It’s sink or swim time for Canucks rookie defenceman Olli Juolevi

He wasn’t the London Knight that Vancouver Canucks fans hoped would land in Vancouver at the 2016 NHL draft, but he’s the one they got. And now it’s time to consider the future of 22-year-old Olli Juolevi.

So far, he hasn’t shown much of anything that would warrant justification of his draft slot. The offence and puck-moving ability that he showed in the junior ranks hasn’t translated to the NHL. Though he hasn’t had much of an opportunity to display his skills confidently, there is a reason that Travis Green does not trust him enough to deploy him in those situations. Monday night in Ottawa, Juolevi’s name again floated on the Twitter air-waves after a seeing-eye wrist shot from the left point netted the second goal of his young career.

In his limited role with the team this season, Juolevi hasn’t looked entirely out of place and has shown flashes of being a regular member of the team’s top six defensemen. He may need to play out of necessity next season due to the team’s limited cap room and the bleak defensive depth in the pipeline. It’s been years of counting baby steps for the young defenceman, and it may finally be time to see if he can sink or swim.

Entering training camp this season, Jim Benning proclaimed that Juolevi was ready to contribute. So far this season, Juolevi has played in 19 games; he’s put up two goals while averaging 13:18 time on ice. It’s safe to say that Juolevi has played an extremely sheltered role thus far into his career, so there is not much to judge him on when considering his future with the organization. But the former fifth overall pick finds himself in a tricky spot, being five years removed from his draft season and still struggling to cement himself as a regular in the NHL. His draft position has provided him with more leeway than other young players would usually have in his position, so it’s time he capitalizes on that.

Through all the ups and downs in Juolevi’s career, he possesses a skill-set that the Canucks desperately need. His heads-up offensive instincts and crisp passing would be a welcome sight to the defensive core. In fact, head coach Travis Green has been complimentary of Juolevi’s play in recent games, and the reason he sat out for the majority of March was because of cap reasons and not his play on the ice. Gaining the confidence of a head coach is extremely important for a young defenceman who’s been in and out of the lineup.