Article content continued

It’s starting to look like the Canucks’ 5th-rounder from the 2018 draft is another astute draft pick from Canucks GM Jim Benning.

Utunen is a winner. The 18-year-old now has two gold medals on his resume, having captained the U18 Finnish team to a world championship last year.

With one assist in 21 games for Tappara in the Finnish SM-Liiga, there hasn’t been much to write home about this season. Utunen, a left-shot defenseman, has been good in his own end, with a plus-2 rating. But there’s tons of room to grow playing against men at such a young age.

Utunen finishes the world juniors with one goal in seven games, a plus-2 rating and zero penalty minutes.

Oh, and a gold medal around his neck.

Michael DiPietro

Say what you will about the game-tying goal against the Finns, but DiPietro had a stellar tournament for the home side.

The Canucks’ 3rd-rounder from the 2017 draft did his part, posting a 0.951 save-percentage and a 1.23 goals-against-average.

After the crushing loss to the Finns, DiPietro showed the character he’s known for. He posted a heartfelt message online, thanking the fans and expressing what it meant for him to don the Canadian sweater. A classy move to be sure.