C Danila Klimovich (2021, 41st, VAN)

[Blue and Green]

The first four weeks of this season were rough for Klimovich-- way, way too many turnovers being the biggest issue-- but he has improved a lot since then. The potential that was evident in his D+1 rookie and training camps is now able to shine through more often in games.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

6 GP, 2 A this season. It was always seen as a reach on draft day. Not that it matters for the current Canucks roster, but Stankoven or Chibrikov would have been much better selections. Also thought he should have gone to the Q (or one of the other CHL leagues) instead of being thrown into the A right away.

 

[Hoglander]

Odd bump. Guy has been injured...

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Odd bump. Guy has been injured...

Still should have drafted the proven talent in Logan Stankoven, the BC kid.

 

[Hoglander]

Still should have drafted the proven talent in Logan Stankoven, the BC kid.

Sure, but no team gets all their picks right. Stankoven wasn't a proven talent (he still needs to translate his game to the NHL), he was an untested midget in juniors, that wasn't even selected in the 1st round. What was the point in bumping this thread on an injured player, to say that they should have selected a different player? Have fun bumping 95% of the prospect threads then, I guess.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Sure, but no team gets all their picks right. Stankoven wasn't a proven talent (he still needs to translate his game to the NHL), he was an untested midget in juniors, that wasn't even selected in the 1st round. What was the point in bumping this thread on an injured player, to say that they should have selected a different player? Have fun bumping 95% of the prospect threads then, I guess.

Junior*, and he was not an untested midget. He was the 3rd best 16 year old in the Dub in 2019-20 behind Dylan Guenther (9th, 2021), and Cole Sillinger (12th, 2021). Stankoven was a monster at the u18 with Bedard and McTavish. He plays like a bulldog every shift. He's one of the few prospects who passes the eye test and has elite underlying analytics. The only knock on him is his height.

Klimovich was less proven, playing in a league with far less track record of sending players to the NHL and a league with less comparable data in terms of how future NHLers produce in that league. He was also rushed to the A. Klimovich was ranked far lower down the board than Stankoven. Stankoven's production as a first year pro in the A makes him a far more valuable asset than Klimovich. It's that simple.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Well, chances are that, at this point, Klimovich has been concussed right out of having an NHL shot. Which is very unfortunate.
But if Stankoven suffers a some kind of career threatening injury before he makes the bigs, was he a wrong pick too?

 

[Hoglander]

Junior*, and he was not an untested midget. He was the 3rd best 16 year old in the Dub in 2019-20 behind Dylan Guenther (9th, 2021), and Cole Sillinger (12th, 2021). Stankoven was a monster at the u18 with Bedard and McTavish. He plays like a bulldog every shift. He's one of the few prospects who passes the eye test and has elite underlying analytics. The only knock on him is his height.

Klimovich was less proven, playing in a league with far less track record of sending players to the NHL and a league with less comparable data in terms of how future NHLers produce in that league. He was also rushed to the A. Klimovich was ranked far lower down the board than Stankoven. Stankoven's production as a first year pro in the A makes him a far more valuable asset than Klimovich. It's that simple.

Great, then go pump up Stankoven in the Stankoven thread.

 

[PavelBure10]

Still should have drafted the proven talent in Logan Stankoven, the BC kid.

Agreed. WHL clubs Giants, Blazers, Cougars, Royals and Rockets are all practically in the Canucks back yard. With a bunch of other teams right across the border. I never understood why the Canucks staff hasn't scouted these teams more frequently. Canucks are always missing out on talents from their own Province, and B.C. born gems like Stankoven.

I agree though Stankoven was a huge miss. The funny thing is, most insightful draft/prospect Canuck fans knew this.

 

[wetcoast]

Agreed. WHL clubs Giants, Blazers, Cougars, Royals and Rockets are all practically in the Canucks back yard. With a bunch of other teams right across the border. I never understood why the Canucks staff hasn't scouted these teams more frequently. Canucks are always missing out on talents from their own Province, and B.C. born gems like Stankoven.

I agree though Stankoven was a huge miss. The funny thing is, most insightful draft/prospect Canuck fans knew this.

2 words, Ron Delorme.

 

[Zine]

Putting him in the AHL from the get-go was the dumbest move possible.

 

[bossram]

Well, chances are that, at this point, Klimovich has been concussed right out of having an NHL shot. Which is very unfortunate.
But if Stankoven suffers a some kind of career threatening injury before he makes the bigs, was he a wrong pick too?

No.

Klimovich was (and should be) considered a bad pick because there were vastly superior, more projectable players available. And no one needed to be an expert scout to know it.

Benning drafted Klimovich because, in Benning fashion, he saw him rip some snipes at one tournament and deemed him a can't miss prospect.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Great, then go pump up Stankoven in the Stankoven thread.

Already have

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Agreed. WHL clubs Giants, Blazers, Cougars, Royals and Rockets are all practically in the Canucks back yard. With a bunch of other teams right across the border. I never understood why the Canucks staff hasn't scouted these teams more frequently. Canucks are always missing out on talents from their own Province, and B.C. born gems like Stankoven.

I agree though Stankoven was a huge miss. The funny thing is, most insightful draft/prospect Canuck fans knew this.

I think it was The Province or similar site/publication who said the Dub produces far fewer high end NHLers than expected. It's a tough, physical junior league, but lacks the depth and high end competitive & offensive talent that the O possesses. More high producing draft eligible Dub guys underwhelm in the NHL than the same type from the O. (Everyone knows by now that the Q isn't good and hasn't been producing a high quantity of elite NHLers for a long time, so we'll leave them out).

Canucks have seemed to really value their scouting in the European Pro leagues (mainly Sweden) and the USHL/NCAA route as a whole. I think the last non 1st round, drafted out of the CHL, pick to play 200+ games for Vancouver is Matt Cooke, back in 1997. Canucks GMs and scouts might tell you that most of the top Dub players were already off the board when they picked (Byram & Cozens for example), but they seem to usually miss on the Dub guys they take like Lind and Woo, so they lean Sweden and NCAA route. Willander checks both boxes, might explain him over Benson.

The Klimovich pick was always a strange reach. There was some upside, but far more risk. Probably didn't need to take him that high, but as is usually the case, the Canucks probably got word than another team (possibly the Coyotes) was going to select Klimovich in the next few picks, so they wanted to get him at that slot.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

No.

Klimovich was (and should be) considered a bad pick because there were vastly superior, more projectable players available. And no one needed to be an expert scout to know it.

Benning drafted Klimovich because, in Benning fashion, he saw him rip some snipes at one tournament and deemed him a can't miss prospect.

Not that I ever want to agree with Jimbo, but they took a gamble on Klimovich and unfortunately, injuries have pretty much squashed that bet.
Stankoven was also a gamble (otherwise he would have been drafted higher) and he seems to be working out. Still has to prove it at the next level, though.
As for who was the biggest gamble? Probably Klimovich, since his advanced hockey background was so lacking. Didn’t help that the Canucks screwed his further development by rushing him to the AHL, which I don’t think we was physically ready for.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

4 points in 19 games in the A

 

[bringbacktheskate604]

4 points in 19 games in the A

He's battles injuries and has always been a very raw long-term project.
Way to early to write him off yet.

In general Benning has had far more hits than misses, with Joulevi being the obvious miss, (Virtanen was owner pick) Klimovich was desperate to get out of Belarus but should have been sent to the CHL, hopefully he can stay healthy and get going because honestly the kids got one hell of a shot and a nose for the net and is mean as shit.

His wife might just be the sexiest chics I've ever seen

 

[GordieHowYaDoin]

He's battles injuries and has always been a very raw long-term project.
Way to early to write him off yet.

In general Benning has had far more hits than misses, with Joulevi being the obvious miss, (Virtanen was owner pick) Klimovich was desperate to get out of Belarus but should have been sent to the CHL, hopefully he can stay healthy and get going because honestly the kids got one hell of a shot and a nose for the net and is mean as shit.

His wife might just be the sexiest chics I've ever seen

Shes pretty mid for Russian women if you ask me lol

 

[wetcoast]

I think it was The Province or similar site/publication who said the Dub produces far fewer high end NHLers than expected. It's a tough, physical junior league, but lacks the depth and high end competitive & offensive talent that the O possesses. More high producing draft eligible Dub guys underwhelm in the NHL than the same type from the O. (Everyone knows by now that the Q isn't good and hasn't been producing a high quantity of elite NHLers for a long time, so we'll leave them out).

Canucks have seemed to really value their scouting in the European Pro leagues (mainly Sweden) and the USHL/NCAA route as a whole. I think the last non 1st round, drafted out of the CHL, pick to play 200+ games for Vancouver is Matt Cooke, back in 1997. Canucks GMs and scouts might tell you that most of the top Dub players were already off the board when they picked (Byram & Cozens for example), but they seem to usually miss on the Dub guys they take like Lind and Woo, so they lean Sweden and NCAA route. Willander checks both boxes, might explain him over Benson.

The Klimovich pick was always a strange reach. There was some upside, but far more risk. Probably didn't need to take him that high, but as is usually the case, the Canucks probably got word than another team (possibly the Coyotes) was going to select Klimovich in the next few picks, so they wanted to get him at that slot.

This was my feeling on draft day as well.

This was the type of pick that a team can risk if they have 3 or 4 picks in the first couple of rounds not the single one the Canucks had..

As Pat Quinn would have said he is a morning Glory type of player who looks awesome in his skillset but just isn't a very good hockey player.

 

[SoundAndFury]

He's battles injuries and has always been a very raw long-term project.
Way to early to write him off yet.

His wife might just be the sexiest chics I've ever seen

Both by wanting to get out of Belarus so badly and marrying so early he clearly exhibited a lack of judgement

He better pick it up soon though, if his wife is as good-looking as you say I don't know how long he can keep her around with that 80k AHL salary.

The worst thing is, I'm only half-kidding. He definitely could have had a decent KHL career instead of jumping to the AHL so soon as Belarus has a very junior-friendly development system (Sharangovich being the best example at this point). I assume he didn't want to go to the CHL because it doesn't pay any salary which obviously was important to a kid from Belarus who wants to start a family. So Canucks/Benning might have done him little favors but he backed himself into the corner as well.

 

[Fatass]

This was my feeling on draft day as well.

This was the type of pick that a team can risk if they have 3 or 4 picks in the first couple of rounds not the single one the Canucks had..

As Pat Quinn would have said he is a morning Glory type of player who looks awesome in his skillset but just isn't a very good hockey player.

Benning went to one tournament and picked the guy he thought (after watching the kid play 3 games) was the best available at that pick. Maybe he should have allowed the scouts, who had been tracking all the prospects for years, do their jobs?

 

[Hockeyville USA]

He's battles injuries and has always been a very raw long-term project.
Way to early to write him off yet.

In general Benning has had far more hits than misses, with Joulevi being the obvious miss, (Virtanen was owner pick) Klimovich was desperate to get out of Belarus but should have been sent to the CHL, hopefully he can stay healthy and get going because honestly the kids got one hell of a shot and a nose for the net and is mean as shit.

His wife might just be the sexiest chics I've ever seen

For quite some time, tons of Canucks fans on Twitter defended the move to send him directly to the A. I don't know why they did it, maybe because his rights were held by Rouyn Noranda and they think the Q mostly sucks.

 

[Zine]

Both by wanting to get out of Belarus so badly and marrying so early he clearly exhibited a lack of judgement

He better pick it up soon though, if his wife is as good-looking as you say I don't know how long he can keep her around with that 80k AHL salary.

The worst thing is, I'm only half-kidding. He definitely could have had a decent KHL career instead of jumping to the AHL so soon as Belarus has a very junior-friendly development system (Sharangovich being the best example at this point). I assume he didn't want to go to the CHL because it doesn't pay any salary which obviously was important to a kid from Belarus who wants to start a family. So Canucks/Benning might have done him little favors but he backed himself into the corner as well.

If I recall correctly, Klimovich went to North America is because he wasn't quite ready for Dinamo Minsk (KHL), and his father wasn't happy with the coaching of the Belarus league.

 

[SoundAndFury]

If I recall correctly, Klimovich went to North America is because he wasn't quite ready for Dinamo Minsk (KHL), and his father wasn't happy with the coaching of the Belarus league.

Not ready for KHL just reinforces the argument he wasn't ready for AHL. That makes sense considering he spent most of his time in the Belarussian 2nd league.

However, also raises the question what was his father so unhappy about considering Danila had very little direct experience with coaches at the Extraliga level and after the draft there was a massive spotlight on him, surely coaches would have been under pressure to give him the best possible treatment. The fact that he was invited to play in the WC that year also just underlines this. At that point, he was getting special treatment at the federation level.

 

[Siludin]

Not ready for KHL just reinforces the argument he wasn't ready for AHL. That makes sense considering he spent most of his time in the Belarussian 2nd league.

However, also raises the question what was his father so unhappy about considering Danila had very little direct experience with coaches at the Extraliga level and after the draft there was a massive spotlight on him, surely coaches would have been under pressure to give him the best possible treatment. The fact that he was invited to play in the WC that year also just underlines this. At that point, he was getting special treatment at the federation level.

Belarusian and Russian organizations don't give the best opportunities to players they expect to leave for NA.

Regarding Klimovich, he needs a summer of mental rest and physical prep.