Could Will Lockwood make the Canucks full time next season?

Will Lockwood is the last of the Vancouver Canucks 2016 draft class still with the organization.

The Canucks took him in the third round 64th overall. He made his NHL debut late in the 2020-21 season and played 13 games in the NHL this past season. Lockwood has yet to register a point with the Canucks.

He played 46 games with the Abbotsford Canucks and scored nine teams and managed 16 assists.

There is a lot to like about Lockwood. He is a speedy and energetic player. The former Michigan Wolverine also likes to play physically and is a very good forechecker.

Those attributes may remind you of a former Canuck. Lockwood’s game is very similar to Tyler Motte who was traded to the New York Rangers at the deadline for a fourth round pick. He has also been compared to former Canuck Jannik Hansen by Matthew Zator of The Hockey Writers. Nowadays, you can hear Hansen give his Canucks takes on Sportsnet 650 every week.

Six years after he’s been drafted, Lockwood hopes to make the Canucks on a full-time basis next season. But the question is, can he?

Training camp in September and the preseason will be big for Lockwood. It’s going to be a make-or-break year for him.

Lockwood’s puck retrieving ability and his speed and physicality are things that work well in Bruce Boudreau’s forechecking system. He would fill the void Motte left on the fourth line.

Opponents seem to have a hard time battling with him along the boards.

https://twitter.com/DanielGScouting/status/1507391771264765955

However, Lockwood still needs to work on some things. They are his decision-making and passing. With the puck, he seems to overthink things. He is also prone to making some really dangerous turnovers and often skates out of position and loses his opponent.

An example of his bad decision-making is this linked clip of him dropping the puck back to Noah Juulsen which leads to a goal by the Bakersfield Condors. (I can’t show it because the Tweet has an expletive but you can open it in a new tab.) All he needed to do was carry the puck out of the defensive zone.

Lockwood needs to amp his game up to 100 (or even higher) if he wants to become a full-time NHLer. He has got the tools but he needs to work on simplifying his game as well as his passing.

Do you think the Lockwood could make the Canucks full-time next season? Let us know in the comments below, on Facebook