Vancouver uses draft to fill needs
Team lands playmaking centre, two productive forwards, sniper and puck-moving blueliners
CHICAGO — Their best draft since 2004?
That’s how one well-respected scout not connected to the Vancouver Canucks described what the National Hockey League club accomplished here with eight selections over two days.
They landed a playmaking centre, a versatile forward who can play the middle or the wall, a big and productive power forward, a Memorial Cup championship goaltender, a small but effective sniper and three defencemen, two of whom can move the puck.
The Canucks actually did what general manager Jim Benning said they planned to do Saturday. They selected two impact forwards in the second round who they identified as possible first-rounders. They added goaltending depth and traded their second pick in the fourth round (112th) to Chicago to land a fifth-rounder (135th) and sixth-rounder (181st), rounds in which they didn’t have picks.
In the 2004 draft, four of seven Canuck selections in Cory Schneider (26th), Alex Edler (91st), Mike Brown (150th) and Jannik Hansen (287th) not only made it to The Show, Schneider, Edler and Hansen have become roster mainstays.
“We always feel better after today,” said Judd Brackett, the Canucks director of amateur scouting.
“We identified players and targeted them in particular rounds and they were there. We were fortunate in some spots and I feel we accomplished some of the things we set out to do.
“And it’s good to have picks in the early rounds, it’s easier to address needs.”
The Canucks knew they had to add a goaltender to the organization and Michael DiPietro of the Windsor Spitfires in an interesting selection.
Winning a championship in your hometown is a tall order, especially when you bow out early in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs and wait 44 days to host the Memorial Cup. And when you’re just six feet tall in the land of goaltending giants, you better pack a mobile and reactive game.
“I model my game after Jonathan Quick and use my flexibility and my compete level to make saves even when I really shouldn’t,” said DiPietro.
“But I need to get better in all areas, particularly my patience. I lunge at pucks and have to be in better spots for the second save rather than being in desperation mode.”
Brackett said what DiPietro may lack in size is trumped by his athleticism.
“It’s his quickness and determination and he doesn’t give up on pucks,” said Brackett. “And he’s a winner.”
With their first pick in the fourth round, the Canucks selected high school defenceman Jack Rathbone, who will return to high school next fall and then attend Harvard. The Canucks like his energy to get up ice and power-play potential. There’s also a hockey lineage. His father, Jason, was a winger and drafted in the sixth round by the New York Islanders in 1988.
“He was a huge influence on my career and today I love watching guys like Kris Letang and Duncan Keith, and anybody who is a pretty dynamic offensive defenceman and can jump into the play,” said Rathbone, who missed two weeks of this season with a concussion.
“I also developed a good relationship with Harvard coach Ted Donato and I wanted to play for a guy who played in the NHL and be able to pick his brain. He knows what it takes to get to the next level.”
The Canucks then moved down to grab Swedish defenceman Kristoffer Gunnarsson in the fifth round and winger Petrus Palmu of Owen Sound. Their final pick was defence man Matt Brassard.
“In moving down, we targeted players and added a pick,” said Brackett. “The players we wanted were still there and it was a wise decision. Gunnarsson is an abrasive and hard defender, who contains well and has a good stick and a smart first read and clean first pass.”
“Palmu drove the Owen Sound offensive and his height (5-foot-6) catches you by surprise, but he’s stocky and like a fire hydrant who can play through traffic and has good hands.”
“We identified players and targeted them in particular rounds” — JUDD BRACKETT CANUCKS DIRECTOR OF AMATEUR SCOUTING