I don't think we should read much into the fact that the Canucks protected Juolevi in expansion. They literally didn't have any other option - and I'm not going to entertain Brisebois.
But at the same time I'm sure they don;t want to lose him for nothing.
He is still unable to properly play because he can't turn. Until the canucks are able to help him with this aspect of his skating he will never progress in his development and will atrophy at his current level of a fringe 6/7 guy on a fairly weak defense. That's not to say that there isn't upside. The kid clearly sees the game pretty well at times, has a physical element and good offensive instincts with great outlet passes. But his game sure needs to develop and grow and that can't happen if he doesn't land a spot.
He is stuck in the mushy middle and I feel badly for the kid. What a crap run of injuries. Sure reminds me of Bryan Allen back when he got injured up and down before making the team. Bryan Allen never reached his potential but settled into a decent mid pair guy which is kind of the hope for Olli now.
But back to that idea of the mushy middle, we can't gift him a spot and we can't send him down to the minors. If he makes the lineup and has improved his skating, then great. But in all likelihood he is stuck 'not playing' as our 7/8 and just waiting for someone to get hurt, which is no recipe for improvement.
As much as I recoil at the idea of trading him when he has no value, his path ahead doesn't look easy. I think we just have to live with that and let it take it's course.