I found Matt Brassard!
I was stumped by his absence from the Vancouver Canucks' 2018 Young Stars roster, and surprised that his name also didn't appear on the early-season roster for the OHL's Oshawa Generals, where he put up 51 points and was named the team's defenseman of the year for 2017-18.
According to
Brian McNair of Oshawa This Week, Brassard is indeed dealing with an injury. McNair doesn't have details on the ailment, but says that Brassard is expected back in the Oshawa lineup in October, and will be relied upon as a blue-line anchor for the Generals this season.
Chosen in the seventh round, 188th overall, by the Canucks in 2017, Brassard took a big step forward last season. He turned 20 in August, so was drafted in his second year of eligibility even though he's only two months older than Jonah Gadjovich, who will be 20 in October.
Vancouver has not yet signed Brassard, but will retain his rights until June 1, 2019.
It's too bad he won't get the chance to play in front of the Canucks brass at Young Stars and training camp after making his debut in 2017. Here's a look at the players who will be returning in 2018:
RETURNEES:
• Jonah Gadjovich - Drafted 55th by the Canucks in 2017 with the pick the team received as compensation when John Tortorella joined the Columbus Blue Jackets, Gadjovich made his Young Stars debut with Vancouver last season. The big power forward won a gold medal with Team Canada at the World Junior Championship in Buffalo and served as an alternate captain with the OHL's Owen Sound Attack, where he had 48 points in 42 games and four points in nine playoff games.
Gadjovich plays a physical style, but injuries have been an issue for him. He'll turn 20 on October 12 and is expected to start the season in Utica.
• Kole Lind - Despite a mid-season bout of mono that spoiled his chances of being named to Canada's World Junior team, Kole Lind killed it with the Kelowna Rockets last season, putting up 39 goals and 95 points in just 58 games—tops on his team and 11th in the entire WHL.
Drafted 33rd by the Canucks, Lind signed his entry-level contract with the Canucks on March 1 and finished up his year with the Utica Comets, where he had one assist in six regular-season games.
• Zack MacEwen - Signed as a free agent out of the QMJHL in 2017, the 6'4" centre proved that he could handle himself in the pros. I also find it terribly endearing that his mom retweeted this article about his career progress that ran in his home province of PEI.
With 10 goals and 33 points in 66 games, MacEwen was a mainstay on a Comets team that saw a ton of roster turnover last season. He was also named the team's most-improved rookie. At 6'4" and 212 pounds, he's one of the Canucks' biggest prospects. It'll be interesting to see how he fares with more skilled teammates in Utica this year.
MacEwen is another under-the-radar acquisition by the Canucks who is turning out to have real potential.
• Guillaume Brisebois - Drafted with the 66th pick that the Canucks acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Eddie Lack in 2015, Brisebois had a quiet debut as a pro with three goals and 18 points in Utica last season. Jim Benning has name-checked him often when talking about Vancouver's blue-line prospects but so far, he has shown himself to be strictly a defensive defenseman and was bumped down the depth chart when Quinn Hughes and Jett Woo came on the scene this summer.
Brisebois turned 21 in July, so there's no rush to make a decision on him. He has two years left on his entry-level deal and remains waiver exempt for two more seasons, so he'll continue his development in Utica this year.
Brisebois might want to think about buying a time share in Penticton. This will be his fourth Young Stars tournament.
• Jalen Chatfield - Another free-agent signing, I always link Zack MacEwen and Jalen Chatfield in my head. After he was signed in March of 2017, Chatfield won a Memorial Cup alongside Michael DiPietro and the Windsor Spitfires before joining the Comets for the 2017-18 season.
When Ed Willes of The Province took a look at the Comets during their playoff series against the Toronto Marlies last spring, he called Chatfield the "most intriguing" defenseman on the Utica roster.
"He isn’t the slickest puckhandler, but he’s adequate in that department and plays a fast, hard game,
Willes wrote. "In his first year of pro he was also playing top-pairing minutes against the Toronto Marlies. We’ll likely see him for games in Vancouver next season."
Like MacEwen, Chatfield was able to take advantage of the Comets' many injuries and NHL call-ups to move up the team's depth chart. I liked what I saw of him in Penticton last year and will be interested to see how much he has improved this season.
• Olli Juolevi - The good news here is that Juolevi's on the Young Stars roster, which means he's ready to go after his offseason back surgery. This will be the third visit to Penticton for the 20-year-old, who was selected fifth overall in 2016.
The impatience with Juolevi's development comes from the fact that he seemed to peak in his draft year, winning the gold medal at the 2016 World Junior Championship as a 17-year-old and the 2016 OHL title and Memorial Cup with the London Knights. It's also hard to wait while players drafted after him, including defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Jakob Chychrun, have already successfully made the jump to the NHL.
But Juolevi was a young player in his draft year—born in May—and he reportedly made good progress last season with Turku in Finland.
With Quinn Hughes off the radar for the moment thanks to his decision to return to college, Juolevi is the defenseman that fans will be hoping can make the jump to the Canucks' roster this season.
• Michael DiPietro - Making his second appearance in Penticton after being drafted 64th by the Canucks in 2017, the affable netminder will be carrying the lion's share of the workload now that Thatcher Demko has graduated out of the Young Stars level.
DiPietro had an outstanding third season in Windsor last year, where he was named the OHL Goaltender of the Year, then capped off his season with a trip to Denmark as the practice goalie for Team Canada at the World Championship. DiPietro turned 19 in June. He'll be back in Windsor for a fourth season and is Canada's presumptive No. 1 for the World Junior Championship in Vancouver this Christmas.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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