After falling three spots in the NHL Entry Draft Lottery, the Vancouver Canucks are in the exact same spot they found themselves in after last year’s draw. For the second consecutive season, the Canucks hold the fifth overall selection.

That’s a bitter pill for Canucks fans to swallow. Suffering through a 69 point season is bad enough — it hurts almost twice as much when another team swoops in and snags the reward for sticking through it. That happened three straight times, as the New Jersey Devils, Dallas Stars and Philadelphia Flyers won each of the first three lotteries.

Canucks' Linden: "We're excited. We think there's going to be a great player for us at five." — Mark Masters (@markhmasters) April 30, 2017

Enough about the lottery, though. Let’s shift gears and focus on the selection at hand. To start, I’ve handicapped a list of three players the Canucks are likely to give consideration for when they’re on the clock at the NHL Entry Draft in June.

Casey Mittelstadt

NHL Draft Lottery day gifs – #Canucks Casey Mittelstadt wires it past the goalie pic.twitter.com/gKNTahCEhE — Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) April 29, 2017

Barring a significant change in the Canucks plans, I get the sense that if Casey Mittelstadt is available to them, they’ll call his name. The Canucks have a habit of telegraphing their decisions months ahead of time, and this has been especially true of their first round draft picks. Jason Botchford singled out Green Bay Gamblers centre Casey Mittelstadt in a March edition of The Provies, and the Canucks have been scouting him consistently since.

The Canucks realize they have an organizational need at centre, and finding one who can make plays in the draft will be one of the focuses. They’d like a distributor to get pucks to some of wingers who they believe will be able to score goals on the main stage. One they have their eye on for sure is Casey Mittelstadt, a gifted playmaker, and a scorer too, who has big NHL upside. He’s prominent in the debate over the best centre after Hischier and Patrick, and right now I’d bet he’s the third centre taken and probably in the top 5/6.

The Canucks have every right to be interested in Mittelstadt, too. Mittelstadt has a dynamic skill set built on speed and a strong shot that he’s not shy about using. The only real catch is that the American centre showcased these skills for much of the year with his high school team in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Ryan Biech touched on that contentious issue when he profiled Mittelstadt in response to Botchford’s report.

In this, his draft season, Mittelstadt started with the Green Bay Gamblers, before returning to high school, only to rejoin the Gamblers again. It’s important to find out why he returned in his draft year. Luckily Mike Morreale on NHL.com spoke to Mittelstadt in November: “I’ve played with a lot of those guys [on Eden Prairie] since I was 5 or 6 years old, and my youngest hockey memories are all with the same guys that will be part of our team this year,” said Mittelstadt, 17. “I owe it to myself and to them to go back and play one more year.” Three days later, he played his final game in the USHL and headed back to Eden Prairie. Unfortunately, they finished third.

I tend to think that the concerns about Mittelstadt’s time in high school are overstated, though it’s worthwhile context, to be sure. Even in the USHL, Mittelstadt was dominant offensively and finished the season with the highest points per game pace among qualifying forwards. In 24 games with the Gamblers, Mittelstadt put up 30 points (13 goals and 17 assists).

Mittelstadt is committed to playing for the University of Minnesota next season. One scout I spoke with today suggested Mittelstadt will be an exercise in patience, as the pivot is likely two years of college and one in the American Hockey League away from the show. Mittelstadt just might be worth the wait.

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Timothy Liljegren

NHL Draft Lottery day gifs – #Canucks Timothy Liljegren blasts it! pic.twitter.com/HOBG8mm4u6 — Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) April 29, 2017

While much of the scouting community is sending Timothy Liljegren plummeting down their rankings, the Canucks appear steadfast in their conviction about the Swedish defenceman. The circulating rumour is that the Canucks still view the divisive prospect as the premier defenceman in this year’s class and as someone who can quarterback an NHL power play.

Benning says #Canucks targeting true power-play #1 defencemen and playmaking, 1st or 2nd line, centres. #CanucksOn1040 — Matthew Sekeres (@mattsekeres) March 16, 2017

Liljegren’s suffered through a trying season. Once considered a lock as the second best prospect in this year’s class, a battle with mononucleosis and the struggles that visited on his game have played a significant role in his plummeting stock.

Still, the same qualities that made Liljegren a blue chip prospect before this season are ever present. He still makes an excellent first pass, has great vision and can carry the puck exceptionally well from his own zone. Best of all, Liljegren meets Canucks general manager Jim Benning’s criteria as a power play quarterback. In 19 games with the Swedish Hockey League’s Rogle, Liljegren has five points (one goal and four assists) which is an impressive mark for a 17-year-old.

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Though the Canucks need a playmaking centre, and it’s likely their draft priority, they could do worse than taking Liljegren in one’s stead. It would certainly make more sense than reaching to fill a need.

Seeing as Liljegren is a righthanded shot, one could imagine him teaming up with Olli Juolevi as the Canucks’ first pair of the future. Now that would be a luxurious defence.

Cody Glass

NHL Draft Lottery gifs – #Canucks Cody Glass with the nice wrister – part of a 5 point night! pic.twitter.com/CN19ZpOwCV — Ryan Biech (@ryanbiech) April 29, 2017

Another centre the Canucks have been keeping tabs on is Portland Winterhawks pivot Cody Glass. The dynamic, rangy centre has been steadily climbing draft boards, to the point where a player once considered by many a mid-to-late first round prospect could realistically have the Canucks call his name at five.

Glass is a skilled centre, with excellent vision, hands and anticipation. In 69 games with the Winterhawks, Glass scored 94 points (32 goals and 62 assists), and 63 of those points came at five-on-five, which is second to only Kailer Yamamoto among first-time draft-eligible skaters.

If the Canucks are looking for a centre to build around, they’re not likely to do better than Glass at their current draft spot. He’s the complete package. At 6’2″, Glass has the height to hold his own in the Western Conference and his two-way game is well developed for someone at his age.





