What a difficult season it has been for the defective Vancouver Canucks. First the losses of their previous starting goaltender in Jacob Markstrom, their top defensive defenceman (and team veteran), Chris Tanev, their high scoring, newly acquired right winger, Tyler Toffoli and fan favourite, hometown boy in Troy Stecher, all in free agency.
Then to start the season star players like Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson start to heavily struggle causing backlash towards their names. Not only did those players underperform, the rest of the team did. The team was so substandard that fans had flown a banner across Vancouver with “#FIREBENNING” written on it. Injuries didn’t help either. Just ask a certain someone.
Thanks Francesco. Those injuries included Elias Pettersson missing ⅖ of the season, Tanner Pearson missing roughly 10 games, and Hamonic missing an immense number of time. Losing key players like them (that should explain how the roster looks about now when you consider Pearson and Hamonic key pieces), might’ve impacted the team very poorly, but let’s be real here. It was impregnable that the Canucks would’ve made the playoffs.
The worst part of this season will go down as one of the barbarian moments in Canucks history. Twenty-one players on the team had been diagnosed with Covid-19, and the team had to miss two weeks of hockey. Now that their games have been postponed, they have the least amount of games played in the NHL and only a couple of weeks to make it up for it. The playoffs are a completely out of the question for this squad, and the only things Canucks fans should be looking forward to the 2021 draft lottery.
Even though this season has been abhorrent and it was inevitable with such an atrocious off-season, the Canucks have had some bright lights in this hell hole of a season. Nils Höglander stepped up big time surprising the NHL having a fantastic work ethic and had a presentable season. To add to that prospect Vasili Podkolzin managed to lead his KHL team to game 7 of the conference finals and recorded 11 points in 18 games as a 19 year-old. But one of the sterling parts of this year was the excitement for the draft lottery and the draft.
(Photo Credit: hcSKA/twitter)
Canucks fans have only been talking about the lottery and the draft prospects, most importantly defenceman Luke Hughes. The brother of Quinn and Jack Hughes, who both are currently doing prodigious things in the NHL, Luke has been an exemplary defenceman in the USNDP. The question is, do the Canucks actually have a chance at getting Hughes in the draft?
At this time the Vancouver Canucks are projected to get 9th overall in the 2021 NHL entry draft with a slight 9.3% chance at a top two pick, and an even lesser chance at first overall (4.5%). It seems like the Vancouver Canucks have once again fallen into this imminent position that they fall into every year, which is being a horrible team but not horrible enough to be a lottery pick and ending up with a very undistinguished pick. Although it may seem like 9th overall is very underwhelming especially after a season like this, there have been draft steals at 9th overall from NHL teams and let's not forget when Vancouver got Podkolzin the pick after the 9th selection in 2019.
Some notable previous 9th overall steals in the draft include Cam Neely, Brian Leetch, Rod Brind’Amour, Dougie Hamilton, and very notable player Bo Horvat. So who can the Canucks take 9th in this year’s class? Well, we don’t know for sure because this year’s NHL draft is a voodoo draft year. There is no clear first overall pick, neither is there an ameliorate second pick or third or fourth etcetera etcetera. NHL scouts and GMs haven’t been given the greatest opportunity to scout players and get an understanding of who will go first and so on. This is why this year the GMs and the organizations will be drafting the best of what they need. For example the San Jose Sharks will be drafting for the best goalies available and the Vancouver Canucks will be in search for the best defenceman available.
Top 2 pick scenario
Back to the lottery chances for a quick second though. Let’s say the Canucks miraculously get first overall, who will they take? Again, its heavily unpredictable. My best assumption is that the Canucks go for a defenceman, and at first that defenceman will be either Owen Power, Luke Hughes or Brandt Clarke. Out of the three, I believe the Canucks should take Clarke. Clarke, a very underrated prospect in this class, has been superlative in almost every single level of his game. The right handed defenceman has a great defensive aspect to is game and still puts up high numbers. Clarke would be a grotesque fit with Quinn Hughes. Clarke can help Hughes defensively while Hughes starts to commence with his offensive game.
Luke Hughes
Luke Hughes would also be a great choice. Hughes has been marvelous in the USNDP so far. He’s managed to learn a great two way game while still being one of the best players on his team. I’d think both Luke and Quinn would be delighted to play on the same team, not only that but on the same line one day. That brotherly chemistry between the two brothers could work very strong.
(Photo credit: sportsillustrated)
Owen Power
Owen Power on the other hand is a big body, low-scoring defenceman who plays a shutdown role for the U of Michigan. When his time comes to play in the NHl, I wistfully do not see him putting up high numbers. The only high numbers I think Power will have will be his plus/minus column since he seems to be on the ice everytime Michigan scores. I do think that every scout puts Power as their number 1 go-to player, but he simply doesn’t perform all that well without a good team in front of him. Maybe scouts see something else, but many people see him as just a big dude who plays a physical aspect of hockey.
Those players will all go in the top 7. If not, I’d be aghast. Those three youngsters could possibly be the best defenseman we see in a while. Realistically, the Canucks will receive a draft selection in between picks 7 and 10. So now back to the query of who they can get in those picks. I have three defencemen and three forwards that the Canucks can pick and seem like good selections.
Let's start with the defence because that's what the ‘Nucks need the most. The three defencemen I have available at that position is Simon Edvinsson of the Frolunda HC of the SHL, Carson Lambos from the Winnipeg Ice of the WHL, and Stanislav Svozil of the HC Koneta Brno.
Possible Defencemen
I’ve talked about these players all in my mock draft (https://www.thecanucklehead.com/post/the-official-non-official-nhl-mock-draft-simulator) but a refresher on these players wouldn't be bad.
Simon Edvinsson
Simon Edvinsson is a plain defensive defenceman who plays like Owen Power. He doesn’t put up many points but when he has the opportunity to put the puck in the net, he’ll score a couple goals. He plays a physical defensive game. He knows where to be in his own zone no matter where the puck is. He has phenomenal game sense. One of the smartest hockey players in this draft class. The only issue with getting a player like Edvinsson, is that he doesn’t put up points. He has enough offensive opportunities to get points, but he’s always trying to get the puck to his teammate instead of taking a chance. If he can work on his offensive game, he can definitely up his draft stock.
Carson Lambos
Carson Lambos (who I had the Canucks take in the mock draft), is a leader on and off the ice who plays a solid two way game. He doesn’t put up a crazy amount of points but he puts up enough to make him an acceptable player. Lambos is a great player but one thing scouts say really grinds their gears is that Lamabos has serious issues trying to break out the puck. He does some JT Miller stuff, and turns the puck over a lot. If I’ll be honest, the Canucks have enough turnovers. So if Lambos comes to VanCity, whoever the coach is by then, needs to teach some passing and puck skills with Lambos… and maybe the rest of the team.
(Photo Credit: thedraftanalys)
Stanislav Svozil
The final defenceman I have listed is Stanislav Svozil. Svozil will most likely be nothing more than a second defence liner, maybe even third. He’s a two way defenceman with low scoring ability and some struggle issues in his own zone. Svozil is definitely a great player with oodles of time to grow and recuperate, but the Canucks aren’t really looking into that. Svozil wouldn't be a favourable pick for the Canucks, but he’s what's best available. Not the deepest draft class as you can conceptualize.
Possible Forwards
Fabian Lysell
Onto the forwards available, and we can start with Fabian Lysell of Luleau HK. Lysell is so skilled and fancy it’s almost like watching art in motion. His exquisite footwork and his dazzling, magical hands to all of his work. He can zoom past and outmove everyone on the ice and go bar-down on a sick shot to finish it off. Like the cherry on top, you know what I mean? I’d be contended if the Canucks do pursue after him, but then again the Canucks seriously need defensive abutment and Lysell’s defensive game is not quite there yet. That is his only negative to his game. Other than that miniscule hiccup, he’s a highly underrated draft prospect.
(Photo Credit: yahoosports)
Kent Johnson
Another selection fans would love would be Kent Johnson. Johnson is from BC, North Vancouver to be exact. He played in in the BCHL for a couple years before going to the University of Michigan. Johnson has been fantastic in the NCAA. His best part of his game is his shot power and his playmaking. He has a lot of assists and people think he feeds off of the good players, but honestly, he’s just that good.
Cole Sillinger
(Photo Credit: dobberprospects)
Last but certainly not least, Cole Sillinger of the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL. Sillinger is a commonly talked about player who loves the game. Every game he plays he leaves it out on the ice and does everything in his will to win. The Canucks need more life and Sillinger will easily bring some heat to this organization. His leadership and hype aren’t his only skills. His point producing ability is amazing and his wicked shot helps him get hose points. Although he may seem perfect, he’s highly inconsistent. Not as inconsistent as Jimmy Vesey, but a lesser inconsistent version of someone like Hughes. He’s a very streaky player. When he isn’t putting up points. He’s still playing hard and doing whatever it takes to win.
•••
Wrapping it up, it’s obvious the Canucks won’t get a player that will turn this team around but it’s always great to dream. It’s always something to look into because you never know what you can get, especially with a top 10 pick. One thing that really hurts going into this draft class with a worthy pick, is that Judd Brackett is no longer part of the Canucks organization. Guess it’s time for JIm Benning to step up big time to make a positive impact! (Because Jim’s totally done that before..)
(Photo Credit: SBNation)
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