Prospect Info: The 2024-2025 Prospect Thread: Part 1: Skate or Die!

[ManVanFan]

Different post draft this year as juniors are in full swing and the Canucks had 3 picks in the top 90 previous year vs none in this past draft. Willander, Brzustewicz and Mynio all started pretty strong. Some excitement was building.

Fernstrom in tough in the SHL (at least he's getting regular time there)
Patterson hasn't found his feet yet after his early 2 game suspension.
Romani's injury.
Alcos and the Swiss kid I'm not gonna be able to spell his name for a while. Have the long road again. San son nens I think I can remember that.

Hopefully someone starts to break out.

 

[Quinning]

2 assists in 2 games for Willander to start the year.

 

[LemonSauceD]

Willander just ripped one late in the game!

Guy has had an outstanding game.

 

[The Iron Goalie]

Willander just ripped one late in the game!

Guy has had an outstanding game.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1847450192859320329

 

[tyhee]

the big 10 is a much better conference than hockey east. hockey east is bu, bc and then i guess mass and maine have been okay in living memory

Hockey East currently has the two top ranked teams in the country and seven of the top twenty*. It is decidedly not weak.

* rankings as of 7:50 p.m. Pacific time Oct 18/24 at DI Men's Ice Hockey Rankings - PairWise | NCAA.com

 

[WTG]

Wish they drafted someone going to UND. Such a good program and a fun team. NHL production, top class fans, better facilities than some NHL teams.

 

[VanJack]

Canucks Army giving D-Petey solid marks for his work in Abbotsford so far. He's still only 20, but starting to get some important minutes in Abbotsford.

Coaches seem to be trusting him in all situations. A year or two in Abby, and I could see this guy making it as an everyday d-man on the Vancouver blueline.

 

[strattonius]

The mixed reviews for D-Petey really throw me off. I'm not privy to watching him play so my knowledge is extremely limited.

My instincts are telling me he's going to be a fringe 3rd pairing or 7th defenseman because his shortcomings seem to be with handling the puck and making the right decisions. But because he is physically a beast he will be able to get by at the NHL level at a limited capacity.

 

[The Iron Goalie]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1847480600414081316

Some D-Petey from last night, with some Sasson mixed in.

 

[Breakers]

One of Willanders primary weakness is trying to juke an opponent at the blue line.

Similar to how a QB practices an RPO (run pass option) where the QB puts the ball right in the running backs chest and he can schoose whether to keep it or not.

Willander is so easy to read.

He is amazing at getting shots through the initial defender.

But like JT Miller and Hughes where they cross at the blue line and you dont really know who's gonna keep the puck at the cross.

Willander gives it away, he is so easy to predict.
So he's gotta work on that.

 

[VanJack]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1847480600414081316

Some D-Petey from last night, with some Sasson mixed in.

Wow!....Impressive. Malhotra had D-Petey out there on an extended four-on-four and he was part of a group that owned the puck in the Eagles zone.

He's far more mobile and confident with the puck than I remember him, even at the prospects tournament. He's now playing top-four minutes with Abbotsford, and show no signs that he can't handle the assignment.

In the early going, one of the most encouraging things about this Abbotsford team is the play of their 20-year old d-men, Pettersson and Kudryavtsev.

 

[WTG]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1847480600414081316

Some D-Petey from last night, with some Sasson mixed in.

From what I saw in the game is that he looks so much better when there is more open ice than when it's a tight game. I think that comes from adapting to the smaller surface. We'll see if he can adjust his game to the smaller ice surface though.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

The mixed reviews for D-Petey really throw me off. I'm not privy to watching him play so my knowledge is extremely limited.

My instincts are telling me he's going to be a fringe 3rd pairing or 7th defenseman because his shortcomings seem to be with handling the puck and making the right decisions. But because he is physically a beast he will be able to get by at the NHL level at a limited capacity.

He’ll never be any kind of offensive force, but he’s big, mobile and seems able to learn.
Considering where he was drafted, he’s already beat the odds getting as far as he has. It’s an encouraging sign that, thus far, he seems able to clear each hurdle placed in his way. Eventually.
Im thinking, if all goes really well, he’ll be a solid 3rd pairing guy, one day. Maybe even able to be the defensive conscience of a higher level pairing in the right situation.
But, I’m not going to get ahead of myself…he’s got a year or two in the A ahead of him and he going to have to take some serious steps.

 

[krutovsdonut]

imo d-petey is an nhler. only his celing is in doubt

 

[WTG]

I went back and tried to watch Dorrington at North Eastern since I saw that they played Denver twice (best team in NCAA) and got absolutely spanked twice in a row. But the NCHC had their blackout on their games so I couldn't catch the replays. North Eastern is a pretty good program ranked 17th in the nation.

Dorrington got named assistant captain to the Huskies this year and is playing on the top pairing, 2nd PP, 1st PK. I just watched the replay of his game vs Stonehill and he is a an interesting prospect. Keep in mind, it's just one game vs a bad program.

6'2" and he plays a mean game. This guy literally crosschecks anyone close to the net. Saw him elbow someone too along the boards. He's surprisingly very mobile and plays a very confident game. Skates around with some swagger and can clearly handle the puck. He made some nice transition passes while under pressure which was encouraging.

I'll try and catch another game when they play Maine next week and see how he plays against a better team. But he doesn't seem like someone we should write off. I am really curious as how he played against Denver.

2022 is looking like a pretty decent draft for the Canucks.


Here is his assist on that game:

 

[Jay26]

I went back and tried to watch Dorrington at North Eastern since I saw that they played Denver twice (best team in NCAA) and got absolutely spanked twice in a row. But the NCHC had their blackout on their games so I couldn't catch the replays. North Eastern is a pretty good program ranked 17th in the nation.

Dorrington got named assistant captain to the Huskies this year and is playing on the top pairing, 2nd PP, 1st PK. I just watched the replay of his game vs Stonehill and he is a an interesting prospect. Keep in mind, it's just one game vs a bad program.

6'2" and he plays a mean game. This guy literally crosschecks anyone close to the net. Saw him elbow someone too along the boards. He's surprisingly very mobile and plays a very confident game. Skates around with some swagger and can clearly handle the puck. He made some nice transition passes while under pressure which was encouraging.

I'll try and catch another game when they play Maine next week and see how he plays against a better team. But he doesn't seem like someone we should write off. I am really curious as how he played against Denver.

2022 is looking like a pretty decent draft for the Canucks.


Here is his assist on that game:

Love this scouting report! He sounds like the kind of player I really hope pans out for us.

 

[WTG]

Love this scouting report! He sounds like the kind of player I really hope pans out for us.

No problem!

One other thing about Dorrington to take into account is that this is his 3rd year at North Eastern and he turned 20 this April so he's quite young. Playing this many minutes in his third year is a really good sign, it means that he's going to get top TOI for at least two years before turning pro at a top 20 program (small correction NE is the 19th best program in NCAA).

ESPN luckily covers hockey east so anyone with ESPN can catch them playing Maine (9th best program) on Oct 25th. I'm curious how he handles teams with better players and more speed (no offense to Stonehill).

Has anyone else had the chance to watch him?

 

[logan5]

My instincts are telling me he's going to be a fringe 3rd pairing or 7th defenseman because his shortcomings seem to be with handling the puck and making the right decisions.

Im thinking, if all goes really well, he’ll be a solid 3rd pairing guy, one day.

I think he could just as easily be a top 2 or 3 guy as well. There are lots of d men who don't get drafted high, but still progress to a high level. Edler was drafted in the 3rd round, played a full season in the minors, then was pretty much a full timer at age 21. Bieksa wasn't a regular on the Canucks til he was 25 years old.

If Pettersson is standing out right now as 20 year old, that's a pretty good sign as a defenseman that takes longer to develop.

 

[strattonius]

I think he could just as easily be a top 2 or 3 guy as well. There are lots of d men who don't get drafted high, but still progress to a high level. Edler was drafted in the 3rd round, played a full season in the minors, then was pretty much a full timer at age 21. Bieksa wasn't a regular on the Canucks til he was 25 years old.

If Pettersson is standing out right now as 20 year old, that's a pretty good sign as a defenseman that takes longer to develop.

You could say the same about any prospect in our system. 'Oh hey look at how Alex Edler turned out!'. It's not what I'm talking about. I understand development isn't linear and obviously we aren't going to perfectly predict where a 20 yr old goes from here.

I'm saying his criticisms seem to be in the 'decision making' and 'processing the game' camp. Those are concerning shortcomings. We will see him improve in those areas over the next few years and what he turns in to will be the degree in which he improved. The baseline is the problem in those areas when projecting D Petey to anything higher than a 3rd pairing dman though. Hope we are wrong there.

To touch back on Edler. I had season's tickets to the Kelowna Rockets when Alex Edler played there. He was what I would call a stalwart. Never took himself out of position. When he hit it was with purpose. He processed the game extremely fast and quarterbacked the best PP in the league that year. His passing was always tape to tape. You could see a projectable NHL player there pretty much right away. Not certain D Petey carries the same type of skillset to translate. Anyways this year will be a massive teller for D Petey.

 

[sting101]

You could say the same about any prospect in our system. 'Oh hey look at how Alex Edler turned out!'. It's not what I'm talking about. I understand development isn't linear and obviously we aren't going to perfectly predict where a 20 yr old goes from here.

I'm saying his criticisms seem to be in the 'decision making' and 'processing the game' camp. Those are concerning shortcomings. We will see him improve in those areas over the next few years and what he turns in to will be the degree in which he improved. The baseline is the problem in those areas when projecting D Petey to anything higher than a 3rd pairing dman though. Hope we are wrong there.

To touch back on Edler. I had season's tickets to the Kelowna Rockets when Alex Edler played there. He was what I would call a stalwart. Never took himself out of position. When he hit it was with purpose. He processed the game extremely fast and quarterbacked the best PP in the league that year. His passing was always tape to tape. You could see a projectable NHL player there pretty much right away. Not certain D Petey carries the same type of skillset to translate. Anyways this year will be a massive teller for D Petey.

well said. It's natural with his skating nationality and stature that we are drawn to comparing him to Ohlund and Edler but the reality is he's not at the same level at the same ages. Im a firm believer that players have a 5-7 yr runway for improvement once they turn 18 so it's really a matter of how much he can improve.

I agree with @krutovsdonut he will be a NHLer unless something goes completely awry. What an excellent pick and prospect. The ceiling is very much a work in progress but he's smart and athletic enough to be a shut down top4. I've been steadfast he's probably a better Ekholm comp where he may take awhile to marinate but be worth the wait.

 

[Yultron]

Happy Sunday , 2 goals for Riley Patterson today , 3 goals in his last two games

 

[Blue and Green]

I think he could just as easily be a top 2 or 3 guy as well. There are lots of d men who don't get drafted high, but still progress to a high level. Edler was drafted in the 3rd round, played a full season in the minors, then was pretty much a full timer at age 21. Bieksa wasn't a regular on the Canucks til he was 25 years old.

If Pettersson is standing out right now as 20 year old, that's a pretty good sign as a defenseman that takes longer to develop.

Pettersson is not "standing out" in the AHL. Edler was easily a better player as a 20YO.

 

[krutovsdonut]

Pettersson is not "standing out" in the AHL. Edler was easily a better player as a 20YO.

you saw edler's first four games as a moose?

 

[Blue and Green]

you saw edler's first four games as a moose?

No, did you? Have you seen Pettersson's AHL games? I have.

I saw Edler play a bunch of games with Vancouver that season. If Pettersson blasts himself up the lineup and turns into a legitimate top-pair defenceman in the AHL this season, then we can warrant a discussion about Pettersson being the next Edler. Go ask Orcatown what the odds are, if you don't like my assessment.

 

[MS]

you saw edler's first four games as a moose?

I can't say I saw those four games but I remember his training camp that year and I'm well aware that Edler basically played himself into being the all-situations 1D in Manitoba very quickly.

I'm a big EP2 fan but he isn't even close to Edler as a prospect at the same age.