When it comes to the Canucks’ youth, there’s a lot to get excited about right now. Jared McCann leads the Canucks in goal-scoring and Jake Virtanen leads the Canucks in hits and they’re both just 19. Meanwhile, Ben Hutton leads all Canucks defencemen in scoring and is averaging over 18 minutes per game.
Meanwhile, the Canucks’ prospects outside the NHL have been making waves (which makes me question the quality of the ice surfaces they’re playing on). Two forward prospects picked up hattricks, while their top goaltending prospect is on an impressive shutout streak. We’ll touch on those three players and more in this edition of The Prospector.
Hunter Shinkaruk tallies hattrick, leads Utica
Shinkaruk had a mediocre start to his AHL career last season, putting up 31 points in 74 games, a bit of a disappointment after his gaudy numbers in the WHL. He was coming off a major surgery and a season lost to injury and it showed, with the bulk of his points coming in a strong push at the end of the season.
This year, however, he’s off to a great start, leading the Comets with a point-per-game pace through 5 games. Three of those points were goals in a single game against Rochester:
Sidenote: check out the pass from Nicklas Jensen on that third goal. Wonderful.
What I love about this hattrick is that each goal features a different skill. The first goal is all about Shinkaruk’s skating, as he busts over the line and splits the defence before they even realize he’s there. The second is a gorgeous unstoppable wristshot placed perfectly in the top corner. The third is all hands, as he takes that hard pass from Jensen and tucks it neatly around the goaltender.
This is exactly the type of performance the Canucks were hoping for out of Shinkaruk this season. It might be a while before he gets called up to the Canucks -- they’ll want to see consistency -- but he’s looked good so far.
Brock Boeser scores first NCAA goal, then two more in the same game
Boeser’s hattrick is a little bit less impressive than Shinkaruk’s, as he had a lot of help from the undrafted, undersized, and possibly undead lord of all vampires, Drake Caggiula. Still, a hattrick is a hattrick and it's neat that he netted his first NCAA goal and his first NCAA hattrick in the same game.
The first goal is clearly the most impressive for Boeser, as he collects his own rebound, goes around the net, then picks a corner with his wristshot. He picks up his second of the night cleaning up a Caggiula rebound in front of an open net, then finishes off the hattrick into a literally empty net after a great play by Caggiula along the boards.
Seriously, check out that play by Caggiula: his size didn’t prevent him from outmuscling his man, then kicking the puck up to his stick behind his own leg. That is just plain nifty. Caggiula has garnered some NHL attention and the Canucks might take notice with him playing on Boeser’s line.
The hattrick was the start of a three-game point streak for Boeser, who now has a point-per-game pace: 6 points in 6 games, making him the top-scoring 18-year-old in the NCAA. He’s also averaging more than 4 shots per game.
If he can keep that going, it will be an incredibly impressive freshman year. Can he do it? If his other goal this season is any indication, goaltenders are going to have a hell of a time trying to stop him:
Thatcher Demko’s shutout hattrick
Speaking of a goaltender having a hell of a time, Thatcher Demko is just ridiculous right now. He has a .974 save percentage through five games and a 0.60 goals against average. He leads all NCAA goalies in GAA and is right behind the leader in save percentage, 19-year-old freshman Evan Weninger, who has played in two fewer games.
Demko also leads the league in shutouts with three, all in his last three games. The last goalie to put up three-straight shutouts for Boston College, which you might know if you follow anyone in the Canucks world on Twitter, was Cory Schneider.
Making this all the more impressive is that Demko is coming off hip surgery, albeit a surgery that is becoming more and more common among elite goaltenders.
Joe Cannata posts first career AHL shutout
Let’s face it: any goaltending performance will be overshadowed by three consecutive shutouts, but Cannata should not be overlooked. With the AHL crease finally clear, Cannata is making the most of his opportunity after a strong season in the ECHL last year.
While the Comets haven’t provided him much goal support, Cannata has been doing everything he can to keep them in games. His .940 save percentage is 3rd among AHL goalies with at least 3 games played, while his 1.42 GAA is 2nd, behind only Peter Budaj. Cannata is beginning to look like a solid part of the Canucks’ goaltending depth.
The Comets finally gave him some goals to work with against the Syracuse Crunch, scoring 4 times, but Cannata didn’t need them, putting up a 30-save shutout, the first of his AHL career. You can see a couple of those saves in the highlight video from the game, though the real highlight is the Comets’ sharp new green jerseys.
Carl Neill racks up assists in the Q
The top-scoring prospect in the Canucks system according to raw production isn’t Shinkaruk or Boeser or even a forward. It’s actually 19-year-old defenceman Carl Neill, who is having a great start to his post-draft season, even if his team is pretty terrible.
Neill, the captain of the Sherbrooke Phoenix, is on a 7-game point streak and has put up 12 points in 13 games, tied for 8th in scoring from defencemen in the QMJHL. Just two of those points are goals, giving him 10 assists on the season. You can see one of his goals at 30 seconds in this highlight video.
Of course, scoring isn’t the problem for the Phoenix, who have plenty of talent in that regard. It’s goal-prevention that’s the issue. As much as plus/minus is a flawed stat, it’s still worth noting that Neill leads his team with a plus-4 rating, while his team’s leading scorer, Guillaume Gauthier, is currently minus-16.
Jordan Subban and Nicklas Jensen off to strong start in Utica
Subban has been a healthy scratch a couple times in the early going in Utica, as the Comets have a glut of defencemen, but it’s hard to imagine he’ll see much of the press box during the rest of his rookie season. He has three assists in three games to start his professional career, which is hard to ignore. While he doesn't have any goals yet, his heavy shot from the point and willingness to jump up in the rush should change that very soon.
Meanwhile, the much-maligned Nicklas Jensen has earned praise from Utica GM Pat Conacher and is second on the Comets in scoring with three points in five games.
It may not be much, but it also isn’t nothing. Jensen’s biggest issue, in my opinion, has been consistency. He’s likely to get a serious opportunity in Utica this season given how young the team is this year and he’ll need to take full advantage of it or it might be his last opportunity with the Canucks.
