Aatu Raty, C
Aatu Raty is another one of the 2002 born prospects in the draft. He is projected to go somewhere between seven and 13. Raty plays for Karpat of the Finnish Liiga where he made the jump from the U20 team this season. So far he has three goals and three assists in 31 games. It’s because he is playing in limited minutes and is an 18-year-old playing against men.
Raty was projected to be the first overall pick by many for most of last year. However, he has dropped in the rankings mainly due to his inconsistent play.
With that said, he shouldn’t be given up on yet. Raty is good at driving to the net and creating passing lanes for his teammates. He delivers crisp passes, good stickhandling and an accurate shot. Defensively, Raty reads the play very well, hustles hard to retrieve the puck and is great at intercepting it.
Raty is also great at transitioning the puck up the ice. In the clip below, he displays that and his stride to take the puck out of the defensive zone, get by defenders and create a good scoring chance.
Lots of people are souring on Aatu Raty and while he might not be the sure-fire first overall in the #2021NHLDraft.. the kid can play.
— Josh Bell (@JoshuaBell31) November 27, 2020
He's still one of the best forwards in this class. pic.twitter.com/BUGEtUnUCC
While his inconsistent play is a concern, Raty may need some more time to develop into an NHL player than other prospects. The Canucks could use his ability to play in all three zones and he could become a serviceable centre for them in the future.
There are lots of other prospects the Canucks could select but let me know which of these you like best and what other prospects you want the team to draft in the comments below.
Stats courtesy of Elite Prospects.