The Vancouver Canucks entered a new era last year, with Jim Rutherford taking over as team president and Patrik Allvin stepping in as new general manager. They have begun to build the team up, adding pieces to the NHL roster and beginning to rebuild a prospect pool that was in need of an infusion of talent.
The old regime didn’t leave the cupboards completely bare but considering that the Canucks have had one playoff berth – in the somewhat odd ‘Bubble Playoffs’ – since 2015, they should have a fuller prospect pipeline. They have some young pieces on the roster that are excellent building blocks such as Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, and Vasili Podkolzin, but the team is in a mushy middle of whether they are rebuilding or going for it. The feeling around the new regime is that they are going to look towards building for the future, a welcome sign for many Canucks fans.
Jack Rathbone is one of the best prospects from the old regime. A puck-moving defender who seems to be ready to graduate from the AHL. Rathbone is excellent in transition, using both his skating ability and passing prowess to move the puck up ice. The former Harvard defender excels when he is in an up-tempo system where he can challenge the opposing team with his offensive intuition.
Joni Jurmo is a big, smooth skating blueliner out of Finland. The 6-foot-4 defender does a good job of carrying the puck up ice in transition but lacks some of the finer puck skills to be truly dynamic in that regard. Jurmo excels at exiting the zone with his speed and then hitting a teammate in stride to attack offensively. He has room to grow defensively, slowly improving his tactical play and ability to read the opposition’s routes.
Jonathan Myrenberg is very much in the same mold. A physically mature defender who excels in transition and has to work on refining his defensive game at the pro level, but in Sweden. Myrenberg may have a bit more offensive upside thanks to a bit more dynamism built into his game thanks to higher-end puck skills.
Will Lockwood is a forward who found his way into the Canucks lineup at the end of last season. He plays with speed and intensity, leaning on his physicality to play a two-way game. He wasn’t able to find his way onto the scoresheet in his NHL stint but he was able to showcase his instincts in a bit bigger role at the AHL level. Aidan McDonough is another physical presence that is coming through the NCAA ranks. He has a big shot and…
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