Canucks prospects of week 15: Hoglander, Juolevi and Jasek

Each week, I will be featuring the Vancouver Canucks top three prospects. Here’s a look at who stood out in week 15.

A highlight reel goal at the World Junior Championships, elite vision and playmaking, and timely goals were what stood out among Vancouver Canucks prospects this past week.

1. Nils Hoglander

Undoubtedly, the Vancouver prospect that has created the most excitement since being drafted is Nils Hoglander. His highlight package is jaw-dropping and one that needs to be watched repeatedly while uttering the words, ” how did he do that? ” Well this week, Hoglander pulled off another such move.

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With Sweden trailing their arch-rival Finland 1-0 early in the second period, ” the Hoglander ” was executed to perfection to even the game at 1-1.

Finland would regain the lead only to have Hoglander set up Samuel Fagemo with just over five minutes remaining in the third period to force overtime. Sweden prevailed in the extra session for a 3-2 triumph.

In their second game at the WJC tournament, Sweden were 5-2 winners versus Switzerland. Hoglander again played a significant role in the victory.

While travelling at top speed, he eluded a defender before slipping the puck over to Fagemo to make the score 2-0. He later scored as he deflected a point shot from Nils Lundkvist to make it 3-0, giving him four points in the two games thus far.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1210277304624197632

2. Olli Juolevi

Many fans have openly criticized the selection of Olli Juolevi in the first round of the 2016 NHL entry draft. After all, the fifth overall pick has not yet played an NHL game. However, one aspect of his skill set deserving of praise is his passing. Juolevi sees the ice well and his ability to find open teammates, whether it be to exit the zone or to create scoring opportunities, is superb.

In the two Comets` games this past weekend, Juolevi demonstrated that attribute. He collected a pair of assists in both games, helping the Comets take three of a possible four points.

Friday night, with the Comets trailing the Hershey Bears 4-1 in the second period, Juolevi’s blast from the point was deflected by Seamus Malone into the Bears’ net. Early in the third period, Juolevi led a rush into the offensive zone before dishing off to Reid Boucher, who found a streaking Carter Camper to bring the Comets to within a goal. The Comets ended up dropping a 6-5 overtime decision.

Saturday night, the Comets downed the Lehigh Valley Phantoms 4-2. Juolevi added primary assists on the game’s opening goal scored by Kole Lind and the game-tying goal by Wacey Hamilton. Both of those goals showed great patience and tape-to-tape passes by Juolevi, who also finished the game with a plus-three rating.

3. Lukas Jasek

Twice in the Friday overtime loss, Lukas Jasek scored third period goals to tie the game. On his first goal, Jasek streaked down the right side and fired a wrist shot that somehow squeezed between the goaltender’s pads tying the game 4-4. Then with the Comets trailing 5-4, he notched the game-tying goal by going to the net and taking a centring pass from Justin Bailey. That goal came at 14:19 of the period.

In the 4-2 win on Saturday, Jasek added a secondary assist on the Lind goal. For his three points on the weekend, Jasek earned a nod as one of the Canucks’ prospects of the week.

Be sure to come back next time to see which of the incredible prospects earn the distinction of Canucks’ prospects of the week.