The Canuck Way
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Which Canucks prospects will make the NHL roster next?

By Jonathan Bailey

VANCOUVER, CANADA - NOVEMBER 3: Vasily Podkolzin #92 of the Vancouver Canucks waits for a face-off during the second period of their NHL game against the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Arena on November 3, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver won 8-5. (Photo by Derek Cain/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, CANADA - NOVEMBER 3: Vasily Podkolzin #92 of the Vancouver Canucks waits for a face-off during the second period of their NHL game against the Anaheim Ducks at Rogers Arena on November 3, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Vancouver won 8-5. (Photo by Derek Cain/Getty Images) /
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Canucks prospect Aatu Raty celebrates his first NHL goal with the Islanders. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Canucks prospect Aatu Raty celebrates his first NHL goal with the Islanders. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

Raty still waiting to officially breakout with Canucks

Acquired in the Canucks’ Bo Horvat trade, Aatu Raty was all over the place last year in his first full season in North America. On opening night Raty was only 19 years old, and then he went to score his first NHL goal with the New York Islanders, play 27 games with the Bridgeport Islanders, play three games with the Canucks, and play 25 regular season games with Abbotsford before finishing his season with three AHL playoff games there.

That’s a lot of travel and a lot of inconsistency for a young player that needs it. The 6-foot-2 center is a transition ace that likes to get to the net, and sometimes those players take longer to develop. Raty has had an okay start to his first full season with Abbotsford, scoring a goal and three assists in eight games. It’s similar to the pace he produced at with them last year, and he’s still only 20.

A prospect of Raty’s caliber is capable of more, but it’s inconsistency that saw his draft stocks tumble all throughout the 2020-21 season. Although the young Fin already has the NHL pedigree, it’s likely going to take two seasons before he can reasonably establish himself as a regular in Vancouver. Like Bains and Podkolzin, the tools are all there, but the work and the mentality have to be too.

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