Prospects Thread 2014-15

Talk about your favorite prospects and the happenings of the Canucks AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks.

Moderator: Referees

Post Reply
User avatar
herb
CC Legend
Posts: 3020
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:17 pm
Location: Mars

Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by herb »

Surprised there isn't a thread on this already, but I'll get things rolling. Canucks prospects are having a very good start to the year.

Cole Cassels, who was named OHL player in the week, has had a superb start to the season with 20 points in 11 games (4 goals).

Jared McCann has had a very good start to the season with 12 points in 7 games (5 goals).

Jordan Subban has been equally impressive with 12 points in 10 games so far (4 goals).

Jake Virtanen is expected to play his first game of the season Friday night.

Bo Horvat played last night for the Utica Comets! No points but 2 shots on goal.

Speaking of Utica, Shinkaruk and Gaunce look to be having respectable starts to their pro careers. Jensen got off the schneid by scoring his first goal of the season the other night. Grenier has put up points as well.

Cannata, Fox, Valk and even Blomstrand have reportedly all played well in the ECHL. These guys should probably all be in Utica. We know what's going on with Cannata's situation, but why haven't the Canucks made room for Fox and Valk?
User avatar
Chef Boi RD
MVP
MVP
Posts: 28881
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2004 6:36 pm
Location: Vancouver

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by Chef Boi RD »

I can understand Valk being demoted, a skilled guy but tiny. Surprised with how gritty Mallet and Fox are, that they were demoted. Mallet appears to be playing decent down there as well. I had high hopes for Mallet cause the kid can throw them, not sure what's up there. Fox's skating is his nemesis
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
User avatar
herb
CC Legend
Posts: 3020
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:17 pm
Location: Mars

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by herb »

RoyalDude wrote:Fox's skating is his nemesis
Yeah, but he's pretty decent as far as Canucks minor league pro prospects go...I dunno, maybe the goal is to have him play a ton of minutes in Kalamazoo for a while and work on some things (like skating).
dbr
CC Legend
Posts: 3093
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 5:37 pm

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by dbr »

Perhaps they felt that with Grenier, Jensen and Shinkaruk as top six or bust prospects, and guys like Gaunce, Kenins, Zalewski, (Friesen, Lain..) as better fits in the bottom six, the Comets have enough younger players and Fox wasn't going to get any time?
User avatar
herb
CC Legend
Posts: 3020
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:17 pm
Location: Mars

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by herb »

Maybe Canucks management knew all along they were going to send Horvat down for two weeks.

Anyway, the Comets started the year with two top six centers who are never going to be Canucks in Jeffrey and O-Reilly, but these two guys are almost assuredly better AHLers than Fox at present. Maybe the thought was to give Jensen, Gaunce, Grenier and Shinkaruk a couple of quality veterans to play with rather than a raw rookie with some warts? The Comets are listing these four all as wingers, so I'm making an assumption here.

Meh, the Canucks are one injury away from calling a young guy up, and when that happens we'll likely see Fox up in the A.
dbr
CC Legend
Posts: 3093
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 5:37 pm

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by dbr »

Yeah, I think the organization seems to want to bring up the kids in a winning environment - meaning that some important roles are going to go to veterans to give the Comets some stability, and a kid like Fox just doesn't outrank a bunch of former first rounders to get one of the few spots playing with those guys.

As a Canucks fan, it's certainly weird to see a logjam of prospects at the pro level.
User avatar
herb
CC Legend
Posts: 3020
Joined: Sun Sep 26, 2004 3:17 pm
Location: Mars

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by herb »

dbr wrote:As a Canucks fan, it's certainly weird to see a logjam of prospects at the pro level.
It's exciting, isn't it?
dbr
CC Legend
Posts: 3093
Joined: Sat Jul 09, 2011 5:37 pm

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by dbr »

Well, I might not go that far.

If nothing else I'm prepared to be disappointed in a rich variety of ways. :look:
User avatar
Southern_Canuck
CC Hall of Fan Member
Posts: 1497
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2004 9:27 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by Southern_Canuck »

Tonight will be an interesting night with all of the 1st round choices from 2011 - 2014 playing: Jensen, Gaunce, Horvat, Shinkaruk, Virtanen, and McCann.

Also playing tonight are longer shot but decent prospects: Cassels, Demko, Hutton, Fox, and Subban.

Add in 26-or-unders already on the NHL roster: Kassian, Bonino, Tanev, Lack, Matthias, Stanton, Sbisa, Vey, Corrado, and Weber... team's not looking too long in the tooth.

S_C
It's a great day for hockey!
User avatar
Chef Boi RD
MVP
MVP
Posts: 28881
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2004 6:36 pm
Location: Vancouver

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by Chef Boi RD »

Geez do I lose a lot of respect for you Southern C by considering Cassels a long shot. I will not be surprised that after all is said and done that Horvat, Virtanen, Cassels, McCann will be the best of the bunch and have solid NHL careers. I think Gaunce could also be in that group as a steady eddy bottom 6 type. I really do think Shinkaruk is going to struggle making a name for himself in the NHL, size and style of game he plays will make it hard for him to succeed in the NHL. Cassels has 3rd line, gritty two way centreman written all over him, he can score, set up goals, play tough and play the 200 foot game. Watch out for this kid. BTW, he's scored 2 goals tonight
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
User avatar
Southern_Canuck
CC Hall of Fan Member
Posts: 1497
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2004 9:27 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by Southern_Canuck »

To be fair, I said "longer" shot than the first rounders - not just a long shot...

McCann's pedigree is also as a 2-way center that plays with a little bit of an edge - and is currently a better skater than Cassels - it will be interesting to follow their progress.

Cassels (6' 0" 180 lbs, May 4, 1995) GP 13 G 6 A 18 P 24 +12 PIM 29
McCann (6' 0" 185 lbs, May 31, 1996) GP 8 G 5 A 7 P 12 +4 PIM 4
It's a great day for hockey!
User avatar
Chef Boi RD
MVP
MVP
Posts: 28881
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2004 6:36 pm
Location: Vancouver

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by Chef Boi RD »

Southern_Canuck wrote:To be fair, I said "longer" shot than the first rounders - not just a long shot...

McCann's pedigree is also as a 2-way center that plays with a little bit of an edge - and is currently a better skater than Cassels - it will be interesting to follow their progress.

Cassels (6' 0" 180 lbs, May 4, 1995) GP 13 G 6 A 18 P 24 +12 PIM 29
McCann (6' 0" 185 lbs, May 31, 1996) GP 8 G 5 A 7 P 12 +4 PIM 4
McCann is an excellent skater, it's no slight to Cassels that he's a better skater cause Cassels is a good skater himself.
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
TDA Rum
CC 1st Team All-Star
Posts: 594
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 11:14 am

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by TDA Rum »

Oshawa Generals head coach:

"He's arguably the best two-way centre in our league", says Smith. "He'll hit you, he'll fight you, he'll score, he'll block shots, he's a nasty competitor. I've always thought he was a very good player, but he's been through and through our best player every night." on Cole Cassels

Jake Virtanen 2 goals and 2 assists tonight...
User avatar
Chef Boi RD
MVP
MVP
Posts: 28881
Joined: Mon Aug 09, 2004 6:36 pm
Location: Vancouver

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by Chef Boi RD »

TDA Rum wrote:Oshawa Generals head coach:

"He's arguably the best two-way centre in our league", says Smith. "He'll hit you, he'll fight you, he'll score, he'll block shots, he's a nasty competitor. I've always thought he was a very good player, but he's been through and through our best player every night." on Cole Cassels

Jake Virtanen 2 goals and 2 assists tonight...

Regarding Cassels, I'm willing to bet that he is a guaranteed NHL'er, he's geared for today's game. He's gonna surprise people not savvy to his prospects. The insiders all know how good he is but not the fair-weather fans who only want to pay attention to 1st round picks like Shinkaruk. I read that Cassels article too, you should post the whole thing. His coach says he's a guatanteed NHL'er, thinks he will be a 2nd line centre, at worst a 4th line centre

Apparently Virtanen went beast mode last night
Last edited by Chef Boi RD on Sun Oct 26, 2014 11:27 am, edited 1 time in total.
“Tyler Myers is my guy... I was taking to Scotty Bowman last night and he was bringing up his name, and saying he’s a big guy and big guy need big minutes to play, he is playing great for ya… and I agree with him… He’s been exceptional” - Bruce Boudreau
TDA Rum
CC 1st Team All-Star
Posts: 594
Joined: Tue Feb 28, 2012 11:14 am

Re: Prospects Thread 2014-15

Post by TDA Rum »

2 years ago at the young stars tournament he was the best player there, it was disappointing that he couldn't play this year because of mono...
Post Reply