Canucks: Projecting when defencemen prospects will make the team

Nikita Tryamkin

There are many clamouring for the return of Nikita Tryamkin to the Canucks organization, but I am not confident that the Russian giant will ever have an illustrious NHL career, or at least not with the Canucks.

There have been rumours as of late that Tryamkin would like to return to Vancouver. Harman Dayal of The Athletic (subscription required) published a piece last week in which he confirmed this rumour, but emphasized that Tryamkin’s lack of impact in the KHL likely means that he will be unable to fill a significant role with the Canucks.

The unfortunate trend is that of the Russian players who have come over to North America after several seasons in the KHL, few have been impactful for their teams in recent years. Of course, there are exceptions such as Alex Ovechkin or Artemi Panarin, but there are just as many like Eeli Tolvanen.

Even defencemen who have lit up the KHL, such as Nikita Zaitsev, have been unable to transition their craft to the North American game effectively. Seeing as Tryamkin has been little more than average in Russia, expectations should be relatively low for an NHL return. If he does sign, Tryamkin’s spot is likely in Utica, and considering that he refused to report there in 2017, I think it’s unlikely that anything would be different. Instead, he would probably be left in healthy scratch limbo.

Prediction: 2020-21 (if ever)

There you have it. The Canucks have several great young defencemen in their system. Most will make an impact at some point, but it will be longer for some than others. What do you think? Are any of my predictions off to you? Is there anyone else that should be considered here? Let me know in the comments section.