Wrap up
So I’m sure you can’t tell but out of these three Victor Söderström is my guy and if the Canucks end up picking somewhere between 10 and 14 I would be ecstatic if the Canucks could land this right-handed Swedish stud. He may be a few years away from stepping into the NHL but I would love to see him compete with some NHL players at camp and see what he can do.
If Söderström were to go back to Sweden after the NHL draft I would bet he will put up some very impressive numbers in the SHL during his draft +1 season. Not to the level of Elias Pettersson but definitely would be looked at as one of the elite defenceman in that league.
Raphael Lavoie is more of a write off for me, I was excited when I saw his size and read a couple reports saying he can fly like the wind and has a powerful shot, which are all things that he did have, but I saw too much of Virtanen in him and I think that he just would not have a spot on this team aside from maybe pushing for a second line roll while being a third line energy guy.
At the same time, there were games where Lavoie lacked energy and was the most inconsistent of the trio for sure, so personally for Canucks management I would stay away from Lavoie. He may surprise me but he could just have a ceiling of Virtanen.
Moritz Seider was very intriguing, his skating was smooth, he was the best player at the division two world championships but it’s just hard to put him ahead of Söderström. Seider has a size advantage and is a smart guy, he moves the puck nicely for a big guy and is a hammer in the open ice. Seider and Söderström probably both have the floor of being fourth or fifth defencemen on an NHL team but Seider does not have a ceiling as high as Söderström, so personally if you’re looking to draft a right shot defenceman I would love to see the Canucks snag Söderström.
Victor Söderström playing with Quinn Hughes in two or three years really excites me, pair that up with Juolevi and Woo to round out your top six and you have some great puck moving defencemen with some very high hockey IQ.
The Canucks will have multiple options and it’s all speculation at this point because we don’t even know what spot we will be drafting in this year. It’s fun to speculate for me and it’s fun to research these guys, watching film of Söderström almost overwhelmed me though, he looks like a poised young man and right now he may be my favourite player that I have scouted out of these prospects that the Canucks could target if they draft 11-20th at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
Question for the comments: Are you on board with Söderström or do you feel like Lavoie or Seider is a better option and fit for the Vancouver Canucks?