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Vancouver Canucks: Prospect Update, Canucks First Road Trip of the Season

October 20, 2014, 2:03 PM ET [197 Comments]
Carol Schram
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Another year, another team. Another hot start for ex-Canuck Mason Raymond.

Now with five goals and seven points in seven games, Raymond is not just the leading scorer for the Calgary Flames, he's hanging among the overall league leaders. After a similarly hot start with Toronto last year, Raymond finished the season with 19 goals and 45 points. Every year, he seems to be at his best in October.

As for the current Canucks, the team's tied for 10th so far in production, averaging three goals per game. The power play is ranked a refreshing 12th at 21 percent efficiency, but five-on-five scoring is on the low side: just six goals in four games at even strength.

The Canucks will be tested in all aspects of their game this week as they play three games in four nights on the road against tough Central Division teams. That being said, none of this week's opponents is off to a particularly good start. Vancouver sits seventh in the Western Conference with six points while Dallas is eighth, St. Louis is ninth and Colorado is 12th.

From that point of view, these games could be winnable. I'd be thrilled if Vancouver could come home with four of a possible six points. Too much to ask?

With We Day scheduled for Wednesday at Rogers Arena, the Canucks are practicing at UBC this morning before hopping on the plane for Texas. Here are Monday's key personnel details:










It sounds like we'll see the same skaters against the Stars on Tuesday as we did for Saturday's game against the Lightning—though I'd wager that Ryan Miller will be in net.

I wonder if the tweaks to the bottom two lines will hold for game day? Willie Desjardins has said in the past that he prefers Shawn Matthias at centre. Is the move meant to shelter Linden Vey—basically, just to keep him in the lineup so he can contribute on the first unit power play?

Willie will have to make some decisions about the bottom six when Bo Horvat is ready to return to Vancouver after his conditioning assignment in Utica. Perhaps he's using this opportunity to try some different looks and better assess the viability of the options that he'll have available.

Prospect Update

While we have to wait a little longer to see what Bo will bring to the Canucks, here's a quick check-in on the team's other top prospects.

2014's sixth-overall pick Jake Virtanen is on schedule for his recovery from shoulder surgery. He was cleared for contact last Friday and hopes to get into his first game of the year this Friday, against the Kootenay Ice.




Meanwhile, 24th overall pick Jared McCann is off to a hot start.




The Soo Greyhounds have dropped their last two games after opening the season on an 8-0 run.

If you think McCann's recovery from mono is going well, wait till you hear about Cole Cassels!

Vancouver's third-round pick from 2013 is showing some of his dad's playmaking talent. He's fourth-overall in OHL scoring right now with four goals and 16 assists in 11 games. Cassels is captain of the Oshawa Generals, who hold the league's best record in the early going at 9-1-1.

Finally, on the U.S. college front, goaltender Thatcher Demko is 1-1 in his first two games of the year for Boston College. After giving up four goals against U. Mass-Lowell in his first appearance, Demko rebounded by backstopping his team to a 6-2 win over RIT last weekend.
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