I expected the Canucks to address their needs on defence, both in the NHL and in their system, this off-season. I just didn’t expect it to happen like this.

I thought the Canucks would take a forward in the first round, then draft a top-end defenceman with their second round pick. Instead, that second round pick went to Florida as part of the deal for Erik Gudbranson, and Columbus took the Canucks’ likely first-round target Pierre-Luc Dubois third overall, leaving the Canucks with Olli Juolevi.

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Juolevi is a great addition to the Canucks’ depth on defence, but Jim Benning wasn’t done, taking Cole Candella in the fifth round.

Getting Candella with the 140th pick is a shrewd pick by Benning, as the blueliner has the skill and ability to have been a much higher pick, but slipped down the draft after a wrist injury limited him to just 37 games last season.

In those 37 games, Candella had 4 goals and 20 points, putting him sixth overall in points-per-game among first-time draft-eligible defencemen in the OHL. The question is, what would the second half of his season have looked like?

Would Candella have kept up the production, getting him near 40 points on the season? Would he have fallen off as the season progressed? Would he have improved? Many prospects rocketed up the draft rankings with a strong second half, while others hurt their draft stock when they regressed.

Based on his performance over half a season, however, there’s plenty of reasons to be optimistic about Candella and grateful that his injury allowed him to slip to where the Canucks could grab him.

Like Juolevi, Candella played in every situation for the Hamilton Bulldogs, stepping into a major role when captain Justin Lemcke broke his leg early in the season. Lemcke, incidentally, was an invitee to the Canucks development camp last year and I have to wonder if they’ll invite him again to get another look at him post-injury.

Future Considerations, who had him ranked 99th overall, describes Candella as a “strong-skating, smart, two-way blueliner” and praises his ability to transition the puck up ice, whether with his skating or passing. They also praise his awareness and positioning, as well as his work along the boards in winning puck battles.

Mckeen’s also had Candella ranked ahead of where the Canucks picked him, putting him at 107th overall, while two writers who follow the OHL closely, Brock Otten and Dominic Tiano suggested he could be a third round pick.

Otten, in particular, does some good work scouting OHL players. His OHL Prospects site had Candella ranked 29th among draft-eligible players and suggested he would be higher if he had played a full season. Otten praised Candella’s well-rounded game, saying he “has good size, moves well, defends well, and makes a good first pass. A defender without a lot of flaws.”

Reckless Restraint, a Hamilton Bulldogs blog, provides a firsthand report on Candella’s upside:

Cole Candella was arguably the hardest player for opposition teams to play against because of his ability to really build up speed in the neutral zone and seamlessly join the rush. This became the team’s strongest asset in overtime and really won them a few games, as he was able to unleash hard slap shots with brilliant accuracy despite flying at full tilt. Candella is physically a challenging player to skate against; he has great balance and upper body strength, giving him an advantage in the corners and clearing the crease.

His shot is an element of his game that was mentioned by multiple scouts. Despite only scoring four goals, he reportedly has a hard and accurate shot, with Reckless Restraint noting it was underused on the power play by the Bulldogs’ coaching staff. If he can steer clear of injuries and develop his offensive game, we could see an uptick in goals and points from Candella next season.

For whatever reason, fifth round defencemen seem to be a hallmark of Canucks’ drafting, producing either solid NHLers like Kevin Bieksa and Ben Hutton, to those with potential like Frank Corrado and Gustav Forsling. Here’s hoping that Cole Candella can continue the trend.

