Prospect Info: The 2023-2024 Prospects Thread Pt. 3

[VanJack]

I don't know if Arshdeep Bains still qualifies as 'a prospect', but one thing is really noticeable about him early in his development. He's definitely a 'big game player', at least in the AHL.

This is the second playoff year in a row where he's been one of Abbotsford's most dominant players. He carried the offense at times in the recently-concluded series with Colorado. And I noticed that the Eagles were subjecting him to some serious physical abuse, particularly down low in the O-zone. But it hardly seem to faze him.

Despite a few stumbles during his recall to Vancouver this season, he's really not that far away from being a contributor, in a third or fourth line role at least.

 

[MS]

I don't know if Arshdeep Bains still qualifies as 'a prospect', but one thing is really noticeable about him early in his development. He's definitely a 'big game player', at least in the AHL.

This is the second playoff year in a row where he's been one of Abbotsford's most dominant players. He carried the offense at times in the recently-concluded series with Colorado. And I noticed that the Eagles were subjecting him to some serious physical abuse, particularly down low in the O-zone. But it hardly seem to faze him.

Despite a few stumbles during his recall to Vancouver this season, he's really not that far away from being a contributor, in a third or fourth line role at least.

Why on earth would a 23 year old player in his 2nd AHL season not qualify as a prospect?

 

[VanJack]

Why on earth would a 23 year old player in his 2nd AHL season not qualify as a prospect?

If you're a regular reader of these boards, you'll be aware that a lot of Canuck posters tend to write off players as 'prospects' very early. I've seen people kiss off some guys who've barely hit 21.

A lot of it depends on where they were drafted and how they've done in their draft-plus-one and draft-plus-two seasons.

In the case of Bains, he was signed as an undrafted UFA after playing his 20-year old overage season in the Dub. That alone would compromise his status as 'a prospect' in the eyes of some people. And he's now just completing his second professional season.

I'm not arguing that Bains is still 'a prospect'. And for that matter so is Silovs, who's basically the same age 23). But you'll probably find a lot of people disagreeing.

 

[MS]

If you're a regular reader of these boards, you'll be aware that a lot of Canuck posters tend to write off players as 'prospects' very early. I've seen people kiss off some guys who've barely hit 21.

A lot of it depends on where they were drafted and how they've done in their draft-plus-one and draft-plus-two seasons.

In the case of Bains, he was signed as an undrafted UFA after playing his 20-year old overage season in the Dub. That alone would compromise his status as 'a prospect' in the eyes of some people. And he's now just completing his second professional season.

I'm not arguing that Bains is still 'a prospect'. And for that matter so is Silovs, who's basically the same age 23). But you'll probably find a lot of people disagreeing.

You can write off guys at 21 when they suck. Josh Bloom is toast. And it's not that they're not still 'technically' prospects, it's that they're just no-hopers.

Bains is 23 and a top AHL player who is close to making the NHL roster and played NHL games last month.

There is literally nobody here who wouldn't have both Bains and Silovs in the team's top 5-8 prospects right now.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

If you're a regular reader of these boards, you'll be aware that a lot of Canuck posters tend to write off players as 'prospects' very early. I've seen people kiss off some guys who've barely hit 21.

A lot of it depends on where they were drafted and how they've done in their draft-plus-one and draft-plus-two seasons.

In the case of Bains, he was signed as an undrafted UFA after playing his 20-year old overage season in the Dub. That alone would compromise his status as 'a prospect' in the eyes of some people. And he's now just completing his second professional season.

I'm not arguing that Bains is still 'a prospect'. And for that matter so is Silovs, who's basically the same age 23). But you'll probably find a lot of people disagreeing.

Meh. Some write off prospects early and some write them off late. We’re no different than any other board.
There were some still championing Virtanen and Juolevi long after their best before date.

 

[sting101]

lol "if your a regular reader of these boards"

MS are you?

 

[Phrasing]

You can write off guys at 21 when they suck. Josh Bloom is toast. And it's not that they're not still 'technically' prospects, it's that they're just no-hopers.

Bains is 23 and a top AHL player who is close to making the NHL roster and played NHL games last month.

There is literally nobody here who wouldn't have both Bains and Silovs in the team's top 5-8 prospects right now.

Betting Bains makes roster next season.

 

[MS]

Betting Bains makes roster next season.

He's certainly going to get a long look. The organization seems very high on him.

 

[touchnotthecat]

Prince George lost 4-1. Young stopped 19 of the 20 he faced, the one goal coming on the power play.

Does he get a start?

He did! A 5-2 loss but I'm gonna pipe up and defend this prospect.
I think he's hurt. I have no inside info or anything but I've seen at least 10gp from him this season and I think he has a hip issue or something similar. The contract was interesting to me and having the opportunity to see him play quite a bit this year I think I'm on to something.
He really tracks the puck well, looks big in the net, and has really good positioning but the lateral movement/pushing off each leg doesn't seem to be there right now.
I'm only saying something because Ravensbergen for sure starts tomorrow and the Cougars look like a shell of their former selves these last two games. I genuinely believe that Young is still a prospect to keep an eye on.
If it's announced he gets a surgery this off season I'm gonna feel super validated but at the same time poor guy because if I'm right that means he's been in a lot of pain for awhile.

 

[arttk]

He's certainly going to get a long look. The organization seems very high on him.

I mean they called him up and gave him looks for a reason. I expect Bains to workout like crazy in the offseason to get ready for the NHL and I would be surprised if he doesn’t stick around as a 4th liner.

 

[wetcoast]

It’s not like we traded some gem for him

That's fair I was trying to be funny but scratch that off my set eh.

 

[Lindgren]

That's fair I was trying to be funny but scratch that off my set eh.

Apparently your humour was too sophisticated for a certain portion of the audience.

 

[ChilliBilly]

I mean they called him up and gave him looks for a reason. I expect Bains to workout like crazy in the offseason to get ready for the NHL and I would be surprised if he doesn’t stick around as a 4th liner.

We can't afford to re-sign a lot of our depth players (many of whom are going to want raises, which they deserve) due to cap issues. So we are going to need a bunch of ELC's to step up next year. I expect Pods and Bains to be locks to start the season.

 

[VanJack]

The fact is the Canucks are still one of the most active teams in hockey in picking up players via free agency and depth trades.

And as good as guys like Blueger, Suter, Lafferty, Aman, Di Guiseppe and Friedman have been for them; along with Joshua signed as a UFA; and Garland via a trade, it's still no long term recipe for success.

It's simply essential that you have players pushing from below on your AHL farm team. You only have to look to the Lightning as an example. Sure guys like Hedman, Point, Stamkos and Vasilevskiy are the key guys. But their Syracuse farm team has presented them with a wealth of depth players who've helped them immensely in winning a couple of Cups.

And Rutherford and Allvin are only too aware of this from their days in Pittsburgh. It's a big reason why Rutherford has been quoted as saying that one of his most important jobs is to turn Abbotsford into a 'model AHL franchise".

 

[IComeInPeace]

I’d like to take this opportunity to point out about maybe 6 weeks ago I posted the Canucks might have to look at moving on from Silovs as he hadn’t shown the kind of consistency you’d want to see at the AHL level to count on him as your NHL backup next season…

Mr Silovs, this is my official apology.

 

[1440]

The fact is the Canucks are still one of the most active teams in hockey in picking up players via free agency and depth trades.

And as good as guys like Blueger, Suter, Lafferty, Aman, Di Guiseppe and Friedman have been for them; along with Joshua signed as a UFA; and Garland via a trade, it's still no long term recipe for success.

It's simply essential that you have players pushing from below on your AHL farm team. You only have to look to the Lightning as an example. Sure guys like Hedman, Point, Stamkos and Vasilevskiy are the key guys. But their Syracuse farm team has presented them with a wealth of depth players who've helped them immensely in winning a couple of Cups.

And Rutherford and Allvin are only too aware of this from their days in Pittsburgh. It's a big reason why Rutherford has been quoted as saying that one of his most important jobs is to turn Abbotsford into a 'model AHL franchise".

PDG was honestly pretty good vs Nashville, but as far as players from the farm team pushing for spots, Podkolzin should 100% be featuring in the playoffs already. There is no way he doesn't bring more than PDG, Lafferty, and Mikheyev at this point. Don't forget this is a player that owns the all time record for KHL playoff points by a U20 player. He is exactly the type of big, strong forechecking player that you want in these more defensive style of games that we have seen so far.

 

[VanJack]

Watching Logan Stankoven in these playoffs is enough to make Canucks fans weepy.

The Hockey Writers predicting that 'the sky's the limit for this kid. They're already starting to compare his potential career trajectory to Matt Barzal and Brayden Point--two other offensive guys who matured in the WHL.

And to think that Stankoven plied his junior career three and half hours up the highway in Kamloops. Beginning to sadly conclude that this almost a bigger miss than Virtanen over Nylander; or Juolevi over Tkachuk.

 

[GranvilleIsland]

Watching Logan Stankoven in these playoffs is enough to make Canucks fans weepy.

The Hockey Writers predicting that 'the sky's the limit for this kid. They're already starting to compare his potential career trajectory to Matt Barzal and Brayden Point--two other offensive guys who matured in the WHL.

And to think that Stankoven plied his junior career three and half hours up the highway in Kamloops. Beginning to sadly conclude that this almost a bigger miss than Virtanen over Nylander; or Juolevi over Tkachuk.

Thank you Jim.

 

[Phrasing]

Thank you Jim.

He always loved to take players based on short tournament performances.

 

[Just A Bit Outside]

Watching Logan Stankoven in these playoffs is enough to make Canucks fans weepy.

The Hockey Writers predicting that 'the sky's the limit for this kid. They're already starting to compare his potential career trajectory to Matt Barzal and Brayden Point--two other offensive guys who matured in the WHL.

And to think that Stankoven plied his junior career three and half hours up the highway in Kamloops. Beginning to sadly conclude that this almost a bigger miss than Virtanen over Nylander; or Juolevi over Tkachuk.

Stank, Guenth, Ehlers/Nylander.

Thank Christ for EP, Hughes and Boeser.

Understand not all would have worked out (or even picked) but some stood out like a sore thumb.

Flip side is it could have been worse.

 

[alternate]

Watching Logan Stankoven in these playoffs is enough to make Canucks fans weepy.

The Hockey Writers predicting that 'the sky's the limit for this kid. They're already starting to compare his potential career trajectory to Matt Barzal and Brayden Point--two other offensive guys who matured in the WHL.

And to think that Stankoven plied his junior career three and half hours up the highway in Kamloops. Beginning to sadly conclude that this almost a bigger miss than Virtanen over Nylander; or Juolevi over Tkachuk.

What part of his 2 assists in 7 games has you weepy? I haven't watched every minute of that series, and I have heard his name mentioned, but he hasn't popped off the screen when I have been tuned it.

Don't get me wrong, he seems like a great pick for Dallas (who has to be at the top of drafting organizations the past few years). But he didn't move any needles vs Vegas.

 

[bobbyb2009]

Stank, Guenth, Ehlers/Nylander.

Thank Christ for EP, Hughes and Boeser.

Understand not all would have worked out (or even picked) but some stood out like a sore thumb.

Flip side is it could have been worse.

By far the worst one for me was Tkachuk-Juolevi

 

[VanJack]

What part of his 2 assists in 7 games has you weepy? I haven't watched every minute of that series, and I have heard his name mentioned, but he hasn't popped off the screen when I have been tuned it.

Don't get me wrong, he seems like a great pick for Dallas (who has to be at the top of drafting organizations the past few years). But he didn't move any needles vs Vegas.

It's not necessarily my opinion, because I haven't seen enough of him either. But the Hockey Writers website are the ones raving out his play in both the AHL and NHL this season. He dominated in the AHL with the Texas Stars, wracking up 57 points in 47 games; and followed that up with 14 points in his last 24 games with Dallas.

Maybe has has been 'up and down' in these playoffs. Haven't seen enough of that series with the Knights to comment. But it's important to remember that Dim Jim drafted Danila Klimovich with his second round pick in 2021 when more than half of HF Boards were screaming for Stankoven.

 

[rea]

By far the worst one for me was Tkachuk-Juolevi

I mean Jake Virtanen over ehlers and nylander hurt my soul as well

 

[ManVanFan]

Lekkerimaki cut from the Sweden squad and a player a year younger Felix Sorum made it. Obviously it's 1 tourney but Lekkerimaki has a lot of maturing to do in his game He's very up and down with consistency.