Many Canucks fans are disappointed in the results of the trade deadline, which is understandable. The main source of optimism has been the Canucks’ improved prospect pool, largely because of their work at the draft, so coming out of the deadline without any additional draft picks is a letdown.
That disappointment shouldn’t be taken out on the players coming back in the two trades they made, however. Whether or not you think acquiring them was a good idea, Brendan Leipsic and Tyler Motte are now Vancouver Canucks, as is, for the time being, Jussi Jokinen.
It’s certainly not the fault of Brendan Leipsic and Tyler Motte that they are not draft picks. Both are talented hockey players who have made the NHL and are likely eager to make an impression on their new team and become key parts of the Canucks’ young core.
It was interesting to note that Jim Benning, in his post-deadline press conference, talked about how the Canucks’ scouts have been following both Leipsic and Motte for some time.
“Tyler Motte is a player our group has followed since he’s played with the US national team, through college hockey, and then, you know, as a pro,” said Benning, and he echoed those thoughts in regards to Leipsic.
“We’ve followed him for a while, from as a junior playing in Portland to, you know, as a pro playing in Toronto, all of our pro scouts have seen him play lots, to Brett Henning, whose seen him play lots this year in Las Vegas, he’s a guy that we think is going to add speed, skill, quickness to our forward group that we, quite honestly, we need.”
Motte and Leipsic did see considerable success in junior and college hockey. The pair were once promising prospects, with the type of post-draft success that gets fans excited for the future. The question is how relevant that success at lower levels is to who they are currently and who they will become.
In Leipsic’s draft year, he had solid, but not spectacular numbers. He put up 28 goals and 58 points in 65 WHL games, finishing sixth on the Portland Winterhawks in scoring, behind the likes of Sven Baertschi and Derrick Pouliot. But his clearly evident speed, skill, and agitating style were enough for the Nashville Predators to overlook his 5’9” stature and draft him in the third round of the 2012 draft.
They were rewarded with a monstrous draft+1 season, as Leipsic exploded for 49 goals and 120 points in 68 games, tying for the league lead in scoring with his teammate, fellow 5’9” forward Nic Petan. Along with Ty Rattie, who finished third in league scoring with 110 points, that duo dominated the WHL that season.
Leipsic continued to roll through one more year in Junior (39 goals and 91 points in 60 games), then adapted quickly to the faster-paced and more physical AHL, putting up 14 goals and 54 points in 74 games during a rookie season he split between the Milwaukee Admirals and Toronto Marlies after a mid-season trade to the Maple Leafs organization.
In two more season with the Marlies, Leipsic thrived as one of their leading scorers, racking up 105 points in 114 AHL games. There was just no room on the Leafs for Leipsic and they left him unprotected in the expansion draft, where he was taken by the Vegas Golden Knights.
Leipsic made the Knights out of training camp and has spent the entire 2017-18 season in the NHL. He hasn’t made quite as quick a transition to the NHL as he did to the AHL and wasn’t able to take advantage of some early opportunity to produce on a newly-formed team.
This season, Leipsic has averaged 11:55 in ice time with the Knights and has just two goals and 13 points in 44 games. His underlying numbers aren’t great either: his 48.62% corsi is better than just Cody Eakin and David Perron among Knights forwards.
No one would call this season a disappointment for Leipsic — he made the NHL and was an everyday player for one of the best teams in the league — but is he a fourth-liner, like he was in Vegas, or does he have the potential for more? How much should we weigh how he has played this season against how he played in previous seasons at lower levels?
In other words, should we still treat Leipsic, who turns 24 in three months, like a prospect?
The same questions can be raised about Tyler Motte, who turns 23 in less than two weeks. Motte was a fourth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks in 2013 after a solid season with the US National Team Development Program and a point-per-game performance at the Under-18 World Championship.
Compared to Leipsic, it took a little longer for Motte to really break out, likely because he jumped straight to the tougher world of college hockey. His freshman season was decent and his sophomore season showed good development, but he was a true standout in his junior season with the University of Michigan.
That year, Motte scored 32 goals and 56 points in 38 games, finishing fourth in NCAA scoring behind none other than Brock Boeser. He was ahead of Boeser, actually, in both goals and points-per-game. Of course, Motte was 20 at the time and Boeser was 18, but no one is expecting Motte to be as good as Boeser.
There is one red flag about his breakout season, however. He did it while playing on a line with Kyle Connor and J.T. Compher. The trio were known as the CCM line and they were the best line in college hockey. On top of that, they had Zach Werenski on the blue line.
Connor is now a first-line forward with the Winnipeg Jets and has 22 goals and 40 points in 56 games this season. Compher is on the second line with the Colorado Avalanche, with 11 goals and 20 points in 49 games. And Werenski is on the top pairing with the Columbus Blue Jackets and is fourth among NHL defencemen in goalscoring. His 47-point rookie season announced his arrival as one of the best young defencemen in the NHL.
It’s fair to question just how much of Motte’s success in his junior year was from his own ability and how much was driven by playing with three of the top players in the NCAA that season.
With that in mind, his path post-college becomes more understandable. He struggled in his first professional season, putting up 10 goals and 16 points in 43 AHL games and 7 points in 33 NHL games. During the summer, he got traded to the Blue Jackets.
This season, Motte has bounced between the NHL, where he’s averaged less than ten minutes per game, and the AHL, where he’s seen some improvement. While he has 11 points in 17 AHL games this season, 9 of those points are goals.
Motte has soft hands and good finish around the net, which helps explain his gaudy goal totals in his junior year, but it’s sometimes tough for goalscorers at lower levels to find the same opportunities at the NHL level.
On the fourth line with the Blue Jackets, Motte has chipped in 5 points in 31 games, while putting up similarly underwhelming underlying numbers as Leipsic. His 47.10% corsi is better than just Boone Jenner and Markus Hannikainen among Blue Jackets forwards.
So again, how much should we weight Motte’s college success against his current performance? Is he a fourth-liner like he was in Columbus or is their potential for something more? Is Tyler Motte still a prospect from whom we should expect further growth and development?
More importantly, will either Leipsic or Motte become core components in the Canucks’ plans for the future?
