The Vancouver Canucks are today’s focus in the NHL prospect pool overview series.
Tony Ferrari digs into Canucks’ strengths and weaknesses, the latest draft class, positional depth chart, next player in line for an NHL opportunity and more. A player who no longer holds rookie eligibility in the NHL is considered graduated and no longer a prospect for these exercises, with few exceptions.
Initial Thoughts
The Canucks don’t have a particularly strong prospect pool, which is a bit perplexing considering they made the playoffs twice in the past decade.
The underwhelming prospect pool can be explained a bit when you consider the Canucks have had arguably the worst luck in the draft lottery, moving down more spots than just about any team in the NHL. Even so, they should have more in the cupboard, considering their lack of sustained success.
That’s not to say the Canucks have nothing in the pipeline, though.
Jonathan Lekkerimaki is a very talented right winger with a fantastic shot. He had 19 goals in 36 games with the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, which was impressive. What was a bit more concerning was that he only had nine assists over that time. While he did get into 24 NHL games, he was a bit behind the pace, but he had moments where his skill shone through. The 21-year-old will likely split the year between the AHL and NHL once again, and hopefully, the puck skill and shooting talent will lead to more even-keeled production.
When Vancouver traded for Aatu Raty a couple of years ago, the hope was that he could become a fixture in the Canucks’ middle six. So far, he has shown well in the AHL, and he’s been improving with every NHL call-up. This upcoming season, Raty will get every chance to make the NHL roster out of camp. He’s a good skater who excels in transition, and his shot is a real weapon. Playing on the third line would give him the ability to use his physical edge as well. Raty could be a very steady two-way center who plays important minutes.
Danila Klimovich has four AHL seasons under his belt at just 22 years old, and last year, he seemed to break out with a 25-goal season. Klimovich gets into excellent positions and bangs pucks in from all around the net. He’s still a bit unrefined, and he needs to work on some of his play-connecting passes throughout the game. If he continues to improve as a goal-scorer and refine some of those other things, he could be a nifty depth scorer one day.
Josh Bloom’s had an up-and-down stock over the…