Thanks to Monday's Labour Day holiday, I've been having some trouble keeping track of what day of the week it is. That's OK, because I was pretty gleeful once I did the math this morning and realized that we're just one day away from the first game of the Canucks' 2018 Young Stars Classic.
The exodus to Penticton has already begun.
Without the Oilers and Flames prospects in the mix, the baby Canucks will play just two games instead of three this year, but what a shift we've seen over the last few years in terms of the roster that Vancouver is bringing to this event. In 2015, for instance, the Oilers' roster was headlined by Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Darnell Nurse while the Jets brought Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Morrissey and Connor Hellebuyck. The Canucks countered with Jake Virtanen, Jared McCann and Ben Hutton—which is a perfect excuse to revisit my favourite Young Stars clip of all time.
This year, the Canucks are coming in hot.
Ben Kuzma of
The Province had no trouble going 10 deep on his list of players to watch—headlined, of course, by Elias Pettersson, Jonathan Dahlen and Olli Juolevi.
Kuzma included some interesting quotes in this article, too.
• Canucks director of player development Ryan Johnson on Dahlen's bumpy start to last season: "He came to Utica and played a couple of exhibition games and got completely humbled to the point where it was a hard conversation for me to have with him. He said: ‘I’m not ready for this.’ So we set up a plan.
• Canucks general manager Jim Benning on Juolevi: "Sami Salo (Turku assistant) thought in the second half that Juolevi was one of their better players and in the playoffs their best player. He played less and was in the weight room three times a week. He got bigger and stronger without losing his speed."
• Kole Lind on his six games with Utica at the end of last season: "I don’t think you can really prepare until you get there (AHL). It’s a faster game and was a huge step for me. There are things I have to fix in my game and that didn’t come much in the minors. I have to push the pace as much as I can."
• Benning's scouting report on Lukas Jasek: "He kind of reminds me a little bit of Michael Grabner as a kid. I think he’s going to be a bottom-six forward and has a chance to be a third-line guy. He’s relentless in his work."
• Jonah Gadjovich on the injury he suffered during the OHL playoffs which prevented him from getting some AHL games: "I tweaked it (wrist) against the Soo. It was just an awkward play and it damaged something, but it’s not serious. That’s why I didn’t play in Utica, but I took notes."
• Windsor Spitfires coach Trevor Letowski on Michael DiPietro: "No one works harder or is more dedicated. He’s the leader of our team. He cares about his teammates, his community and doing things the right way."
• Jett Woo on his experience at the World Junior Showcase in Kamloops: "The one thing that I wanted to make happen is to play my game as well as learn as much as I could and I believe I accomplished that."
Over on the Jets' side,
click here for a peek at the roster they're bringing to Penticton, which is very short on 2018 draft picks. After all those years of building their prospect pool, the Jets' situation has shifted as they've moved into win-now mode.
Winnipeg didn't have a first-round pick or a fourth-round pick in this summer's draft thanks to a pair of trade-deadline deals (Paul Stastny and Joe Morrow, respectively). Their second-round pick, center David Gustafsson, didn't make the trip over from Sweden and their third-round pick, Nathan Smith, is a USHL kid who's committed to Minnesota State-Mankato next season, so he won't be in Penticton either. The Jets' top 2018 prospect in the tournament will be defenseman Declan Chisholm, who was chosen in the fifth round, 150th overall.
Winnipeg's roster is headlined by 2017 first-rounder Kristian Vesalainen, who just signed his entry-level deal with the team and is aiming to crack the main roster now that he has come over from Finland. Hulking defenseman Logan Stanley, drafted 18th overall in 2016, is also in the mix.
The Canucks' first game against the Jets goes Friday at 7:30 p.m PT, with Game 2 on Sunday at 2 p.m. PT. Here's the latest on where you'll be able to find the livestream.
Speaking of prospects and streaming—the ones in Utica will be much easier to watch this season thanks to a revamped set of streaming options for AHL games.
Good on the league for taking big steps to improve an offering that, in the past, has been prohibitively expensive and not-very-good quality.
The new AHL TV is promising better-quality broadcasts—and that part remains to be seen—but they're also offering single-day passes for just US$6.99, which should give interested fans a chance to sample the new product before deciding whether to make a bigger commitment. It doesn't look like there are any early-bird pricing offers, so the best plan may be to wait and see what other early adopters have to say about their experiences.
The most attractive packages are the full-season deals: US$59.99 for a single team or $US79.99 for the full league package.
I was hoping to follow the Comets more closely this year. I hope the reports come back positive and AHL TV lives up to expectations!
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