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Canucks Army Prospect Profiles, Top 20


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Over the next while, Canucks Army (top two Canucks blog with PITB) will be profiling the Canucks top 20 prospects. Up first is David Honzik by Drance (one of my favorite writers along with Angus).

http://canucksarmy.c...20-david-honzik

Up next is a minuscule probability, medium high reward prospect, Darren Archibald

http://canucksarmy.c...arren-archibald

At #18 is an unheralded potential 5th dman for the Canucks, Jeremy Price

http://canucksarmy.c...18-jeremy-price

A big, tough hard working dman... Adam Polasek

http://canucksarmy.c...17-adam-polasek

A bit lower on this list than some might have liked... Yann Sauve

http://canucksarmy.c...e-16-yann-sauve

An intriguing overager who is big and skilled but is going an unusual route developmentally... Alex Grenier

http://canucksarmy.c...exandre-grenier

Our prospect with the highest offensive upside has a K in his first name.... And it isn't Kevin.

http://canucksarmy.c...patrick-mcnally

Fast, can't really finish, (remind of anyone you know yet?) 2nd/3rd line tweener, had a good season two years ago but his numbers fell last year, works hard but could do more, (how bout now?) doesn't fall down often... Wait what?! Meet Mas.. Billy Sweatt

http://canucksarmy.c...13-billy-sweatt

The biggest boom or bust prospect to escape CDC's notice... This guy has more skill than our first rounder this year and could break out in a big way. Remember this name, Anton Rodin.

http://canucksarmy.c...-12-anton-rodin

Next up: Alex Friesen, the next AV man crush. Look for this small, overachieving hard-worker on the fourth line next year and on the Wolves third line this year.

http://canucksarmy.c...11-alex-friesen

I am much, much, much higher on number 10 than I am on any prospect ranked lower than him and even more so than many ranked higher. In my opinion, he will be as good as Schneider, if not better.

http://canucksarmy.c...-10-joe-cannata

Credit to Niloc009 for the next intro (for the record, I don't think he is a mistake by any means):

Everyone's favourite 2012 draft mistake makes a surprising appearance at 9th in the prospect rankings. Alex Mallet is next in the list.

http://canucksarmy.c...lexandre-mallet

Elvis15 did the next one:

Joseph LaBate up today: http://canucksarmy.c...s-joseph-labate

He's a bit of the opposite of Mallet from a development standpoint, where I'm excited to see how he improves over the next few years but know he won't be available for awhile yet.

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ughhhh great.

you know, a lot of gillis' draft picks since he's been with the canucks have been total blows.

the only ones that i think would be good in the future are:

jordan shroeder

anton rodin

kevin connauton

steven anthony

alex friesen

nicklas jensen

alexandre grenier

joseph labate

frankie corrado

brendan gaunce

alexandre mallet

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ughhhh great.

you know, a lot of gillis' draft picks since he's been with the canucks have been total blows.

the only ones that i think would be good in the future are:

jordan shroeder

anton rodin

kevin connauton

steven anthony

alex friesen

nicklas jensen

alexandre grenier

joseph labate

frankie corrado

brendan gaunce

alexandre mallet

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11 in 4 years.

That is FANTASTIC drafting if we walk away with an average of 2.75 players per draft - given how many picks have been traded AND how late the Canucks have been drafting each round.

Not mention you missed Lack, Tanev and Cannata. ( I am aware Tanev and Lack were signed, but regardless, they have added to the prospect pool)

Furthermore - you excluded Hodgson... so that's 12 in 4.

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Adam Polasek is up today.

http://canucksarmy.com/2012/8/9/ca-prospect-profiles-17-adam-polasek

CA PROSPECT PROFILES: #17 ADAM POLASEK

Patrick Johnston

August 09 2012 11:53AM

633838850.jpg

Adam Polasek is a big, rugged defenceman who can move the puck and doesn’t mind (heck he excels at) the rough stuff. What’s not to like?

Click past the jump to read more.

Adam Polasek, the Czech defenceman drafted in 2010 by the Canucks, is known as a tough defender with good puck skills. Although he does everything well, he doesn’t excel in any particular area. Nonetheless, even going back to his QMJHL days in Charlottetown, his work ethic drew praise.

From Charles Reid of the Charlottetown Guardian:

[Polasek is] friendly, a good interview, very accessible from a journalist's standpoint. A joker with the guys, not overly serious, but dedicated toward hockey. Put in the extra time working out, staying after practice when he could. Seemed like a good teammate. Adapted to the North America lifestyle. By his second year, he was fluent in English. Good for a kid that spoke almost no English as a rookie. On the ice, he played physical and could skate end to end when the coaching staff turned him loose.

Even going back to his days as captain of the Czech U18 team, scouts were saying similar things. Polasek would draw praise for his willingness to battle on the boards and his ability to control the puck, but as with many prospects, there were concerns about his foot speed (concerns which, persist to this day).

When we spoke with Jason Shaver, the play-by-play caller and "voice" of the Chicago Wolves, he was very complimentary of Polasek's performance last season:

He was the youngest defenseman by far. When Tanev was sent down, he didn’t get a ton of ice time

What I really like him is he was an even or plus player in almost every game and the thing that stuck out to me the most was he wasn’t getting scored on. He was the 5th/6th guy, so what else do you want?

Polasek only got into 46 games this past season, but in his sophmore campaign in the AHL he looks to be relied upon to play a bigger role this upcoming season. With a new coaching staff in Chicago, he'll also have a clean slate and an opportunity to make a good impression.

One area to watch will be Polasek's offensive game. While Polasek's offensive skills are never going to be "the reason" he makes it to the show, he's got solid offensive instincts and in his Major Junior days, he featured heavily on PEI's powerplay. Polasek would regularly jump up into the rush and he occasionally flashed some finish too, recording 20 goals and 80 points in his two years with the Rocket. Perhaps with a bit more seasoning at the AHL level, some of the aggressiveness in Polasek's offensive game will return this season.

His first season in Chicago saw few scoring opportunities for Polasek, and he scored just one goal. He did show a willingness to drop the mitts from the get-go, felling Oilers prospect Colton Teubert with a heavy right in last year's YoungStars tournament in Penticton.

Polasek has a nice package in terms of his size, willingness to drop the gloves, and solid offensive skill set. If his skating continues to improve, than Polasek probably projects to be a bottom-pairing defender in the NHL. With Mark Matheson, Yann Suave and Brad Hunt returning on the Wolves blueline - and Kevin Connauton’s possible promotion to the NHL - you'd have to think that there will be plenty of opportunity for Polasek to get top-4 minutes this season.

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ughhhh great.

you know, a lot of gillis' draft picks since he's been with the canucks have been total blows.

the only ones that i think would be good in the future are:

jordan shroeder

anton rodin

kevin connauton

steven anthony

alex friesen

nicklas jensen

alexandre grenier

joseph labate

frankie corrado

brendan gaunce

alexandre mallet

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