NHL.com shares their ranking of the top-five Vancouver Canucks prospects
Photo credit: Abbotsford Canucks
NHL.com has shared their ranking of the top-five Vancouver Canucks prospects right now.
The Vancouver Canucks' prospect pool might not be as deep as others around the National Hockey League, but they have some very strong players including Tom Willander, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Elias Pettersson.
On Thursday, the National Hockey League continued their look at prospect pools among the 32 teams and it was Vancouver's turn to have theirs analyzed.
Kevin Woodley shared his list of the top-five prospects in the Vancouver Canucks system heading into the 2024-25 season and here's what that looked like, along with when they could arrive in the National Hockey League:
1) Jonathan Lekkerimaki (NHL ETA: 2025-26)
2) Tom Willander (NHL ETA: 2025-26)
3) Arturs Silovs (NHL ETA: 2024-25)
4) Aatu Raty (NHL ETA: 2025-26)
5) Elias Pettersson (NHL ETA: 2026-27)
2) Tom Willander (NHL ETA: 2025-26)
3) Arturs Silovs (NHL ETA: 2024-25)
4) Aatu Raty (NHL ETA: 2025-26)
5) Elias Pettersson (NHL ETA: 2026-27)
The good news for the Vancouver Canucks is that two of those five prospects - Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Elias Pettersson - will be in North America full-time this season after getting a taste of the American Hockey League at the end of the 2023-24 campaign. It's going to be a big season for those two as they look to adjust to the North American style and ice, but there's no doubting the skill Lekkerimaki and Pettersson have. Both of them will become NHLers sooner than many imagine.
Tom Willander will be heading back to Boston University for a second year and will also play a big role for Sweden at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship in Ottawa.
Aatu Raty is one player that needs to take another sizable jump in development this coming season to prove that he can be an NHLer on a full-time basis after a strong 2023-24 campaign where he had 52 points in 72 games.
Finally, Arturs Silovs is set for a full-time role on the NHL roster this season after a strong performance during the Stanley Cup Playoffs while Thatcher Demko was injured. With Demko not at 100 percent health, there's a chance Silovs could be thrusted into the starting role once again, at least to start the season.
Do you think the Canucks' prospect pool should be ranked inside the top-15 in the National Hockey League? Let us know what you think in the poll below!
Source: Kevin Woodley/NHL.com
Top prospects for Vancouver Canucks
Top prospects for Vancouver Canucks
| POLL | ||
AOUT 30 | 158 ANSWERS NHL.com shares their ranking of the top-five Vancouver Canucks prospects Do you think the Canucks' prospect pool should be ranked inside the top-15 in the National Hockey League? | ||
| Yes | 97 | 61.4 % |
| No | 61 | 38.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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