麻豆传媒映画

There's been a great deal of angst over the Canucks' closing window in recent seasons, and for good reason. For one thing, this team took us to the brink in 2011. We got a taste of near-success, , and we want more. But as time has worn on, and slowed some of the team's major players down a step, it's become clear that the Canucks are drifting further and further away from any cool new collectible patches.

Even worse, since the turn of the centry, this team has given us very little indication that they even know how to crack another window. In order to do that, the team would have to find and nurture a fresh crop of good young players, and drafting and development has not been this team's forte. No wonder we spent so much time fretting over the window -- it was the only window we could see, and no one likes a windowless room.

But suddenly, there is hope for this claustrophic fanbase. Since the arrival of Jim Benning, the Canucks have flipped some kind of switch. Now this whole drafting and developent thing looks pretty flipping easy.聽

In Benning's first draft, he selected Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann in the first round. They're already NHLers. That didn't take long at all! Then there's Bo Horvat, who made the team as a teenager last year, and blueliner Ben Hutton, who came out of seemingly nowhere to waltz right into the Canucks' defensive mix. Hutton, who has played 12 NHL games, is averaging 18 minutes a night for the Canucks. That was easy!

The Canucks have three rookies this season. The last time that happened was 1999, when the team rolled out Artem Chubarov, Steve Kariya, and Peter Schaefer. Two of those rookies are teenagers. The last time that happened was 1984, when the Canucks welcomed J.J. Daigneault and Cam Neely to the NHL. The Canucks have both of their top two picks in the lineup for only the fourth time in 16 years. It happened with the Sedin twins, the high-water mark of the Canucks draft, with Cory Schneider and Alex Edler in 2004, and with Luc Bourdon and Mason Raymond in 2005. These are incredibly rare accomplishments for this franchise, and the Canucks are doing them with a shrug this season.聽

Consider: In 2000, the Canucks selected seven players, and two of them -- Brandon Reid, Nathan Smith -- dressed as Canucks for a combined 17 NHL games. In 2001, only one of the top three picks played, and he saw 15 NHL games as a Canuck. It was Fedor Fedorov, known mostly around these parts for being punched out by the best player 麻豆传媒映画selected that year: fifth-round pick Kevin Bieksa. (That incident pretty well sums up the Canucks' drafting record for much of this century. The so-called can't-miss prospects miss, and the best we can hope for is a late-round miracle to help us cope and, ideally, deck the guy that disappointed us.)

The 2002 draft was another bust. The Canucks selected 11 prospects. One player, goaltender Rob McVicar, selected 151st overall in the fifth round, played one game in net for Vancouver.聽

In 2003, the Canucks showed signs of turning this around. They actually connected with their first swing, selecting Ryan Kesler, who did a lot for this team. And in 2004 the team had a nice day at the draft, selecting Cory Schnieder 26th overall in the first round, Alex Edler 91st overall in the third round and Jannik Hansen 287th overall in the ninth round. 2005's Luc Bourdon looked like a successful first-rounder as well until his untimely death in 2008, and second-rounder Mason Raymond, picked up int he next round at 51st overall, played 374 game for the Canucks.

Then the dark days returned. In the six drafts between 2006 and 2011, the Canucks picked 36 players. Of those, seven players dressed for a combined 202 games. Not a single draft pick from 2007 or 2010 has played an NHL game. By 2011, we began talking about the window, because what else were we going to talk about? Prospects? Please. The Canucks had none of which to speak.聽

But now the prospects are coming out of the woodworks. McCann and Virtanen? Instant success. Hutton? A top defensive rookie. There are others on the way. Cole Cassels looks bound for the bigs. Hunter Shinkaruk is suddenly a point per game player for the Utica Comets. Brock Boeser is lighting up the NCAA, as is Thatcher Demko.

The improvement has even been retroactive.聽The team converted Brendan Gaunce -- who looked, for a time, like another bust -- to the wing. He instantly became an NHLer.

The Canucks are suddenly churning out quality prospects by accident. Remember Anton Rodin, the 2009 second-rounder who left for Sweden two seasons ago? He's been good since returning to the SHL with Brynas, and as Canucks Army notes, there's evidence that he could be a decent NHLer. Here's聽

In the 101 games comprising his second tour of duty, R枚din is averaging .74 PPG. R枚din also averaged the 14th highest TOI/GP among forwards in the SHL last season - not far behind, of all people, Bill Sweatt. This upward trajectory is reflected in his PCS (Prospect Cohort Success) score, which projects R枚din as having a near 20% chance of NHL success. Some high-profile members of his cohort include Henrik Zetterberg and Branko Radivojevich.

'll take those odds more often than not and it's hard to not be encouraged by the comparable players within his production and stature based cohort. 聽

Now there's suddenly talk of Rodin making a return to North America -- Elliotte Friedman mentioned it in his latest edition of 30 Thoughts -- and the Canucks retain his rights. Can the Canucks make room for all of these prospects, and is that question not incredible, considering this team's drafting reputation even as recently as two years ago?

Since 2000, the Canucks have made drafting and development look incredibly difficult. Now they're making it look easy. It's weird.

With files from Megan Stewart