But today, that all changes, because we were out at UBC at Father Bauer Arena watching the Canucks’ prospects up close. Here’s what we saw.
The goalkeepers
As expected, the goaltenders were some of the first players to take the ice, with Aku Koskenvuo and Ty Young starting to work with goaltending coach Ian Clark. Advertisement – Continue Reading Below Of course, I went down to the side they were working on and got the goods from what was being taught to the Canucks netminder prospects. First, Clark explained the rationale behind the three-stop system and went on to explain the shuffle technique used when the puck spins around the boards up to the blue line. Ty Young doing the shuffles pic.twitter.com/41dvaaCzzv — David Quadrelli (@QuadreIli) July 11, 2022 Ty Young impressed early on, as his willingness to learn new concepts from Clark and apply them immediately was evident. Advertisement – Continue Reading Below That’s always good to see from a young project goaltender, who later told CanucksArmy that he considers himself someone with a high work ethic. “That’s kind of I think one of the reasons I was looked at to get drafted and stuff like that was just because my coachability and my ethic to get better is pretty high. So my movement and technical stuff might not be the best at the moment, but I think my coaching ability is very good at the moment.” Those two goaltenders stayed on the ice as long as the defenseman was on the ice, facing shots. I was also very impressed with what I saw from Koskenvuo, who has committed to play for Harvard next season.
Defense
The first group was the defensemen, and the player that caught our attention the most was Jonathan Myrenberg, who the Canucks selected in the fifth round in last year’s draft. Myrenberg moved the puck well, and was bigger than we remember. Advertisement – Continue Reading Below Early on, the Swedish right-shot defender is high on the list of players to keep a close eye on this week. We also witnessed a heart-to-heart battle between Viktor Persson and new recruit Elias Pettersson. Viktor Persson vs Elias Pettersson pic.twitter.com/MDxFtQ7iDq — Chris Faber 🔥🎙 (@ChrisFaber39) July 11, 2022 Most of the drills the defense participated in revolved around puck movement and transition play, but there were a few battle drills in which Henrik Sedin would dribble between two defenders to battle for possession. The #Canucks appear to be trying to find the next Alex Burrows at development camp pic.twitter.com/DiWsJuOJkN — David Quadrelli (@QuadreIli) July 11, 2022 “They’re icons in Sweden and around the world,” Elias Pettersson — who said today that he wants his name to be pronounced uh-LYE-uss — said when asked what it was like working with the Sedins. Advertisement – Continue Reading Below Pettersson was also briefed by the media on what the Grouse Grind is, as Ryan Johnson informed us a while back that the Canucks development camp week would include a run up the Grind. “Yes, I heard that, but I don’t know exactly what we’re going to do—I think we’re going to go up a hill?” Peterson was quickly informed that there wouldn’t be much walking.
Both Teams
After the defense was out for about an hour, they joined the forwards, and there we saw a lot more, including – but certainly not limited to – our first look at Jonathan Lekkerimäki on the ice. First look at Jonathan Lekkerimäki in Canucks colours. pic.twitter.com/tPtmsUOWVr — Chris Faber 🔥🎙 (@ChrisFaber39) July 11, 2022 Advertisement – Continue Reading Below It was immediately apparent that Lekkerimäki is small in stature, but the traits that landed him in the top ten of most draft boards were apparent almost immediately. He moves well and has an undeniable wrist shot cannon. There was also a moment where Arturs Silovs wasn’t too happy about Linus Karlsson digging up a rebound. Linus Karlsson with the rush and a little hit on Arturs Silovs. Danila Klimovich gives him a little push after the game. Exercises are starting to get into a good rhythm here. pic.twitter.com/66tvx2juMT — Chris Faber 🔥🎙 (@ChrisFaber39) July 11, 2022 Another player who shined when the second team took the ice was the aforementioned Elias Pettersson. His wrist shot looked good and he looked bigger than most prospects out there. Pettersson told the media that the draft in Montreal was his first time in Canada and that he thinks Vancouver is a beautiful city so far. Advertisement – Continue Reading Below Who do you want us to keep a close eye on this week in development camp? Let us know in the comments section below! Faber and I recapped more from day one in the video below:
