Prospects Thread 2012-13

[Southern_Canuck]

How many actual Canuck draft picks are in the Wolves line-up? All I see are names of non-drafted Canuck players in the stats columns

The Wolves have 28 players on the roster, and of those, 18 have Canuck contracts...

Some of the Canuck contracts are veterans and AHL tweeners:

Derek Joslin (D) L 6-1 209 Mar 17, 1987 Richmond Hill, ON
Patrick Mullen (D) R 5-11 186 May 6, 1986 Boston, MA
Steve Pinizzotto (C) R 6-1 201 Apr 26, 1984 Mississauga, ON
Andrew Gordon (RW) R 6-0 199 Dec 13, 1985 Halifax, NS
Guillaume Desbiens (RW) R 6-2 208 Apr 20, 1985 Alma, QC
Bill Sweatt (LW) L 6-0 198 Sep 21, 1988 Elburn, IL
Andrew Ebbett (C) L 5-10 180 Jan 2, 1983 Vernon, BC
Stefan Schneider (F) R 6-5 214 Dec 13, 1989 Vernon, BC

So, you're left with 10 Canuck prospects (not all of them are Canuck draft picks) on the Wolves:

Yann Sauve (D) L 6-3 218 Feb 18, 1990 Montreal, QC
Peter Andersson (D) L 6-4 199 Apr 13, 1991 Kvidinge, Sweden
Kevin Connauton (D) L 6-2 198 Feb 23, 1990 Edmonton, AB
Chris Tanev (D) R 6-2 192 Dec 20, 1989 Toronto, ON
Anton Rodin (F) L 6-1 180 Nov 21, 1990 Stockholm, Sweden
Jordan Schroeder (C) R 5-9 179 Sep 29, 1990 Prior Lake, MN
Alex Friesen (C) L 5-10 186 Jan 30, 1991 St. Catherines, ON
Alex Mallet (C) R 6-1 203 May 22, 1992 Amqui, QC
Eddie Lack (G) R 6-5 196 Jan 5, 1988 Norrtalje, Sweden
Zack Kassian (RW) R 6-3 214 Jan 24, 1991 Windsor, ON

S_C

[Southern_Canuck]

OK - Chicago Wolves roster is down to 27...

Chicago Wolves ‏@Chicago_Wolves
BREAKING NEWS: #chicagowolves have assigned forward Michael Davies to the ECHL's Kalamazoo Wings. Official release to follow.

Davies was on an AHL contract only, so that thins the forward herd to 16.

(+ 9 defencemen and 2 goalies)

S_C

[Southern_Canuck]

Interesting situation for David Honzik - he is due back sometime in Oct after off-season shoulder surgery, but since he was traded in the summer to one of the worst teams in the QMJHL (Cape Breton), I thought he was in tough to earn an NHL contract (behind Luongo, Schneider, Lack, and Cannata)

And Cape Breton has come out of the gates with a 2-6-2-2 record, stands 16th out of 18 teams, and their GM has already been fired.

So, where is the good news for Honzik? Well, their current goaltending tandem sits at:

Philippe Trudeau 1-4-1-2 GAA 4.50 SV% 0.877
Alex Bureau 1-2-1-0 GAA 4.92 SV% 0.873

Perhaps Honzik can come in and give the team a boost, and in the process earn himself a chance at an NHL contract?

S_C

[Southern_Canuck]

Wolves highlights (courtesy of wolfkeeper) from last night:



I recommend you check out:
1:39 Kassian's fluke goal
2:59 Rodin breakaway chance (check out how he kicks it up to his stick on the replay at 3:28)

The rest doesn't show much on Canuck prospects (other than at 4:30 where Connauton and Tanev let TJ Hensick score on the powerplay in the 3rd to tie the game)

S_C

[Southern_Canuck]

Thursday Oct 18

Belleville 5 Sault Ste Marie 3
Gaunce 1 assist, even

S_C

[Southern_Canuck]

Friday Oct 19

AHL

Chicago 3 Abbotsford 2 (OT)
Lack 27 saves on 29 shots (3 saves on 3 shots in SO)

Kassian, (2) (Ebbett)
Longpre, (3) (Pinizzotto, Gordon)

Shootout
Schroeder dribbles one in - scores!
Street stopped by Lack
Haydar, beautiful move - scores!
Baertschi stopped by Lack
Sweatt stopped
Kolanos stopped 5-hole
Kassian nice backhand move - scores! Wolves win.

ECHL

Fort Wayne 0 Kalamazoo 1 (SO)
Anthony (not selected for SO)
Archibald (not selected for SO)
Polasek (not selected for SO)
Rai (not selected for SO)
Cannata was the backup (when will he get a start, already?)

Austria

Red Bull 6 Olimpija Ljubljana 3
Grenier 1 assist

NCAA

Bowling Green 3 Colgate 1
Price 1 goal, -1

St. Lawrence 5 Maine 0
Hutton 0 points, even

McGill 1 Harvard 5
McNally 0 points, +1

QMJHL

Cape Breton 1 Acadie-Bathurst 5
Honzik still injured (Trudeau 49 saves on 54 shots)

OHL

Ottawa 2 Kitchener 6
McEneny 0 points, +4

Belleville 2 Sudbury 3
Corrado 0 points, +1
Gaunce 0 points, -2

S_C

[Southern_Canuck]

I've been surprised by Kassian's skating - he is a much better skater than I thought.

He just pushed his way around TJ Brodie and scored with a good wrist shot short side. 1-0 Wolves.

Schroeder is also a very good skater, and has stood out in this game.

*edit*

Kassian in a fight against Piskula, and comes out on top - a couple of uppercuts, and one right hand...

S_c

[Southern_Canuck]

Saturday Oct 20

AHL

Chicago 1 Abbotsford 4
Lack 37 saves on 41 shots

Kassian, (3) (Sauve)

ECHL

Toledo 2 Kalamazoo 4
Anthony 0 points, even
Archibald 2 goals (2, 3), even (selected 2nd star)
Polasek 0 points, +1
Rai 0 points, +1
Cannata 40 saves on 42 shots

NCAA

Bowling Green 2 Colgate 4
Price 1 assist, +2

Boston University 1 New Hampshire 4
Myron 0 points, even

St Lawrence 5 Maine 1
Hutton 0 points, even

OHL

Kitchener 5 Sarnia 3
McEneny 0 points, +1

S_C

[Southern_Canuck]

Holy shit, Mallet destroyed Ruegsegger with a big hit at the hash marks in the Abbotsford zone - and the inevitable response shortly thereafter - Carter Bancks challenges Mallet to a fight, and Mallet beats the hell out of him! Wow!

OK, that's not a bad second round pick.

S_C

[RoyalDude]

Last nights viewing of the game was all that I needed to come to the conclusion that Anton Rodin will never make it to the NHL.

A BIG WOW for Mallete. Love this kid, that was a nasty 'clean hit' and the kid can back it up big time. Gillis and crew may have stole one in the 2nd round.

Kassian started out well, but seemed to have fizzled as the game went on, he looked gassed early on like he did when he was with the Nucks last season. I worry about this kids stamina.

Not so sure about Schroeder as our temporary replacement for Kesler. Yikes.

I like Lack, even though we lost.

[Topper]

For the most part I agree Dude. After his goal,and that was a great snap shot, Kassian pretty much disappeared.

Schroeder is below Ebbet on the depth chart. Anyone who thinks he can be a bookmark on the second line probably believed Cody could have done the same last year.

I thought Rodin was solid, not spectacular, but but not bad. Going take a bit to get beyond potential NHL third liner.

The guy who sucked was Joslin.

[RoyalDude]

I'm just damn happy we have Mallete in the organization. I was impressed with his fighting skills in the Q from the vids I saw, but now that I have seen it up close I'm very impress, they guy is a brawler. And apparently he can play the game as well. I could see him becoming a fan favorite, not afraid to uspet the apple cart like Cooke but can back it up as well. Amazing hit he laid out.

As the game wore on Kassian turned into Gassedian. The kid has issues with his stamina. you can see him stop skating after a short burst like he just doesn't have it in him to move his feet, very strange. Probably has a terrible V02 Max or whatever you call it.

I don't know Topper, wasn't all that impressed with Rodin. Agreed about Schroeder, just don't see him becoming a solid pro NHL'er.

I could see Lack playing the NHL one day. Agreed about Joslin, horrible. Sauve did nothing to impress me, as well as Connauton. Sort of put off by how Tanev played. You would think he'd be a man amongst boys out there.

[Island Nucklehead]

Sort of put off by how Tanev played. You would think he'd be a man amongst boys out there.

I didn't watch the game so I'm talking out of my ass, but I wonder if what makes Tanev successful at the NHL level (simple hockey, smart decisions, low-risk play etc.) makes him less noticeable in the minors.

[Southern_Canuck]

^^^Tanev and Connauton have been getting tons of ice time, and overall I think they looked good - of course, Tanev looks more comfortable in his own zone, and Connauton in the opposition's. Tanev made a lot of smart plays - breaking up a glorious opportunity with a stick check on a memorable one - however, he's looking tentative in the offensive zone - shots wide, hurried, etc.

I know he worked on his shot a lot over the summer, and reports from the first couple of games were that it had paid off, and he was rifling it from everywhere... however, the Wolves powerplay has looked awful and I think Tanev has lost some offensive confidence since the big start. Hopefully he can get a few goals/points, and get it back.

Sunday Oct 21

Austria

Orli Znojmo 5 Salzburg 4 (OT)
Grenier 0 points, even

(weirdly, he was on for 3 equal strength goals against, and 3 equal strength goals for! Didn't pick up any points, however)

SEL

Farjestad 1 AIK 2 (PS)
Jensen 1 goal in the penalty shootout, even, 4 SOG, 17:22

Highlights including Jensen's awesome shootout goal (#46)

S_C

[Southern_Canuck]

Mallet's fight against Carter Bancks

Check out his interview on Canucks.com:

"A lot of people saw your fight, and saw your hit, and I know that's what you want to bring to this team, isn't it?"
"Yeah, It's my strength, I'm a big guy, I fight, I hit, I just play my strengths, and here we go - we're going to see what happens."
"Have you got the sense that your teammates feed off that when they see you perform the way you did personally this evening?"
"Yeah, it's true, the guys looking at me and say this guy can fight for the team, and he can work for the team, and, eh, that's me."

In fact, I think Mallet may be a better fighter than... well, any other Canuck...

Who's better?

Bieksa?
Weise?
Volpatti?
Kassian?

Nope - I think Mallet is it. In 2010-11 he was Rimouski's "goon"... but then he had to go and become an offensive top 6 force for them in 2011-12!

I don't want to get too far ahead of things, but I liked what I saw.

S_C