Vancouver Canucks add a goalie, go forward heavy in rounds 6 and 7

In the final two rounds of the 2019 NHL draft, the Vancouver Canucks landed goalie Arturs Silovs before going forward only the rest of the way.

After taking forwards with their first four picks, the Vancouver Canucks added Latvian goalie Arturs Silovs in the sixth round before adding even more bodies up front.

With their final two selections in the sixth round, the Canucks went with Czech forward Karel Plasek and American USHL standout Jack Malone, with the 175th and 180th overall selections, respectively.

In the seventh round, the Canucks went with Cedar Rapids RoughRiders forward Aidan Mcdonough. And finally, they used their final pick (215th overall) on 5-foot-11 Swedish center Arvid Costmar. With that, the Canucks didn’t draft one single defenceman this year.

Now, let’s take a look at each of the Canucks sixth and seventh round picks. All stats are courtesy of Hockeydb.com and Elite Prospects.

The picks

The 6-foot-4 Silovs appeared in 20 games and posted a 3.26 goals against average and .914 save percentage over in Latvia. He also played seven contests for HK Riga of the MHL, recording a 2.45 goals against average and .920 save percentage.

Appearing in 10 games for HC Kometa Brno U19 of Czech U19, Plasek scored 10 goals and five assists. He also appeared in 29 contests for HC Kometa Brno, registering two goals and four assists. As for Malone, he posted 59 points in 57 games for the Youngstown Phantoms.

Mcdonough suited up in 50 games for the RoughRiders this season, tallying 21 goals and 42 points. Costmar played 44 games for Linköping HC J20 of the SuperElit league, tallying 13 goals and 38 points.

The Canucks haven’t had much success with their late round picks over the years. General manager Benning simply took some educated guesses in hopes that at least one or two of these guys can turn into NHL regulars.

Conclusion

General manager Jim Benning drafted forwards with their first four selections — Vasily Podkolzin, Nils Hoglander, Ethan Keppen and Carson Focht. Following these picks and the trade for J.T. Miller, defence became the primary need for the organization.

So it’s a surprise that Benning avoided taking blueliners. Outside of Olli Juolevi and Jett Woo, the Canucks don’t exactly have a whole lot in the pipeline on defence. This makes it far more likely that he’ll look to acquire some help on the blue line in free agency.

Overall, this was a solid draft for the Canucks. They added a handful of dynamic play-making wingers in Podkolzinand Hoglander, both of whom should be able to contribute nicely at the NHL level — especially the former.

Now, Benning has to find a way to add one or two more capable top four blueliners. He went all out in adding more forwards, but this team needs some help on defence if they’re to compete for a playoff spot in 2020.