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herb wrote:
Because he's proven what he can in NCAA and just the timeline of things moving forward.
2-3 years in Utica and Hutton could be ready to jump to the big club when the contracts of Hamhuis and Bieksa expire.
If he was looking simply to fast track his hockey career he probably would've played major junior (making an assumption), there's nothing wrong with finishing his school and playing a year or two in Utica before potentially making the Canucks.
We see kids come our of University and transition well to pro hockey.
IN fact Bieksa did just that. Finished school, played a few games with the Moose in '04. The played the full 04-05 season before playing 39 games with the Canucks in 05-06.
No need to rush, let him mature physically and he may be ready on that timeline regardless.
The beauty of college prospects is that you can let them simmer there until they are ready, you don't even have to use up a contract slot or burn up their cheap entry level years. You can get a player who is done or near done developing and they are still on year 1 of their ELC.
Vancouver's no. 1 Canucks' beat writer, Botchford reports via online video, the 2014 Canucks Development Camp being held at the University of British Columbia.
Vancouver's no. 1 Canucks' beat writer, Botchford reports via online video, the 2014 Canucks Development Camp being held at the University of British Columbia.
He's got a voice fit for print media . I enjoy the Captain Obvious observations from him as well that even casual fans know about.
herb wrote:
Because he's proven what he can in NCAA and just the timeline of things moving forward.
2-3 years in Utica and Hutton could be ready to jump to the big club when the contracts of Hamhuis and Bieksa expire.
If he was looking simply to fast track his hockey career he probably would've played major junior (making an assumption), there's nothing wrong with finishing his school and playing a year or two in Utica before potentially making the Canucks.
We see kids come our of University and transition well to pro hockey.
IN fact Bieksa did just that. Finished school, played a few games with the Moose in '04. The played the full 04-05 season before playing 39 games with the Canucks in 05-06.
No need to rush, let him mature physically and he may be ready on that timeline regardless.
I'm all for Hutton finishing off his degree. After that, he may only need one yr in the minors before making the jump (assuming he continues his linear progression). So far, so good.
SKYO wrote:But I guess sadly we've never had a propsect/rookie blow away the veteran players the last few years, what was the last one? CoHo?
I stand to be corrected, but I believe Linden is the last 18 year old to make the team out of camp. Bourdon got 9 games as a 19 year old, CoHo not until he was 20, though he was cut from Camp right at the end of the pre-season as an 18 year old. Sedins had just turned 20 when they made the club.
I think it would be a great break from the past to have a teenager make the club. I doubt there's another franchise in the NHL that has only had one teenager make the roster in 25 years.
Absolute piss poor drafting to be able to ice only one 18 years old in the last 26 years...
Vancouver's no. 1 Canucks' beat writer, Botchford reports via online video, the 2014 Canucks Development Camp being held at the University of British Columbia.
I loath Botchford...trying way too hard to be the Perez Hilton of the NHL. Too many balls to the face me thinks.
SKYO wrote:But I guess sadly we've never had a propsect/rookie blow away the veteran players the last few years, what was the last one? CoHo?
I stand to be corrected, but I believe Linden is the last 18 year old to make the team out of camp. Bourdon got 9 games as a 19 year old, CoHo not until he was 20, though he was cut from Camp right at the end of the pre-season as an 18 year old. Sedins had just turned 20 when they made the club.
I think it would be a great break from the past to have a teenager make the club. I doubt there's another franchise in the NHL that has only had one teenager make the roster in 25 years.
I believe that Bryan Allen made the team as a 18 years old but could not come to term with the Canucks. Not sure you can count him as one or not.
SKYO wrote:But I guess sadly we've never had a propsect/rookie blow away the veteran players the last few years, what was the last one? CoHo?
I stand to be corrected, but I believe Linden is the last 18 year old to make the team out of camp. Bourdon got 9 games as a 19 year old, CoHo not until he was 20, though he was cut from Camp right at the end of the pre-season as an 18 year old. Sedins had just turned 20 when they made the club.
I think it would be a great break from the past to have a teenager make the club. I doubt there's another franchise in the NHL that has only had one teenager make the roster in 25 years.
I believe that Bryan Allen made the team as a 18 years old but could not come to term with the Canucks. Not sure you can count him as one or not.
He made it because Keenan was on the crazy-brigade & anything was better than the '94 core. Keenan also traded for him in the Luongo package...man crush perhaps.
Canucks camp features best prospects in years
BY JASON BOTCHFORD, THE PROVINCE JULY 8, 2014
You probably have to go to the turn of the century to find a group of Canucks prospects who have as much promise as this one.
It may say as much about the Canucks’ drafting for the past decade as it does the young players who are attending this week’s prospects camp.
Either way, it’s been a long, long time since there were so many solid reasons to be encouraged when it comes to the Canucks’ future.
“We’ve never had this situation before (with five first-round picks),” director of player development Stan Smyl said.
“I think when you have that many first rounders, you see a little bit more depth in our organization. Depth with some skill, and players who are going to help us in the future.”
But it’s not just the five first-round picks who tend to grab all the attention. There is a nice second tier of prospects at UBC, including goalie Thatcher Demko, centre Cole Cassels and defenceman Ben Hutton.
Cassels turned heads this season in junior, making the turn from a gritty, shutdown centre to a playmaking top-six pivot. He cranked up his point total from 43 in 2012-13 to 73 this past year and became a key component of the Oshawa Generals’ power play.
“When we did interviews this year with draft-eligible players from the OHL, we asked them ‘Who do you not want to play against?’” Smyl said. “His name came up often. So he has that.
“But he also has the skill to make plays. I watched him a lot this year.
“You see some similarities in what his dad (former Canuck Andrew) had in being able to dish. He does have it. So it doesn’t surprise me he was bumped up and used on the back end of the power play. He was used down low with (Michael) Dal Colle and he was the guy making the plays.”
Cassels said he gained “the confidence to shine” when Oshawa coach D.J. Smith asked him to step into a top-six role.
“It made me not afraid to do some things with the puck,” Cassels said. “Not be too safe and get out of my comfort zone to make plays.
“I still take pride in my defence first, but this year it was 50/50.
“And both parts are fun to me. The penalty kill and the power play. The PK is just as important as the power play. You’re saving goals.
“My first two years in junior I was moulded to think the most important part of hockey is defence.”
He also suggested watching his dad pile up 528 assists in his career showed him that it’s not all about who the guy who scores.
Cassels has one more year of junior before he can play in the AHL.
On the defensive side for the Canucks, and in the NCAA, Hutton probably opened just as many eyes as Cassels this past season.
His 15 goals not only led the NCAA for blue-liners, he set a record with the University of Maine.
Hutton said he got lucky a few times on the power play, but this is a young defenceman who loves jumping up on the rush.
“He’s been a real pleasant player to watch,” Smyl said. “What he brings offensively you can’t teach.
“He can skate. He carries the puck under pressure. He likes to be active. He’s jumping into the play. He has the ability to finish.”
He was also in the mix during the season for the Hobey Baker Award.
Hutton was drafted in the fifth round in 2012, and has the potential to be a significant late-round find for the Canucks. But he still is unsigned and has two more years at Maine until he graduates.
It’s an uncomfortable timeline because if he doesn’t sign by the fourth year after his draft, he could become an unrestricted free agent. Hutton’s date would be Aug. 31, 2016.
“I hope to get a degree under my belt,” Hutton said.
“But I love it (in Vancouver). I’ve been coming here for a couple of years now and it’s a little different each time.”
SKYO wrote:But I guess sadly we've never had a propsect/rookie blow away the veteran players the last few years, what was the last one? CoHo?
I stand to be corrected, but I believe Linden is the last 18 year old to make the team out of camp.
Didn't Nedved make the team as an 18 year old? He only played one year of Junior in the WHL and that was the year he was drafted.
One could make the argument that he didn't actually make the team, but rather was handed a spot in the lineup. In hindsight, he needed another year before he made the jump anyway.
Benjo wrote:The beauty of college prospects is that you can let them simmer there until they are ready, you don't even have to use up a contract slot or burn up their cheap entry level years. You can get a player who is done or near done developing and they are still on year 1 of their ELC.
The impression i got about him is that his defensive game needs work. As a converted forward, his offensive instincts are paying dividends but as a complete player, he may not even be ready for the AHL. At this point he still might need 3 full years in the minors, including stints at Kalamazoo.
He sounds like the kind of guy that is best left in college for the reasons you mentioned.
As with all prospects, view him with guarded optimism.
Funny that Demko was a big Cloutier fan growing up and now he's working with Dan on the ice at an NHL Development Camp. (Demko is from SoCal and Cloutier was the Kings goalie for a spell while Demko was growing up).
. I enjoy the Captain Obvious observations from him as well that even casual fans know about.
