Top Prospects: The NHL System Rankings

#29: Vancouver Canucks

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Number of Ranked Prospects: 28

Number of Forwards in the Top 50: 0

Number of Defensemen in the Top 50: 1

Average Rank of Top 10 Prospects in Pool: 145th

Top Forward Prospect in The System: Anthony Romani (56th)

Top Defenseman Prospect in The System: Tom Willander (6th)

System Score: 1.5

Vancouver's prospect system is caught in a vortex of a lack of top-end draft picks in recent years and the graduation of top prospects from earlier drafts like all-world defenseman Quinn Hughes and promising lightweight winger Nils Hoglander. The Canucks recently traded their 10th overall draft pick from the 2019 draft Vasili Podkolzin--who has scored just 35 points in 137 NHL games--for a fourth-round pick, but Vancouver's more recent first-round selections appear to be on the cusp of NHL play and should soon supplement the nascent Stanley Cup challenger.

In the 2024 draft, Vancouver did not make a selection until their 93rd-overall pick of forward Melvin Fernstrom, but they also managed to add overage forward Anthony Romani with a sixth-round pick who is coming off a huge, breakout year for North Bay in the OHL. 

The Top of The Pool:

The Canucks have a stellar blue line prospect in the pipeline in their 11th-overall selection from the 2023 draft, Tom Willander. The Swedish defenseman transitioned from his his home country to North America last season, playing with Boston University in the NCAA, where he put up 25 points in 38 games and helped lead his team deep into the Frozen Four championship tournament. He will be playing at least one more season of college hockey, but could start his professional career next season. He is an effortless skater who needs to continue to develop his game, but playing high-level NCAA defense will do just that. He should become a great complement for Norris-winner Hughes in the near future.

The system has two forwards that are essentially tied for the top forward spot in Anthony Romani and Jonathan Lekkerimaki. Both are coming off of massive years for their respective clubs, Romani as the top scorer for the North Bay Battalion and second overall in the OHL (111 points if 68 games) and Lekkerimaki for Orebo HK in the top Swedish league. Lekkerimaki is the more well-known player having been selected 15th overall by the Canucks in 2022. Lekkerimaki has a high-quality wrist shot that he can fire with heat and accuracy while on the move or off-balance. He is a good skater, but he does most of his damage working for opening shooting chances at the circles. He got a taste of North American hockey at the end of last season and will likely get a good long look from the Vancouver coaching staff in the fall training camp. He looks to be a highly-projectable top-six forward for the Canucks. 

Romani went undrafted in 2023, and the Canucks picked him up in the sixth round of the 2024 draft, but there is no denying the success he had last season with North Bay. He plays a offensively-gifted north-south game and can both pass and carry the puck through the neutral zone. The biggest question mark in Romani's game is whether or not last season was a fluke. He has a way to go, but he could become a sharp-eyed transition player and solid scoring winger at the NHL level. 

A large gap exists between the top three prospects in the Vancouver system and the rest of the corps. Perhaps a couple of them--Aatu Raty, Melvin Fernstrom, Danila Klimovich--will become serviceable players, but generally the rest of the system is sparsely populated.

Return to the Team System Rankings

Below is the full list of Vancouver's ranked prospects.

Top Forwards 

Top Defensemen