The purpose of a prospect development camp is exactly what it says on the tin: develop prospects. The on-ice and off-ice sessions, team-building activities, and community events are all aimed at teaching a prospect what it means to be a Canucks and giving him tools to take away and get better over the summer.
But there’s a secondary purpose to a prospect development camp and that is scouting. Each of the unsigned and undrafted invitees to camp have been previously scouted by the Canucks—they wouldn’t have been invited otherwise—but seeing them up close, watching how they respond to coaching, and observing how they compare to the prospects already in the Canucks system has a lot of value and helps determine whether they will get a contract offer.
We’ve already looked at the ten invitee forwards at camp. Now, as camp comes to a close, here are the final five invitees from this year: three defencemen from the QMJHL and two goaltenders from the WHL.
– Defence
6’1″ – 198 lbs – August 10, 1996 (19)
Sherbrooke, QC
Drummondville Voltigeurs (67-7-34-41)
A teammate of fellow invitee Michael Carcone, who is , Frederic Aube is himself an intriguing prospect. The right-shooting rearguard led all Voltigeurs’ defencemen in scoring by a wide margin with 7 goals and 41 points in 67 games. He got off to a blazing start this past season, putting up nine points in his first five games but, unsurprisingly, couldn’t maintain that pace.
His 41 points were good for 13th in the QMJHL among defencemen, but he was also near the top of the league in another statistic: penalty minutes, where he was 8th among QMJHL defencemen with 103. Combining 40+ points and 100+ penalty minutes is somewhat of a rarity for a defenceman and it’s been a part of his game for a while, posting 104 penalty minutes in 2014-15 and 93 while playing for Stanstead College.
What penalty minutes mean can vary of course. It could mean he plays with an edge, picking up roughing, boarding, and elbowing penalties, but it could also mean he gets beat often defensively and he has to resort to hooking, tripping, and holding to prevent scoring chances. Or potentially a combo platter of both.
When he was with Stanstead College, a “physical and tenacious defender with excellent skating ability.” It’s concerning that his offence didn’t show up until his 19-year-old season and I wonder if he’ll return to Drummondville as an over-ager and try to garner further NHL interest with an even better year.
He’s also reportedly an excellent student and as Scholastic Player of the Year in the QMJHL, an award he lost to fellow invitee Alexis D’Aoust.
– Defence
6’1″ – 203 lbs – May 22, 1997 (19)
Montreal, QC
Val d’Or Foreurs (56-9-28-37)
Olivier Galipeau captained the Foreurs this past season and also led their defencemen in scoring, putting up 9 goals and 37 points in 56 regular season game. More impressively, he led the entire team in scoring in the playoffs, scoring one goal and nine points in just six games.
Teams tend to like a player that produces in the playoffs, but Galipeau had scouts attention well before that. Galipeau was ranked as high as 59th by Central Scouting among North American skaters heading into the 2015 draft, but fell to 142nd in the final rankings when his offence didn’t materialize.
He improved his offence this season, but he’s still known more for his physical defensive game. , with praising his passing and his ability to make simple, smart decisions and play a calm, smooth game, something that not all physical defenders can manage. While his skating was previously an issue, Future Considerations describes him as a “good skater with decent footspeed.”
Future Considerations ranked him 151st overall for this year’s draft despite his age. Galipeau’s strengths are mostly in his own end: “Galipeau plays a solid shutdown game in his own end, using his strength and stick to force players wide and eliminate players along the boards. He makes smart reads and isn't overly aggressive with his positioning.”
They suggest Galipeau has potential as a middle-pairing defenceman. If the Canucks agree, they might add him to a system that could use another young right-shooting defenceman.
– Defence
6’4″ – 215 lbs – March 1, 1995 (21)
Quebec, QC
Moncton Wildcats (45-3-11-14)
Had Jacob Sweeney been invited to Canucks camp a year ago, there might have been some excitement. Sweeney, a big, physical, stay-at-home defenceman had found some offensive flair, scoring 17 goals and 46 points in 66 games in 2014-15, then adding 5 more goals and 16 points in 16 playoff games.
That was enough to tie Sweeney for the league-lead in goalscoring from a defenceman and for ninth in points. Even if it was two years removed from his first draft-eligible season, that kind of production from a defenceman with his size was sure to get some attention and .
Sweeney took a big step back in his over-age year, however, scoring just three goals and 14 points in 45 games and was held to just three points, all assists, in 11 playoff games. Now he’s made a commitment to play for the University of Ottawa in the CIS, the death knell of many a hockey career.
Just what the heck happened?
A quick peek at his shooting percentage season-by-season is pretty revealing. In 2013-14, when he score 3 goals, his shooting percentage was 2.9%. In 2014-15, when he scored 17 goals, it was 14.4%. Then it dropped back down to 3.9% this past season: 3 goals.
In addition, a whopping 15 of his 17 goals in 2014-15 were scored on the power play, as were 3 of his 5 goals in the playoffs. That is simply stunning and not in a good way. His production in that season was about as unsustainable as it gets.
McKeen’s scouting reports from 2013 suggest both positives and negatives to his game: he’s got excellent size and uses it to be patient in the defensive zone and use his reach to disrupt opponents. But he’s not a great skate and doesn’t distribute the puck well. He does have a heavy shot, a likely source of his power play goals.
With limited points in his over-age season, it’s hard to get excited about Sweeney, but with his size, he may still get a professional contract somewhere and forestall his CIS career.
– Goaltender
5’11″ – 175 lbs – January 1, 1998 (18)
Selkirk, MB
Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Giants
The Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»Giants were, to put it bluntly, very bad this past season. It’s hard to know just how much of the blame for that season lies at the feet of young goaltender Ryan Kubic, who posed an .898 save percentage and 3.31 goals against average, but I’m going to wager “not that much.”
It’s tough for a 17-year-old to suddenly step in and play 50 games in the WHL and even moreso for a team that struggled as much as the Giants.
Still, Kubic’s numbers don’t inspire confidence, particularly the numbers listed next to his height. Kubic is listed on the development camp roster at 5’11”, but as 5’10” everywhere else. That’s a tough obstacle for a goaltender to overcome. There are 5’10” and 5’11” goaltenders in the NHL, but they are a rare breed: Jhonas Enroth and Jaroslav Halak were the only two to play more than 10 games last season.
It wasn’t long ago that Kubic was well-regarded, however, as he was the second goaltender picked in the 2013 WHL draft and has received some attention from Hockey Canada in the past. It’s possible that he could see a lot of improvement next season, particularly if the Giants can ice a better team in front of him.
There are positive signs, like the Giants record shutout streak Kubic put up this season, . Could Kubic make the most of his potential? Perhaps, but there’s little reason to sign him now.
– Goaltender
6’1″ – 189 lbs – November 16, 1996 (19)
Saskatoon, SK
Prince Albert Raiders
Rylan Parenteau is already a national champion, , where he was named the Top Goaltender. Parenteau has MĂ©tis heritage and , an aboriginal hockey tournament that draws former NHLers and current professional players in Europe, for the past two years.
This past season, Parenteau was one of the best goaltenders in the WHL, putting up a .913 save percentage, good for 10th in the league, and a 2.82 goals against average.
Parenteau is known for his work ethic, named not just the Raiders’ Hardest Working Player but also winning the after a fan poll.
After his strong season, Parenteau was . It’s a weirdly specific honour: not the CHL as a whole, but the WHL. And not the WHL as a whole, but the Eastern Conference. So he was the second best goaltender in half of one-third of the CHL. Still, pretty good.
A had Parenteau ranked 75th among WHL players, describing him as “athletic” and noting he “plays with very good balance and explosiveness in the crease.” His quickness and flexibility are his best assets and he also has a good glove hand.
The main concern for Parenteau is size. While he’s not as small as Kubic, he can sometimes make himself smaller in net than he should. Getting a chance to work with Dan Cloutier at camp, who’s about the same size and knows a thing or two about battling through screens, can only help.Â
