Canucks: Remainder of the season should be all about the prospects
Agree or disagree, the Vancouver Canucks are set to make their long-awaited return to NHL action this Friday. The largest COVID-19 outbreak in all of sports this year — including 22 players and four members of the organization — has sidelined the team since March 24th, but the Canucks still have 19 games left to play.
The team will have just 31 days to complete their season, with six sets of back-to-backs allocated throughout their new schedule. Talk about an uphill battle for a team that’s already on the outside looking in.
It must be difficult for any hockey club to want to return and complete their season when they are faced with such extreme odds stacked against them — an overloaded schedule, a rundown team that hasn’t played in three weeks, and fresh opponents who are already in mid-season form to play against.
Nonetheless, no matter how discouraging it may be for some of the players having to return, there is still a silver lining at play. Vancouver has a few new faces entering the fold, as well as a handful of prospects that need NHL ice time before their roles on the team intensify next season.
The Prospects
As bad as it may look to scratch a veteran goalie like Braden Holtby, now is the time to give Mikey DiPietro a turn or two between the pipes. He hasn’t played a professional game in over a year and as good as he may feel practicing all season with NHL players, real games mean a whole lot more.
Olli Juolevi is another player who desperately needs these 19 games. The fifth overall draft pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft took big strides early on this year and started to appear as an everyday NHLer. Unfortunately, Travis Green eventually elected to go with a veteran presence in Jordie Benn over a youthful injection, but now that Benn is out of the picture, Juolevi can fill in and prepare for his promotion in 2021-22.
Jalen Chatfield is another defender who could use some games between now and the end of the season. He has some friendly competition in Madison Bowey now entering the fray, putting in quality work is vital in his preparation for a potential promotion.
The Newcomers
Waiver pickups Jimmy Vesey and Travis Boyd could work out to be cheap extensions for next season as long as their confidence in receiving ice time remains solid with the head coach. But getting a good look at them beforehand seems like a good way to go about it. Vesey could provide some energy in the bottom-six, while Boyd could turn out to be a good option at fourth-line centre.
Trade Deadline acquisitions Matthew Highmore and Bowey from the Chicago Blackhawks are in need of some playing time as well. Highmore has played 24 games this season but has been a healthy scratch since April 3rd. As for Bowey, the defender has only been a part of two games this year, despite being a Stanley Cup champion in 2018.
Both players are signed through the 2021-22 season and are likely to have roles within the main roster moving forward, making it a wise decision for the team to get them involved as much as possible.
Final thoughts…
A return to the ice may not be what’s best for the Canucks organization, but there are definitely some positives (no pun intended) to completing the regular season, even if it doesn’t mean making the playoffs.
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Getting these prospects and newcomers into games will help the coaching staff and management get a better grip on what they’re dealing with heading into next year. The puck drops on Friday night. Expect some of these players to lace up the skates and see an elevation in ice time.