The Vancouver Canucks’ biggest need, both in the NHL and in their prospect pool, is at right defence.
Unfortunately, that need and their draft position in the first round didn’t line up. The best right-handed defencemen in the draft — Simon Nemec and David Jiříček — went second and sixth overall, long before the Canucks took the stage. If there was an opportunity to move up in the draft with a trade, the Canucks didn’t take it.
The Canucks maybe could have traded down to draft a right-handed defenceman but with Jonathan Lekkeramäki falling to 15th overall, the Canucks couldn’t resist picking the Swedish sniper.
But the Canucks could still potentially find a top-tier right-handed defenceman on day two of the draft.
I looked at the top-64 right-handed defencemen in the NHL by ice time with a minimum of 50 games played last season to give me a sample of players who are, theoretically, top-four defencemen.
Of those 64 players, 27 were first-round picks — 42.2%. That’s not surprising — 44.1% of all NHL players who appeared in at least 50 games last season were first-round picks — but that also means that over half of the top-four defencemen in the NHL were not picked in the first round.
20.3% were picked in the second-round, but after that, there’s a fairly even distribution: 6 third-round picks, 2 fourth-round picks, 3 fifth-round picks, 4 fifth-round picks, 4 seventh-round picks, and 5 undrafted.
To paraphrase Ratatouille, not everyone can become a top-four defenceman but a top-four defenceman can come from anywhere.
Adam Fox, Kris Letang, and Colton Parayko were third-round picks. John Klingberg was a fifth-round pick, Jared Spurgeon was a sixth-round pick, and Anton Stralman and MacKenzie Weegar were seventh-round picks. Chris Tanev went entirely undrafted.
All that is to say, the Canucks could find a legitimate top-four, right-handed defenceman outside of the first round. Without a second-round pick, of course, the Canucks would have to make a trade to grab anyone that they liked in the second round but that’s a possibility.
Let’s take a look at a few options.
1 | Mattias Hävelid - Linköping, SHL
There was a chance that Mattias Hävelid would get picked late in the first round, particularly after a dominant performance at the World Under-18 tournament with 12 points in 6 games. He was ranked as high as 26th by Elite Prospects and TSN’s Craig Button but he likely slipped because of his lean 5’10” frame without the high-end skating that smaller defencemen usually require in the NHL.
Hävelid had 19 points in 29 games in Sweden’s junior league and also spent 23 games playing against men in the SHL, though he didn’t manage any points. That’s still promising for a young teenager and when he returned to the junior team for the playoffs, he put up 10 points in 8 games.
With slick hands, good vision, and a bomb of a shot, Hävlid holds promise as an offensive defenceman but he can hold his own defensively, with a high work rate and willingness to play a physical game despite his smaller stature.
Even with just average skating, he’s outstanding on the breakout and in transition because of his vision and passing. With some working on his skating, Havelid could provide some real value in the NHL.
As an added bonus, Hävelid has a twin brother. That’s right, he’s a Swedish twin. Unfortunately, his brother, Hugo Hävelid, is a goaltender, so you can kiss goodbye to your dreams of a Swedish twin defence pairing patrolling the Canucks’ blue line.
If the Canucks want Havelid, however, they’ll need to find a way to add a second-round pick via trade.
2 | Noah Warren - Gatineau Olympiques, QMJHL
Noah Warren is a likely second-round pick, with some key numbers that will attract NHL teams: 6, 5, 225, and 17.
Warren’s got the size that NHL teams crave on the backend at 6’5” and 225 lbs. He’s also just 17 years old, as he doesn’t turn 18 until July 15.
To go with that size, Warren is a surprisingly nimble skater and that combination makes him a nightmare for opposing forwards to beat on the rush. Warren uses his skating to maintain great gap control, gets his stick on the puck with his reach, then eliminates the body with his strength.
The primary reason Warren isn’t a first-round pick is that he lacks much of an offensive game beyond a powerful shot from the point. There are flashes of skill in his game — the occasional piece of deception on the breakout, a nice pass or two — but he’s not a great puckhandler and has limited awareness and creativity with the puck.
That led to him putting up just 24 points in 62 games in the QMJHL. Even shutdown defencemen in the NHL need to be able to handle the puck and break it out of the defensive zone — if Warren struggles in that area, it will severely limit his upside.
That’s where the age comes in. If a scout can spot a glimmer of potential for him to develop his puck skills, Warren’s age gives him a bit more runway than an older prospect to get his skill up to speed. At the very least, with his size, skating, and defensive acumen, Warren is worth a shot in the second round if the Canucks can add a pick.
3 | Grayden Siepmann - Calgary Hitmen, WHL
If the Canucks can’t add a second-round pick, there are still some interesting players they could target. A heady puck-mover, Grayden Siepmann could be a sleeper pick in the back half of the draft.
Siepmann has several positive qualities to his game, from his shifty skating and excellent handles, but his best quality is the intelligence with which he uses those qualities. He’s deceptive on the breakout, faking out forecheckers with his eyes and stance before slipping passes to newly-open teammates.
While not too big at 5’11”, Siepmann is smart defensively, keeping a tight gap and angling opponents to the outside. Off the puck, he tracks his opponents well and disrupts passing and shooting lanes with an active stick.
The question with Siepmann is if there is more offence to be found, as he had just 25 points in 66 WHL Games. He’s got a strong enough shot that could be a weapon if he found more opportunities to use it. If he could be as creative and deceptive in the offensive zone as he is on the breakout, there might be a steal to be found here.
4 | Otto Salin - HIFK, Liiga
If not for a series of unfortunate injuries in his draft year, Otto Salin would like be a second-round pick. Thanks to those injuries, however, it’s more likely that he falls into the fourth round, where he would be a decent gamble for the Canucks.
Salin is a smooth skater with great handles, making him adept at transitioning the puck up ice. While only 5’11”, he’s a fire hydrant at 205 lbs, and can play a physical defensive game, using his smaller stature to get low for leverage in puck battles.
There are flashes of a strong two-way game with Salin, as he can jump up in the rush to create offence and has a strong shot, while also showing great anticipation defensively.
Taking a chance on Salin means betting that the player he was before the injuries is a better indication of his upside than who he was after. That’s a risk but potentially one worth taking.
5 | Sam Sedley - Owen Sound Attack, OHL
Late in the draft is where teams take fliers on players. Typically, a scout will go to bat hard for a particular player that they believe in even if other teams or public draft rankings are not as high on him.
Will anyone go to bat for Sam Sedley? Perhaps they should. While Sedley is in his second year of draft eligibility, he missed all of his draft when the OHL season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Sedley had 42 points in 64 games, which are good but not mindblowing numbers for a draft re-entry. It was, however, a lot more points than many OHL defencemen who were drafted last year, including second-round pick Artyom Grushnikov.
Sedley is a creative and intelligent player in the offensive zone.
“Sedley is one of the most fascinating prospects in hockey,” says his Elite Prospects scouting report. “In some viewings, he’s a modern hockey genius, using activation, manipulation, and puck skills to dissect entire teams shift-after-shift.”
He’s also effective in the defensive zone, using his intelligence to eliminate passing options, and he consistently angles puck-carriers into the least dangerous areas of the ice.
There are, however, some consistency issues for Sedley and some details that prevent him from making the most of his game. Combine with his small stature at 5’10” and already being 19, he’s sure to slip down the draft.
But late in the draft, it’s worth taking a chance on Sedley.
6 | Kent Anderson - Green Bay Gamblers, USHL
Several of the players in this list are undersized, but not Kent Anderson. The Albertan defenceman who spent last season in the USHL is 6’3” and 201 lbs and doesn’t shy away from the physical aspect of the game.
So, why is Anderson likely to be a late-round pick instead of going higher in the draft? It’s largely because he lacks an elite quality.
Anderson has a well-rounded game but scouts like to look for a standout ability in draft picks that they can build their potential NHL game around. It’s not that Anderson has glaring flaws in his game — he’s just good, but not great, at every aspect.
He’s a smooth skater, but lacks an explosive first step. He can walk the line in the offensive zone and has power in his shot, but he’s not super creative offensively. He can break out the puck with a good first pass but he’s not layering deception into his breakout game. He’ll jump into the rush from time to time, but he’s far more content to play a stay-at-home game.
Defensively, Anderson is solid, with the size and strength to win battles along the boards and in front of the net, but he doesn’t necessarily dictate the play of his opponents like some of the best defensive defenceman.
But maybe Anderson doesn’t need a standout quality to be a two-way, minute-munching defenceman in the NHL. With his well-rounded game, Anderson does a little bit of everything and plays in all situations. As he heads to the University of Denver, he’ll have time to further develop, get stronger, and perhaps find that extra gear necessary to become an NHL defenceman.
At the very least, with his size and all-around game, he’s worth a shot in one of the later rounds of the draft.
7 | Liam Steele - Stanstead College
Liam Steele is one of the most interesting prospects in the draft for me and it’s not just because he has an excellent name.
The 6’6” right-shot defenceman was born in Toronto but grew up playing hockey in England, representing Great Britain internationally. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Steele had to find somewhere else to play and came back to Canada to play hockey at Stanstead College in Quebec, a boarding school known for its varsity hockey program. Mark Jankowski is a notable alum.
Steele landed at 171st on Central Scouting’s list of North American players and could be a candidate to get picked in the 6th or 7th round by a team that likes his size and raw talent.
The talent is tantalizing. Steele has some legitimate high-end ability, with a creative approach every time he touches the puck. He has great vision and can make passes through layers of traffic, has a long, smooth skating stride that carries him around the ice with surprising speed, and he has soft hands for his size.
Some of the moves he makes are stunning to see from a 6’6” defenceman — dangles between his own legs to step around defenders, casual saucer passes over multiple sticks, toe-drags to split the defence on the rush. He also has a great release on his shot and he can pick corners to beat goaltenders from distance.
Steele loves to attack in the offensive zone and make something out of nothing, which probably stems from playing in British leagues where he was far-and-away the best player on the ice.
“f he grew up in Canada, a lot of his creativity through the way that we coach hockey over here would have been taken away,” said Matthew Thompson, his head coach at Stanstead. “But because he played over there and he was so good, he basically got to be a rover and just play with the puck because he always had the puck on his stick.”
The flip side is that Steele lacks a lot of the structure that would have been coached into his game over the years. His decision-making needs a lot of work because he won’t be able to pull off some of the things he attempts at higher levels against tough competition. There are times when he’s leading the rush or the forecheck that would have an NHL head coach pulling his hair out and he needs some work defensively too.
But if he’s coachable, can adapt his game, and learn to play with more control and structure, there could be a gem of a prospect in Steele.
He would be an especially intriguing target for the Canucks because he’s on his way to their backyard. He’s heading to the BCHL next season to play for the Chilliwack Chiefs, where the Canucks would be able to keep a close eye on his development.
