Vancouver Canucks cut Dahlen, Chatfield and Palmu from camp
The Vancouver Canucks didn’t waste any time this morning, announcing three more training camp cuts from the roster.
Well, I was just talking about the dangers of expecting all prospects being NHL-ready and the Vancouver Canucks make my point with this morning’s cuts. Confirmed by the team’s Twitter account, Jonathan Dahlèn, Jalen Chatfield and Petrus Palmu were all assigned to the Utica Comets.
Jalen Chatfield was an interesting player to watch during training camp. He was a rookie on the Utica Comets last season and was brought in to the organization as an undrafted UFA. Being right-handed allowed him to stick around for as long as he did. Chatfield had a solid rookie season and will look to build on that in Utica.
I was hoping for a little more from Petrus Palmu. Darn that recency bias. That’s the big reason we don’t put a whole lot of stock on prospect games in the summer. He wasn’t particularly bad nor good. I would say he was just okay. It can be annoying to hear Travis Green say that, but in this case, it’s accurate. I’m hoping he can use this camp to have a great rookie season in the AHL.
Don’t worry, I gave an entire section for the biggest name on today’s round of cuts.
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Jonathan Dahlèn
Out of all three names, Dahlèn is likely the most surprising, especially if you weren’t watching him closely during the preseason. It would have been a dream for both him and Elias Pettersson to make the lineup, but alas, that will not happen. Personally, I don’t think Dahlèn was poor in camp, but his limited mobility by comparison stood out. A season in the AHL won’t hurt him and depending how many injuries pile up, there may be an opportunity for him late in the season.
The AHL presents a big jump in speed compared to the Swedish Allsvenskan and that will make the potential transition to the NHL smoother. The gap in speed is prevalent between the NHL and the AHL and it’s not a bad thing for extra development time. I am a little surprised that someone like Wacey Hamilton is on the roster ahead of him, but Green always appreciates hustle.
Honestly, it would have been nice if Dahlèn could push a veteran out, but Green made it clear that his team will play with pace. Dahlèn could not keep up and that alone is enough for the Canucks to not risk losing one of their many waiver-eligible players. You have to really stand out positively for that to happen and unfortunately, we didn’t get that from Dahlèn.
dark. Next. Canucks top prospects of week 3: Manukyan and DiPietro
We are down to 33 players on the roster; 19 forwards, 11 defencemen and three goaltenders. We have two injuries at forward and one at defence, so the decisions will get interesting over the next nine days. I’m not shocked by any camp cuts yet, but maybe that will change by the time the season starts. The Canucks have been rather predictable in these decisions. Although, I did not expect them to commit this much to playing Pettersson at centre. I guess anything can happen this year.
*UPDATE: Reid Boucher was placed on waivers today for reassignment to Utica. The team does not officially announce him as a roster cut unless he clears, which is pretty likely since the last few times he has been waived.