Canucks prospects of week 17: Madden, Zhukenov and Thiessen

Each week, I will be featuring the Vancouver Canucks top three prospects. Here’s a look at who stood out in week 17.

This week I feature two players from the NCAA, one a top scorer, while the other is a goaltender just getting his feet wet at the collegiate level. The third featured player is an almost forgotten Canucks prospect playing in the Russian VHL.

1. Tyler Madden

The Northeastern Huskies are 9-3 in their last 12 games and in the midst of a tight battle for the top spot in the Hockey East. During that stretch, Tyler Madden scored 11 goals and managed points in 11 of those 12 games. Vision, creativity and incredible hockey sense are some of the attributes that stand out when watching Madden play. With 16 goals on the season, he is currently one behind the co-leaders for the most goals in the NCAA.

In two games this week, Madden put up four points scoring twice while adding two assists. The Huskies won the first game downing Bentley 4-2 in a non-conference game. Madden set up fellow Canucks prospect Aidan McDonough for a power play marker to open the scoring.

The game remained 1-0 until the third period when Bentley scored to tie the game. Madden then one-timed a cross-ice pass to put the Huskies back on top. He later added a primary assist on the insurance goal to round out his three-point night.

In the next game, a 5-4 overtime loss to the University of New Hampshire, the Huskies trailed 3-1 after two periods. Madden fired one home from a goal-mouth scramble to bring the Huskies to within a goal. However, after forcing the extra session, they couldn’t pull off the victory.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1216176405328777216

2. Dmitri Zhukenov

Since being drafted by the Canucks in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL entry draft, Dmitri Zhukenov has played for eight different teams in five separate leagues.

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He is presently playing with Gornyak Uchaly in the Russian VHL and seems to have settled in nicely. Zhukenov leads his team in goals and is second in points. The team went 2-1 this past week with Zhukenov provided points in all three matches.

In the first game, a 2-1 loss, Zhukenov scored the lone goal while on the power play to open the scoring.

A few days later, he would add primary assists on both the game-tying and overtime game-winning goals in a 3-2 decision. In the next match, Zhukenov once again set up the overtime marker in another 3-2 victory.

3. Matthew Thiessen

Before the Saturday exhibition game versus the U.S. National Team Development Program U-18 squad, Matthew Thiessen had only seen very brief action with the University of Maine Black Bears.

His lone start resulted in him allowing three goals on just six shots and getting the hook after only about seven minutes of action. Thiessen waited a long time to get the chance to redeem himself since that horrific game in late October.

Saturday night, the opportunity presented itself, and he took full advantage. Thiessen turned aside 30 shots in blanking the USNTDP U-18 team 2-0, thus earning the trust of his coach and teammates. Hopefully, the victory will boost his confidence and help to erase the memory of a .500 save percentage and 25.59 goals-against average that has been his stat-line for almost three months.

Honourable mentions

Kole Lind, Brogan Rafferty and Nils Hoglander all managed three assists in three games this past week.

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