pettersson will probably be the best part of the Canucks preseason. His game won’t be perfect right away, but if you’ve been tracking him for the last 11 months (or more), you are going to be very excited. This gives me an opportunity to highlight another prospect.

I should also clarify that the only players eligible for this list still qualify for the Calder Memorial Trophy. So if you were expecting Nikolay Goldobin, Brendan Leipsic or Jake Virtanen, you will be disappointed. Besides, the former two are nearly NHL players while the latter is already one. With all that explained, let’s get to the good stuff!