Vancouver Canucks prospects of week 9: Manukyan, DiPietro, Rathbone
No. 3 – Artyom Manukyan (RW) (Avangard Omsk, KHL)
It’s been a while since Artyom Manukyan had his own feature on this list. I was starting to get worried when he cooled off after a very good start to the season. He matched last year’s season totals within the first week and I hate to say it, but I got caught up in the small sample size.
With that being said, Manukyan stood out in a huge way despite his diminutive stature. Avangard played in four games this week, but the one that mattered the most was the most recent that got the KHL excited.
4-assist night for Artyom Manukyan!#AVGvsKRS pic.twitter.com/ck5oWIB3r2
— KHL (@khl_eng) November 5, 2018
Yes, you are reading that correctly. Manukyan had a four-point night and the best part of all was that all of those points were primary assists. I know statistics don’t really care about things like slump-busters, but that is one for the ages. Offensive players can get into a funk when they don’t score. Just look at Brock Boeser. So it’s great to see the young forward get back into the swing of things.
No. 2 – Michael DiPietro (G) (Windsor Spitfires, OHL)
I told you a pair of familiar faces would return. Well, the article image probably gave that away. Anyway, Michael DiPietro is back in the top three and what a week he had. Through three games, the Amherstburg native left with two wins and a loss.
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Collectively, he only let in four goals on 96 combined shots. He was dialed in to shut down Owen Sound and Sarnia, facing over 30 shots in each game, earning the third star in Sarnia. Unfortunately, the run support ran dry against the Ottawa 67’s. DiPietro only let in one goal on 20 shots, but that was enough to lose the game. He did receive the second star of the game for his efforts.
Thanks to Prospect-Stats, I can get better goaltending data from the OHL. DiPietro has a .912 save percentage at 5v5 and has an adjusted GSAA of 5.641. That means he is saving over five more goals than the average OHL goaltender. He is ranked 7th in the OHL by this metric on a rebuilding team. DiPietro was the backbone of the Spitfires last year and is playing a huge role once again during their transition.
Now, this is the OHL. We have seen countless OHL star goaltenders fail to make an impact at the NHL. However, the Canucks can feel comfortable that they are strong in net from a prospect pipeline point of view. That comfort may shift one way or the other once DiPietro turns pro, but for now, he is continuing to play well. I can’t wait to see him for the World Juniors.
No. 1 – Jack Rathbone (LD) (Harvard Crimson, NCAA)
We end things off this week with Jack Rathbone. Coming in at the number one spot, Rathbone is certainly moving up and displacing Quinn Hughes for the time being. All kidding aside, Rathbone had a phenomenal weekend. He looks more than comfortable with the Harvard Crimson and is quite compatible with his defence partner, Adam Fox.
The Crimson played against Quinnipiac and Princeton, losing 5-3 and ending in a 4-4 tie, respectively. Even if the team results were less desirable, Rathbone made himself stand out on the scoresheet, collecting two goals and three assists on the weekend.
Jim Benning has placed a lot of emphasis on players who can skate, move the puck well and shoot the puck often. There’s a strange line where you attribute success more to the scouts. Mine is outside the first round, but I’ll give this to Benning for argument’s sake. The point is, Rathbone ticks all those boxes.
He had nine shots on the weekend and is up to six points in three games. Now, there is one thing to mention. This may be Rathbone’s first year of college, but he is still 19 years old. He does not have a late birthday, he just took off his draft+1 year to play an extra year in high school and be close to his brother.
Next. Vancouver Canucks: time to shine on road trip. dark
Even still, Rathbone has shot out of the gate at full speed and I am thankful that it is much easier to track his progress and share with the rest of you. Plus, the more GIFs that Ryan Biech can create, the better, even if I can’t put them in these prospect reports anymore. Tune in next week for more prospects coverage!