Well, the day has come.
As they say, you can't win at everything.
Even if it's losing. You can't win at losing. Because somehow, team's better than you will end up drafting ahead of you. Even a wild card team.
Man, being a Canucks fan is hard. Ever since they changed the lottery system in 2016, many teams have suffered through challenging issues. While teams being bumped happened less in the former system with only 1 lottery, the new top 3 lottery system has caused teams to be bumped more than passengers on flights.
But yeah. For the second straight season, the Canucks find themselves bumped down. Last season, they bumped down two spots. This season, they've bumped down the maximum amount, three spots. Both times, they've gotten fifth overall picks.
That isn't the end of the world. Top 5 picks are generally going to be promising prospects, even for weak draft classes. 1999, one of the weakest, being the Patrik Stefan draft, still produced the likes of the Sedins. Unfortunately, that was basically it, in the top 5 and also the entire first round. Now, I don't know if I've stated this on my blog in the past, but for me, I personally believe that the first 3 rounds are the gem rounds. These are the ones to produce the most stars, with expectations that a good half of the first round picks would become stars, while the second and third there would be a few that were as good as the first rounders.
However, that was not the case for rounds two and three. Not a single relevant name appeared on that list. You had to go way down in the list. Rounds four, nope. Round five at least provided the studded goalie that is Ryan Miller, and then we had Radim Vrbata.
Hey, these guys all became Canucks in 2014-15!
Anyways, then there was Zetteuberg. Henrik Zetterburg.
WAKE UP PEOPLE.
Someone, maybe even the Thrashers, could have taken Henrik Zetterburg! He was worthy of being a first round selection with his career, yet they took Patrik Stefan first overall!
But to be honest, another weak draft was 1996. The only allstars on that list that were relevant are Zdeno Chara and Daniel Briere. Not bad, but that was less than even 1999. Their top 5 produced no stars at all.
This year is already looking dim, with analysts stating that it could be the weakest draft of our decade, or at least of the 21st century. What makes it worse, there's not a set list. By this time of the year in 2016, people have already predicted an accurate top 5 list. It was mainly accurate, although Matthew Tkachuk did not make the top 5, dropping just under to 6, when Juolevi made a sudden bolt to 5th amid the Blue Jackets sudden selection of Dubois, who had been slated to go the Vancouver.
This makes predictions and mock drafts hard, and confuses people like me to write about. So, here's a list of a few players that could rep green and blue in June.
GABE VILARDI
A star for the Windsor Spitfire of the OHL. Vilardi was one of the first few stars to appear on the list, alongside Nolan Patrick and, originally, Timothy Liljegren (Remember that name), until Liljegren was diagnosed with mono.
Vilardi had 61 points in a short 49 game campaign this season. Not bad, and his brief season did drop his value by a few picks. If Vancouver does land him (As he could still end up being a top 3 pick, or go to Colorado at 4), they'd have a solid centre that could compete with Horvat in the future as the number one.
CASEY MITTELSTADT
Mittelstadt has played for his high school team as well as a team in the USHL. He definitely could be serious business, being ranked very high and consistently placed in the top 5.
OWEN TIPPETT
Playing for the Missisauga Steelheads of the OHL, Tippett does place in the lower half of the top 5, sometimes just barely missing it, but mainly a good top 10 pick. He's a right-winger who could definitely be a good insurance deal if Jake Virtanen's woes continue for several more seasons. 75 points in 60 games should make his value improve more than Mittelstadt and Vilardi, depending on circumstances.
CODY GLASS
I honestly don't see why he places consistently low on mock drafts. Cody Glass is a talented player on the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL, who produced an astonishing 94 points in 69 games, yet he is only expected to be a top 10 player. Suppose Glass isn't chosen, and two of the three players listed above are picked, then the Canucks do have a good opportunity with Glass, or they could go with the third player. Personally, I see Glass has good capabilities. Like Vilardi, he could certainly compete with Horvat.
MICHAEL RASMUSSEN
I've heard some odd things from Rasmussen early on, how he was similar to Jake Virtanen and such. He had 55 points in another shortened campaign of 50 games, hurting his value like Vilardi, and he is still a certain top 10 pick. I don't see the Canucks picking him though, as the four listed above could prove of more value. Still, the team that does draft them will have a capable asset.
