With Goldobin on a flight out of Vancouver early Friday morning, it looked suspicious when three other players weren’t at practice a couple hours later. Sure enough, Jim Benning confirmed after the morning skate that Anton Rodin, Philip Holm, and Olli Juolevi, along with Scottie Upshall, were cut from the Canucks training camp roster.
Each of those players is heading in a different direction. Anton Rodin has been placed on waivers, with plans to send him to the Utica Comets if he clears. Philip Holm is going straight to Utica without passing Go or collecting $200. Scottie Upshall has been released from his PTO, as he is signing with the St. Louis Blues.
And Olli Juolevi? Well, that’s still unclear.
It’s expected that Juolevi will be loaned to a team in Liiga, the top men’s league in Finland. Ideally, he would go to TPS, which already has Canucks prospect Petrus Palmu on the roster, as well as Sami Salo as an assistant coach. Palmu currently leads all Liiga rookies with 8 points in 9 games.
It’s hard to imagine a more perfect destination for Juolevi than a mentorship under Salo, who combined a steady defensive game with excellent puck-moving and power play prowess. Juolevi will also play under Salo at the World Junior tournament.
A deal hasn’t been made yet, however, and there’s still a possibility for him to return to the OHL this season. That would be less ideal, as Juolevi would benefit from playing against men to take the next step in his development. Juolevi did not stand out as much as Canucks fans hoped he would in the Young Stars tournament and preseason, though he showed flashes of the top pairing defenceman he could become.
While Anton Rodin could get claimed off waivers, it would take a very bold, unconventional team to do so. In other words, it’s extremely unlikely.
Rodin may have been the SHL MVP two years ago, but he has never shone as brightly in North America. It started with his first stint in the AHL, playing for the Chicago Wolves, who never cared too much about developing Canucks prospects. Rodin struggled with minimal ice time and a tougher, more physical league, putting up just 41 points in 111 AHL games.
In his second stint in North America, he was hampered by his surgically-repaired knee, which never got back to 100%. After a strong preseason, he played just three NHL games before getting shut down thanks to the swelling and inflammation in his knee.
For a team to claim him off waivers, they would be taking a big risk on a player that has never proven himself on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. It’s far more likely that he gets through waivers and gets a chance to establish his game with the Utica Comets.
Likewise, Philip Holm will need to prove he can adapt to the smaller ice surface in North America. The 25-year-old Swedish defenceman had some iffy moments during the Young Stars tournament and preseason, getting beat wide several times and taking some unnecessary gambles in the neutral zone that led to scoring chances the other way.
At times, however, you could see what the Canucks saw in him. Holm is steady with the puck in the offensive zone, making nice passes and getting his shot through to the net. While he was originally pitched as a mobile defensive defenceman, he was far better in the offensive zone than in his own end, though he was capable when it came to outlet passes.
While Holm showed improvement in some areas as the preseason progressed, he’s not quite NHL-ready. If he can improve his two-way game in Utica, he’ll be an option for a call-up this season.
Finally, there’s Scottie Upshall. Signing a PTO with the Canucks seems to have been a good career move for Upshall, as he is expected to sign a one-year, $800,000 contract with the St. Louis Blues.
Perhaps Upshall got the attention of the Blues because his name was in the news as the Canucks traveled to China. Perhaps it was the injuries to Robby Fabbri, Alexander Steen, Patrik Berglund, and Zach Sanford. In any case, his removal from the Canucks’ training camp roster presents a clear path for Jake Virtanen to make the team.
That brings the roster down to the following players, loosely arranged into lines:
Sven Baertschi - Bo Horvat - Brock Boeser
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Thomas Vanek
Loui Eriksson - Markus Granlund - Sam Gagner
Jake Virtanen - Brandon Sutter - Derek Dorsett
Darren Archibald - Alexander Burmistrov - Michael Chaput
Brendan Gaunce (inj) - Cole Cassels (inj) - Jayson Megna
Ryan White (PTO and inj)
Alex Edler - Chris Tanev
Ben Hutton - Troy Stecher
Michael Del Zotto - Erik Gudbranson
Andrey Pedan - Patrick Wiercioch
Alex Biega
Jacob Markstrom
Anders Nilsson
Richard Bachman
The big decision for the Canucks now is whether to carry 14 forwards or 8 defencemen. We can expect the Canucks to send down Michael Chaput and Jayson Megna, so if they choose to carry 14 forwards, they could actually sign Darren Archibald to an NHL contract and keep him with the Canucks. In that case, both Pedan and Biega would need to clear waivers.
If the Canucks want to carry 8 defencemen, then one more forward would need to be sent down, with Archibald the obvious choice. Unless the Canucks truly believe that Virtanen needs to play top-six minutes in Utica, it seems pretty clear with this latest round of cuts that he’s made the team.
