Prime pick not a Finn-ished product
Canucks must remain patient with their young puck-moving blue-liner Juolevi
Just because Jakob Chychrun essentially lapped the field early doesn’t mean he will go on to be the top defenceman of his 2016 draft class.
Sure, Chychrun, the 16th overall pick, played 68 pretty decent games in the big leagues for Arizona and no other defenceman played more than six. And yes, 11 slots higher the Canucks picked Olli Juolevi, who wasn’t even offered an NHL amuse-bouche after his draftplus-one year ended with the London Knights.
But there remains a long way to go to determine how the Juolevi pick will pan out for the Canucks.
“We’re not even a year past yet,” TSN prospect analyst Craig Button rightly pointed out.
So what about the mock 2016 re-drafts that suggest Chychrun should have been a pick in the top four or five?
“Not for me,” Button said.
“I still don’t think Jakob Chychrun is a top-two defenceman. I’ll be happy to be wrong.”
Of course, Juolevi will be compared to more players who were picked after him than just Chychrun.
Centre Clayton Keller has top-five talent. Defenceman Charlie McAvoy showed well in the playoffs with the Boston Bruins and is a potential beast. Winger Matthew Tkachuk — taken sixth overall, the selection after Juolevi — just put up 48 points in 76 games, helping turn around the Calgary Flames by doing a lot of what the Canucks hoped to be getting from Jake Virtanen.
The Hockey News re-picked the Juolevi draft and had him going 13th.
But every prospect develops at different rates, and with Juolevi it’s always been a matter of waiting for his physical maturity to catch up with his brain.
Juolevi is the future of the Canucks’ defence, and projects nicely in a league where young, quick-thinking, puck-moving defenders are becoming increasingly important.
The four teams left in the NHL playoffs are remarkable for having a number of young defenders playing huge roles. There is a strong case to be made that if the Canucks can’t get a dynamic, top-end centre they should be trying to mitigate the problem by building a gifted puck-moving blue line that can make all the forwards look better.
In other words, get Juolevi some help with the fifth overall pick the Canucks have in next month’s NHL Entry Draft.
One of the defenders being compared to Juolevi is Miro Heiskanen, who was his partner at the world junior championship.
Many now have Heiskanen as the top defenceman available in this year’s draft, making him a potential target for the Canucks who could build their defence around a Finnish duo.
“Juolevi is a smart player, too, but Heiskanen is a better skater,” Button said.
“There’s nothing wrong with Juolevi’s skating, but Heiskanen is one of those guys when you’re watching him skate, he may only be four feet in front of the guy chasing him but that guy is never going to catch him. “His economy of effort is scary good.” Both players have been compared to retired Detroit Red Wings legend Nick Lidstrom in the way they think the game. This seems good.
It was surprising the Canucks had no plans to bring Juolevi to Utica or Vancouver when his junior season ended. They wanted his off-season training to get started as quickly as possible.
It’s a huge summer for Juolevi. Many around the team think the real thing holding him back from playing in the NHL is his strength and if that can improve significantly, he’ll have a chance to play regular season games for the Canucks in the fall.
Vancouver will have an interesting decision to make with Juolevi at training camp because he’s not eligible yet to play in the AHL.