Vancouver Canucks prospects of week 12: Hughes, Demko, Carcone

No. 1 – Michael Carcone (LW/RW) (Utica Comets, AHL)

Now for the main event. If anyone in the audience knows who Michael Carcone is, I give you a tip of the hat. I don’t expect most fans to remember him. Carcone was signed in the summer of 2016 as an undrafted free agent from the QMJHL.

His numbers before this year didn’t stand out too much, but he did have 15 goals last season. The start of this year was rather quiet for the kid from Ajax, Ontario, but he didn’t let that stop him. During this three game winning streak, Carcone has three goals and three assists. And the Utica Comets did not fail to deliver. We have GIFs. Legally usable GIFs!

That first goal was my favourite. It’s a lot more fun to watch players create offence and Carcone delivered that in spades this week. I don’t know what kind of pace he will be able to keep after this, but it is exciting. With 14 points in 17 games, Carcone is one point behind the Canucks prospect points lead (currently held by Zack MacEwen, who has played 21 games).

Carcone is an RFA at the end of the season and if he keeps playing like this, he is sure to get a new contract with the club. For his efforts, Carcone was the third star against Laval and Belleville and the second star against Rochester.

Carcone is intersting for a few reasons. He plays a speed-oriented, aggressive style of play. You can say he sometimes hogs the puck and doesn’t pass when he needs to, but you can see a lot of versatility in his game. I’m not sure if Carcone has the NHL in his future and it’s not likely he keeps this pace, but he may be a valuable depth piece for the farm down the line.

In a time where injuries are plaguing both clubs, it is nicer that the Comets can pull from within and not have to sign as many players out of the ECHL. They still do, but at least the counts are getting lower. We’ll see what the prospect crew gets up to next week.