Lots going on, so let's get right to it.
First, the rundown of the rest of the Canucks' draft action in Dallas on Saturday.
These players join seventh-overall pick Quinn Hughes in Vancouver's 2018 draft class:
Pick 37 - Jett Woo - D - from the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL
Listed at 6'0" and 205 pounds, shoots right, and he's one of the younger players in the draft—he doesn't turn 18 until July 27.
Woo was ranked 28th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
Born and raised in Winnipeg, Woo becomes the second-highest pick of Chinese descent in NHL history behind Josh Ho-Sang (28th to New York Islanders in 2014),
per NHL.com.
Woo's paternal grandparents immigrated to Canada from China and ran a Chinese-food restaurant in Winnipeg. His father, Larry, was a winger in the WHL before playing hockey for four years at the University of Manitoba. His mother, Dolly, is of German ancestry.
Woo played on Canada's gold-medal team at last summer's Ivan Hlinka tournament before putting up nine goals, 25 points and 33 penalty minutes in 44 games with Moose Jaw last season.
He got off to a good start in 2017-18 with six goals and 11 assists in his first 18 games—almost a point-a-game pace—before suffering a separated shoulder that kept him out for six weeks. In mid-January, he missed another month with a strained oblique muscle and hip pointer.
Woo says his injuries are behind him. He also says his main focus is on being effective defensively:
"I think the biggest part of my game, ever since I was a little kid, is that like to make sure the defensive side of the puck is taken care of whether that be winning battles, playing hard for the puck, being physical in the right moments and being able to have a different angle of the puck," Woo said. "All those things come first, and then my offense comes after that."
Woo's skating is said to be one of his strengths so at first glance, it's easy to imagine him teaming up with Hughes to create a yin-yang defense pairing that could anchor the Canucks' blue line for years to come. If he pans out, he could also be front-and-centre as the NHL and the Canucks continue their pushes into the Chinese market.
Of course, the real path to NHL success it not nearly this linear—or assured. For now, Woo is simply a prospect to watch—one with a great name and a cool backstory.
Pick 68 - Tyler Madden - C - from the Tri-City Storm of the USHL
Listed at 5'11" and 152 (!) pounds, shoots right, and is one of the older players in his first year of draft eligibility. He'll turn 19 on November 9.
Madden was ranked 39th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
The son of three-time Stanley Cup winner John Madden, Tyler's big asset is his strong hockey bloodline. Tyler had nine goals and 20 points in 32 games with Tri-City this season.
Before joining the USHL, he spent two years at the acclaimed Avon Old Farms prep school in Connecticut. He's off to Northeastern this fall, where Canucks' director of amateur scouting Judd Brackett thinks he'll blossom.
There are comparisons with Adam Gaudette—including the fact that Madden is not a great skater.
"Something that always resonated with Adam was his hockey sense and also his drive," Brackett told
Jason Botchford of The Province. "He had to work on his foot speed, but he was always involved and always determined. There’s a lot of that same determination in (Madden)."
Pick 130 - Toni Utunen - D - from LeKi Lempaala of the Finnish junior league
Listed at 5'11" and 169 pounds, shoots left, and turned 18 on April 27. Our second player so far born in the year 2000!
Utunen was ranked 64th among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting.
Utunen's draft stock rose when he captained Finland to a gold medal at the U18 Championship in Russia this past April. He had a goal and two assists in seven games and also won the award for the tournament's best plus-minus (+12). He also won silver with Finland at the 2017 tournament.
To me, this pick has some potential—especially for a fifth-rounder. This kid has been in a leadership role all the way up through his development in Finland and is said to log big minutes and play a two-way game. I'm intrigued!
In the sixth round, the Canucks were scheduled to pick at 161. They traded that pick to Washington in exchange for No. 186 (last pick of the sixth round) and a sixth-rounder in 2019. Happy Dance! For now, the Canucks have an extra pick in the 2019 draft!
Pick 186 - Artem Manukyan - F - from Avangard Omsk of the KHL
Continuing their theme of drafting undersized players this year, Manukyan clocks in at 5'7" and 139 pounds! He shoots right, and turned 20 on June 9.
Manukyan was not ranked by NHL Central Scouting.
If this was the player the Canucks were targeting in the sixth round, I can see why they felt confident in moving down. Manukyan doesn't seem to appear on any of the scouting lists I've seen—most of them also end well before pick 186.
Despite his small size, Manukyan did make Russia's 2018 World Junior team, where he had two assists in five games.
He also had an outstanding junior season with Omskie Yastreby in 2016-17.
Because the KHL's Avangard Omsk is a strong team with a deep roster, Manukyan hasn't had much opportunity to play at the men's level in Russia. That might make him more inclined to take a shot in North America.
Manukyan's skill is his top asset.
Once again, I'm intrigued. I like the fact that the scouting staff is working to unearth potentially overlooked gems rather than trying to find gritty bottom-six guys in these late stages of the draft.
Pick 192 - Matthew Thiessen - G - from the Steinbach Pistons of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League
The Canucks wrapped up their 2018 by taking a goalie. Matthew Thiessen just turned 18 on June 9. He's listed at 6'2" and 191 pounds and had a 28-3-1 record with Steinbach last season, with a 2.06 goals-against average and .923 save percentage. The Pistons won the MJHL title before beating the Nipawin Hawks for the ANAVET Cup (top team in Manitoba and Saskatchewan), then advancing to the RBC Cup.
Thiessen jumped from 11th at the mid-term to fourth in Central Scouting's final rankings of North American goalies so once again, there's a potential here for great value if he continues to progress in his development.
Thiessen's a long-term project. He's off to the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL next season, then committed to the University of Maine in 2019-20.
Some teams have already started their development camps. I'm glad we get a week to regroup before the Canucks' prospects hit the ice next Monday, July 2.
Even though he's an NCAA prospect and will have to pay his own way, Quinn Hughes has confirmed that he'll be in Vancouver next week. That's not unusual—Adam Gaudette and even injured Will Lockwood did the same thing last year. I imagine the rest of the list will fill out over the course of this week with the new additions to the prospect pool.
Now, we're into the free-agent talking period, and the signing deadline to qualify RFAs is rapidly approaching.
So far, we do know that the Canucks have decided not to qualify Cole Cassels and Mackenze Stewart. The deadline to issue qualifying offers is 2 p.m. PT Monday.
Also—I almost forgot, the Canucks finalized a trade on Sunday.
Kero's a 24-year-old who was initially signed as an undrafted free agent by the Blackhawks in 2015, after four years at Michigan Tech. Listed at 6'00" and 185 pounds, he has been back and forth between the Blackhawks and Rockford for the past two seasons, and was frequently a healthy scratch when he was with Chicago last year.
He's on a one-way contract that pays him $750,000 for one more season. It looks like the trade was a move to clear a roster spot for the Blackhawks, who are rumoured not to be planning to qualify Chaput—an RFA who would become unrestricted if he doesn't receive a qualifying offer.
CapFriendy shows the Blackhawks are currently at 44 of a maximum of 50 contracts while the Canucks are at a much more manageable 38.
Kero has eight goals and 22 points in 72 career NHL games. He'd have to clear waivers to be sent to the minors, but could be decent insurance down the middle in the bottom six if Adam Gaudette's not ready to make the full-time transition to the NHL this season.
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