Blömqvist

What I like about Gadjovich on top of his maturity, dedication to the game, and how tough and physical he can play, is that he does possess skill and can play well with high offensive players like Nick Suzuki. With his size and physicality Gadjovich can create time and space for players like Suzuki and he also possesses the hands, shot, and net drive to score goals. As an aside, I'm looking forward to the draft+2 season (2018.19) for both Gadjovich and Lind, as they both would be 1st years in the AHL potentially the wingmen to Pettersson or Gaudette and with Juolevi and Chatfield on the backend. That would be great for their development -- to come up as a group -- and might actually be Benning's plan considering his most recent free agent signings.

6'3" 200 lbs and it's only July 1st. If there's a lot of fat in that weight he has a good two months to cut his body fat % down and get lean. He could surprise at camp and earn a #6 spot, but I wouldn't be upset if they sent him back for another year in London. We'll see how this summer and training camp plays out for him.

Kelowna will be a good team next year. Cal Foote and Kole Lind will be in their draft+1 seasons. Nolan Foote had 35 points in 52 games in his Draft-2 season and may be near a PPG this upcoming season. He is eligible for the 2019 draft. Dillon Dube will be in his final junior season. Looking forward to Lind's development. I could see see an agreement being made between the NHL and CHL. Obviously money would have to be involved (it is a business after all). Maybe 1 player per NHL organization that can be "bought out" and play in the AHL. Specifically, maybe the player in question would have to be in their final junior season too. So for example, Virtanen after being drafted would spend his Draft+1 year in the WHL and in his Draft+2 year the Canucks have the option to use their 1 player slot to "buy out" Virtanen from his WHL team and have him play in the AHL as opposed to another year in junior or a year in the NHL.

2015.16 Olli Juolevi 2016.17 Elias Pettersson 2017.18 Rasmus Dahlin The Canucks' "Big Three" with Pettersson leading the charge up front. Having Juolevi and Dahlin on separate pairings giving us 40+ minutes of elite defensive talent out on the ice per game. Major contributions from Horvat, Boeser, and Demko. Dahlin might not be the undisputed 1st overall pick in next year's draft, but with his skillset it looks like he may end up being the best player of that draft even if he isn't picked in the top 3 (kinda like how some people think that of Pettersson this year).

Defensemen are severely underrated. Their impact on the game is huge. Minutes-wise, Tkachuk may become a 16-20min/game forward who plays hard and creates offense, but Juolevi may become a 22-30min/game defensemen who does it all -- from shutting down top players (see Juolevi vs Vilardi), moving the puck up ice with passing and carrying the puck up on the breakout, to faciliting the offense with good reads and holds at the blue line, and to feeding guys for one timers and shot opportunities like he did with Laine and Puljujarvi at the WJC. Heck he has a good wrist shot and can snipe pucks in from the slot too. If both reach their full potential, Juolevi will impact the game far more than Tkachuk.

Kapanen + 1st I wonder if that same proposal can be revisited now that that 1st turned into Liljegren. Or maybe at the deadline if the Leafs are in a playoff position and get desperate we can squeeze them for Liljegren + 1st?

I agree. The top prospects might be at similar levels when drafted but from then it's a long road to the NHL and it's all about prospect development. I could see 1 year in the SHL for Pettersson, followed by a year or two in the AHL. He could be in the NHL the time Vilardi and Glass make it to their first professional season in the AHL or at the very least have a year up on them in that regard.

I shared this in the draft GDT minutes after Pettersson was selected by us: Mark Edwards of HockeyProspect.com had Elias Pettersson at #5. As far as I know they were one of the few scouting services that were high on Pettersson. For what it's worth, Hockey Prospect's final rankings was this for the top 10: 1. Hischier 2. Patrick 3. Heiskanen 4. Makar 5. Pettersson 6. Glass 7. Vilardi 8. Mittelstadt 9. Necas 10. Liljegren source: https://www.hockeyprospect.com/hockeyprospect-com-2017-nhl-draft-final-rankings/ Further to that, Bob McKenzie who creates a consensus list from the numerous scouts that he polls had Pettersson ranked one higher than Glass. This itself indicates that several (not all) scouts view Pettersson as a better prospect than Glass. His top ten was: 1. Hischier 2. Patrick 3. Heiskanen 4. Makar 5. Vilardi 6. Mittelstadt 7. Pettersson 8. Glass 9. Rasmussen 10. Tippett source: http://www.tsn.ca/hischier-rides-meteoric-rise-to-top-of-tsn-draft-ranking-1.783025 All of this to say that Pettersson at #5 is not as much of a reach as people make it out to be and not all scouts have firm belief that Glass > Pettersson. Even the fact that Vilardi fell out of the top 10 shows that teams have their own scouts and create their own BPA lists based off the information they have and those lists can be widely different than the list you or I or any other individual could have.

Really makes me wonder what was it with Vilardi that turned off so many teams. Tippett before Vilardi.. Andersson before Vilardi... Rasmussen before Vilardi even though they are somewhat similar players.

Tolvanen or Timmins at 33 please.

And add Liljegren with the upcoming 15th overall pick...

HockeyProspect.com had Elias Pettersson at #5. As far as I know they were one of the few scouting services that were high on Pettersson. For what it's worth, Hockey Prospect's final rankings was this for the top 10: 1. Hischier 2. Patrick 3. Heiskanen 4. Makar 5. Pettersson 6. Glass 7. Vilardi 8. Mittelstadt 9. Necas 10. Liljegren source: https://www.hockeyprospect.com/hockeyprospect-com-2017-nhl-draft-final-rankings/

Ya it's looking like a very weird draft where everyone "gets their guy" at the pick they have.

At 5 I'm looking at a select few prospects that I would be ecstatic with. Heiskanen, Glass, Makar, and Vilardi round up the next tier of prospects after Hischier and Patrick, and as long as management picks one of them I will be a very happy fan. Heiskanen is a left hand shot but plays the right side. He could make an unreal defense pairing alongside Juolevi, and if anything as you said opens up trade possibilities. I won't be upset if Benning does take say Pettersson at #5, as I'm sure he has his vision of how he wants to build this team and he has his scouts feeding him information that we as fans won't kbow about, but like.. I just won't be as happy hahaha

As devil's advocate, I would argue that picking Heiskanen at 5 if both Glass and Makar are gone would be the better move for this organization than to choose Pettersson. Heiskanen is the clear consensus BPA if he is there at 5, and Pettersson could be had later in the top 10. Also, and probably more importantly, if Sergachev can land Drouin, Larsson can land Hall, and Jones can land Johansen, should Heiskanen develop even remotely decently imagine what he could fetch us in a trade if we dangle him.

Very interesting... based on what's come out recently in news outlets and interviews Benning and Co's top 5 could look something like: 1. Nico/Nolan 2. Nico/Nolan 3. Glass 4. Makar 5. Pettersson Which leaves Vilardi, Heiskanen, Liljegren, and Mittlestadt outside of the top 5 maybe?

If Heiskanen falls to our pick at 5 and Vilardi and Glass are off the board I could definitely see Benning considering him. A Juolevi-Heiskanen would be our top everything unit for the next decade+. That unit would have excellent shutdown, puck moving, and offensive ability. That said, I don't know how the fan base would react picking a defenseman at 5 two years in a row when there are some high ceiling offensive prospects on the board like Pettersson, Mittelstadt, Necas, and Tippett. If Heiskanen were to be available at 5 I think the right move for Benning would be to trade picks with Buffalo who holds the 8th pick and get another asset. Buffalo is in need of defensemen and if they can get LHD Heiskanen they could pair him with RHD Ristolainen who is Finnish as well. That would allow us to pick up an extra pick or prospect while still staying in a position to draft one of Pettersson, Mittelstadt, or Necas.

I think a part of why we drafted Virtanen was because he was a hometown kid and the PR related to that. That said, that's just a part of why we drafted him. IMO he was going to be a Benning pick anyway though. Disregarding the consensus BPA as per Bob McKenzie (who had him 7th on his consensus list), Virtanen was what Benning envisioned the Canucks to play right down to the T. Benning wanted meat and potatoes. Benning envisioned the Canucks to play with speed. He wanted the Canucks to have size. And he also wanted the Canucks to play with skill. The one thing that you can't argue is Jake's size and speed. His skill component came with his NHL-level shot, which Benning seemed to really scout for as McCann also had a lethal shot. Jake has size, speed, and skill BUT unfortunately for him, management, and us, powerforwards take much longer to develop. They may step into the show quicker because of their NHL ready size but from then on it's a process for them to develop. If at the very least Benning drafted this type of player at the beginning of our rebuild. That way once this set of draftees and Juolevi come to form Virtanen would have a few extra years of development to find his game.

Virtanen was a "safe pick" in such that with his physical tools he should at least have a floor of a third line winger, someone who can use their speed and strength to be tenacious on the forechecking and in the dirty areas and still have a good enough shot to score every now and then. Virtanen still should be able to get to that point but the real question in his game was if he could develop more offensively and be more consistent to be more than just a 3rd line grinding/power winger.

Not sure how reputable Steve Kournianos of The Draft Analysis is, but he believes that Makar has a more of a complete game than people think. He is not only impressed with Makar's skating and offensive abilities but also his understanding of how he should defend given his sub 6-foot frame:

I dunno but I feel like I have a CDC addiction cuz I was legit checking this site every hour at work and every half hour at home lol

Lmao I'm blind thanks for the spot! That's not bad at all for Makar to be 5'11.25" and 187 lbs at 18 years old. People grow at different rates but he could potentially be at 6'0" and 195-200 lbs in a year or two when he leaves the NCAA and turns pro.

What's his exact combine measurements? I haven't found an official one on NHL.com but I found some numbers from TheHockeyWriters. Makar is 5'11" and 187 lbs according to them.