A look at the top prospects of the Vancouver Canucks in the National Hockey League -NHL Special
Vancouver Canucks, which play in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL), heavily depend on their veterans and experienced players who have been serving them for a long time now.
Their main force is the pair of twin brothers Henrik and Daniel Sedin, who were selected by the team in 1999 NHL draft and have been serving since then. Daniel being Alternate Captain of the side and Henrik being Captain.
Along with both of them, there are experienced players like Ryan Kesler, Manny Malhotra, Kevin Bieksa but young players and prospects are the main organ of any side and they have to be picked and kept to keep the future of the team safe and for long term
planning.
Likewise there were young players at Vancouver Canucks organisation as well, on which they will be dependent someday and have to keep grooming them as well.
Here are the few top prospects mentioned below.
1. Brendan Gaunce
Selected 26th in the recently held 2012 NHL draft by Canucks, Gaunce is a Canadian forward who currently plays for Belleville Bulls in Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
At the age of just 18, 6-foot-2, 215 pounder has got huge physique, something that Vancouver’s director of player development liked about him as he said,
"He's already 210 pounds and his skating ability is higher than we expected”.
He also added,
“He has the ability to play a strong two-way game. He just needs time to develop now."
2. Nicklas Jensen
19-year-old left winger who currently plays for Chicago Wolves in American Hockey League (AHL), was selected 29th overall in the first round of the 2011 NHL draft.
The Danish forward played for Oshawa Generals of OHL before and had two good seasons, scoring 58 points in each. He also represented Denmark at the 2012 World Junior Championships.
Gagner also had good things to say about him as he praised his playing style and said,
"He's a power forward and likes to model his game after guys like (Jaromir) Jagr, who is one of his heroes. He likes to go one-on-one in the corners. He protects the puck and is very strong on the puck”.
3. Kevin Connauton
Kevin Connauton, a Canadian professional player, was picked up 83rd in the 3rd round of 2009 NHL draft but has improved a lot since then.
He played for Chicago Wolves in AHL last season and scored 13 goals, 20 assists for total of 33 points. 22-year-old also made into WHL’s West All-Star team in 2010 and AHL’s All-Star game in 2012.
Edmonton, Alberta born defenseman was hailed and praised by Gagner as best offensive defenseman as he said,
"He's (Connauton) probably our best offensive defenseman right now at the prospect level”.
4. Eddie Lack
Undoubtedly most experienced among all prospects, Lack is 24-year-old Swedish goaltender who currently plays for Chicago Wolves and might be very soon a part of Canucks team after Roberto Luongo exit.
At 6-foot-5, he is among tallest players and very suitable for goaltenders job as Gagner said about him,
"He's 6-foot-5, can play deep in the net because of his size, and has great reflexes”.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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