Outside of the improvement of Bo Horvat and a pleasant surprise like Troy Stecher, there hasn’t been much for Vancouver Canucks fans to be excited about this season.
Willie Desjardins’ middling group has just three wins in the past 10 games and although there’s more than 20 games remaining in the regular season it would be extremely optimistic of someone to think the Canucks will be in the playoffs this season.
There’s more room for optimism if you look at the long-term potential of the franchise. For all the shortcomings, Canucks management has some promising youngsters in development.
Here’s a look at some of the Canucks’ top prospects and what they’ve been up to lately.
AHL
Jake Virtanen, 20, RW
Drafted: First round, 6th overall, 2014 (Vancouver)
Season to date: 40 GP | 5 G | 6 A | 11 P | 26 PIM | minus-8
Canucks fans haven’t been happy with the progression, or lack thereof, of Virtanen. After he managed just one assist in 10 appearances with the Canucks earlier this season he was sent down to the Utica Comets. Virtanen had a brief hot streak in mid-December and does average 2.26 shots per game, which means he’s not a ghost out there, but through 18 games this calendar year he has just one goal and two assists.
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Evan McEneny, 22, D
Drafted: Signed as undrafted free agent in 2012
Season to date: 41 GP | 6 G | 9 A | 15 P | 16 PIM | minus-7
As mentioned above, Stecher has done well for the Canucks as an undrafted free agent. Maybe that bodes well for McEneny, who has been heating up with 13 points in 15 games since Jan. 14 including a pair of two-point efforts in two games against the Toronto Marlies this month.
Jordan Subban, 21, D
Drafted: Fourth round, 115th overall, 2013 (Vancouver)
Season to date: 43 GP | 11 G | 15 A | 26 P | 16 PIM | minus-10
Subban began the season by notching nine points in the first 11 games and he was named an AHL all-star. Subban was briefly recalled by the Canucks in January but never saw any game action. He hasn’t been able to replicate what he was doing at the start of the 2016-17 campaign and sat out last Sunday’s Comets game as a healthy scratch. Subban did, however, score over the weekend in a loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Thatcher Demko, 20, G
Drafted: Second round, 36th overall, 2014 (Vancouver)
Season to date: 26 GP | 9-11-1 record | .893 SP | 3.04 GAA
Being such a young player in the AHL can’t be easy. After beginning his AHL career 0-3-1 with a .861 save percentage and 3.74 goals-against average Demko found his groove for a while before slumping in December and has only played five games in 2017. Utica’s coach Travis Green doesn’t think Demko’s lack of playing time will have an impact on his future.
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CHL
Olli Juolevi, 18, D
Drafted: First round, fifth overall, 2016 (Vancouver)
Season to date: 45 GP | 8 G | 29 A | 37 P | 24 PIM | +17
After he and his Team Finland squad fizzled out at the world juniors, Juolevi has been his steady self since returning to the OHL’s London Knights. He put up 12 points in his first 11 games after the tournament, however he has since cooled down. Juolevi played some of his best hockey during the 2016 playoffs. The Knights have already clinched a post-season berth so perhaps we’ll see the Finnish blue-liner raise his game again in the 2017 playoffs.
Jakob Stukel, 19, LW
Drafted: Sixth round, 154th overall, 2016 (Vancouver)
Season to date: 56 GP | 18 G | 23 A | 41 P | 32 PIM | minus-7
If you simply look at Stukel’s numbers it appears as though he has regressed from 2016, but the Calgary Hitmen forward believes he has improved in other areas to make up for it.
“Points-wise, it’s coming a little harder than last year, but I do think I’ve done a better job of being more of a two-way player,” Stukel recently told Steve Ewen of The Province. “I’m playing bigger minutes, and especially on the penalty kill, which I wasn’t doing last year. I’m getting more chances to play in the last five minutes when we have the lead. I’m trying to be a player that you can count on in all areas.
“The Canucks are saying to not worry about the points because they will come. It’s the same thing Calgary is telling me. They both want me to be a harder player to play against.”
His offensive abilities clearly haven’t dwindled away, as evidenced by this beauty he scored.
Brett McKenzie, 19, C
Drafted: Seventh round, 194th overall, 2016 (Vancouver)
Season to date: 55 GP | 27 G | 32 A | 59 P | 45 PIM | minus-10
McKenzie is having a career year with the North Bay Battalion, already setting a career high in points. He ranks third in the OHL in shots on goal and recently registered 11 SOG in a single game against the Oshawa Generals.
If McKenzie can continue to improve and one day have an impact on the Canucks, it’ll be a boost to management’s confidence since the pick the team used to select him was one acquired in the Eddie Lack trade.
USHL / NCAA
Brock Boeser, 19, RW
Drafted: First round, 23rd overall, 2015 (Vancouver)
Season to date: 25 GP | 11 G | 15 A | 26 P | 16 PIM | plus-6
Boeser wasn’t able to represent the United States at the world juniors as he recovered from wrist surgery. Boeser had been playing at less than 100 per cent early in the season but still managed to score 16 points in 13 games. Since returning from his injury, the University of North Dakota star has been hot and cold. He was recently named to the NCHC Academic All-Conference Team.
Adam Gaudette, 20, C
Drafted: Fifth round, 149th overall, 2015 (Vancouver)
Season to date: 31 GP | 23 G | 26 A | 49 P | 16 PIM | plus-6
Gaudette is putting up some incredible numbers in his sophomore year at Northeastern University but the forward knows not everything revolves around offence, which is the right attitude to have at this stage.