If you're coming back from holidays or getting yourself or your kids ready to start the new school year, this is probably a busy weekend of shopping and organizing, preparing to get back to the grind.
The same is true for hockey's top writers and insiders, who have started to emerge from their holiday hibernation with a few news tidbits. Expect to hear a lot more over the next few days as players start to gather for rookie camps and tournaments. Even if we don't see the that group of young RFAs start signing contracts, I imagine there will be a lot more chatter from all sides starting to bubble into the public sphere.
As you know, the Canucks won't be hosting a Young Stars tournament this year. The Flames and Oilers have elected to do their own thing in Alberta, and my understanding is that the Canucks will be hosting a rookie camp at Rogers Arena next weekend.
I think part of the reason why Vancouver has chosen to go this route is because so many of their top prospects are playing in Europe or college this season, and wouldn't be available for a rookie tournament. But remember the excitement that Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Dahlen generated last year in Penticton? Damn, that was fun.
Corey Pronman has been rolling out his rankings of NHL team's prospect pools at The Athletic, and he got to the Canucks on Monday at No. 5. That's a drop from No. 2 last year, but when you graduate a player like Pettersson — as well as Adam Gaudette, who he ranked No. 3 last year — your prospect pool is bound to take a bit of a hit.
This year, of course, Quinn Hughes is ranked No. 1 — he was actually Pronman's top Canucks prospect last year, too, ahead of Pettersson. Vasily Podkolzin ranks No. 2, then he has Thatcher Demko and Tyler Madden moving up, while Kole Lind makes a big drop — from No. 4 last year to No. 11 this season.
Pronman also hasn't given up on Olli Juolevi. While I certainly think this is a make-or-break season for the beleaguered defenseman, he moves from No. 5 up to No. 4 in Pronman's rankings.
Also on the prospect front, the Utica Comets website has rolled out an extensive three-part interview with coach Trent Cull, who's back for his third year behind the Comets' bench.
Is he teasing Loui Eriksson in Utica right off the bat? From his first answer in Part 1:
From the outside in and looking at Vancouver, they have a glut of forwards. Hopefully that turns into a glut of forwards for us. You might get an opportunity to see some players in Utica who, maybe, we wouldn’t normally see. So that could be a good thing for us.
Other highlights from Cull's interview:
• He thinks Reid Boucher is a high-end talent who has continued to improve and will get another real shot in the NHL. Now 25, Boucher's on a one-year, two-way contract that carries a minimum guaranteed salary of $500,000. Still, I can't imagine the Canucks having room for him on the big club; if he has a good camp, he may be a guy we need to watch on the waiver wire before the season begins.
• He cautions that while Olli Juolevi is expected to be ready for camp this year, he probably won't be at the top of his game right away. Cull cites Even McEneny as a model — he missed a huge chunk of the 2017-18 season due to injury and took till about Christmas to find his game last season.
• After last season, Cull is thrilled about this year's "goalie glut," but says at this point, he doesn't know who will play where. That could be one of the most intriguing battles to watch this year at prospect camp.
• When asked who he thinks will break out this season, Cull names Zack MacEwen.
"He brings a Tom Wilson-like quality to him. He’s a big, strong power forward and I know that is something that Vancouver doesn’t have a ton of and I think there’s a real opportunity for Zack moving forward."
I thought MacEwen showed well during his time with the Canucks last season; I fully expect he'll get another chance to show his stuff in Vancouver this year.
Cull mentions Adam Gaudette as someone he'd love to coach more this season after he spent most of his rookie year with the Canucks. He also shouts out his young defensemen — Ashton Sautner, Guillaume Brisebois and Jalen Chatfield, who took solid steps forward last year.
As far as Kole Lind and Jonah Gadjovich go, "I know (they) have done a ton of work on skating and getting better this summer. I still see that these guys can come back and be a big part of us moving forward."
I'm a little surprised that Lukas Jasek didn't get name-checked after a decent rookie year that saw him put up 29 points in 63 games.
Will things finally be different this year in Utica? In the past, it has seemed like there has been a push-pull situation where the coach has leaned heavily on his veteran players at the expense of offering development opportunities for the youngsters. The days of Kent Huskins anchoring the blue line are now in the rear-view mirror — as long as they stay reasonably healthy, the Comets are at a point where the youngsters should be taking on bigger roles, especially on the back end.
Looking at the team's stats from last year, it's incredible to see that the Comets used 19 different defensemen last season — and the one who played the most was 36-year-old Jaime Sifers, who dressed for 70 games before retiring at the end of the year.
Of course, some of that disruption also came from the Comets' blueliners being tapped to fill injury holes in Vancouver. Fourteen different defensemen dressed for the Canucks last year, including call-ups Alex Biega (41 games), Luke Schenn (18 games), Ashton Sautner (17 games) and Guillaume Brisebois (eight games).
Utica's defensive depth should also be helped by the college free agents who were signed by the Canucks at the end of last season: Brogan Rafferty, Josh Teves and Mitch Eliot.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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