CA\u2019s top 15 mid-season Canucks prospect rankings: Criteria and Honourable Mentions<\/p>\n
It\u2019s that time of year again \u2014 the moment we take stock of the Vancouver Canucks<\/a>\u2019 prospect pool and reshuffle the board with our latest CanucksArmy prospect rankings.<\/p>\n Admittedly, this edition comes with a slightly different approach. In previous instalments, we\u2019ve typically run a Top-20 list accompanied by an Honourable Mentions section. But if you\u2019ve been following along, you\u2019ll know that this organization\u2019s prospect pool has thinned considerably in recent months.<\/p>\n With just 24 prospects currently meeting our guidelines, we\u2019ve trimmed this installment down to a Top-15 ranking. Truth be told, separating hairs between several long-shot prospects didn\u2019t feel like a particularly worthwhile exercise, and tightening the list better reflects the state of the system.<\/p>\n The silver lining? The Canucks currently hold seven draft picks in the 2026 NHL Draft \u2014 four of them in the first two rounds \u2014 which should allow us to return to a deeper rankings format in the near future.<\/p>\n A big reason this list has shrunk is graduation. With Vancouver sitting 32nd in the standings<\/a>, a pair of top prospects from our Summer Edition \u2014 Jonathan Lekkerim\u00e4ki and Tom Willander \u2014 have crossed our NHL games threshold, while Arshdeep Bains has aged out of eligibility.<\/p>\n Before diving in, let\u2019s clearly outline the rules governing these rankings.<\/p>\n To qualify for our rankings at CanucksArmy, a prospect must:<\/p>\n Be under the age of 25Have played fewer than 25 NHL games (regular season + playoffs).<\/p>\n This immediately removes Arshdeep Bains (25), Jett Woo (25), and Nikita Tolopilo (25) from consideration.<\/p>\n It also excludes several players who would otherwise rank quite highly, including Tom Willander (45 games), Jonathan Lekkerim\u00e4ki<\/a> (37), Aatu R\u00e4ty (93), Max Sasson (79), Elias Pettersson (75), Victor Mancini (42), and recently acquired players like Liam \u00d6hgren (72) and Zeev Buium (51).<\/p>\n As always, we\u2019ll continue to remind readers of these rules throughout the rankings.<\/p>\n Our primary evaluation lens remains based on upside. What could a player realistically become in a best-case scenario? Development is rarely linear, and while not every prospect hits their ceiling, projecting that ceiling remains central to the exercise.<\/p>\n Age also plays a role. A 19-year-old like Riley Patterson naturally has more developmental runway \u2014 and therefore more upside \u2014 than a 24-year-old like Ilya Safonov.<\/p>\n *We have removed the depth chart as a factor for this year\u2019s rankings*<\/p>\n With the rules in place, let\u2019s dive right in and start with our Honourable Mentions list.<\/p>\n Team: Quinnipiac University (NCAA) | Age: 18 | Position: Centre | Height: 6\u20191 | Weight: 185 lbs | Shoots: Left | Drafted: Seventh round, 207 overall, 2025 | Summer rank: HM<\/p>\n Perhaps one of the more intriguing names on this HM list comes in the form of a recent seventh-round pick. As a freshman with Quinnipiac, Matthew Lansing has put up respectable numbers despite being glued to the team\u2019s bottom-six. Of course, the Bobcats are currently the best team in the ECAC, and the goals have been plentiful, which helps slightly stack his current ledger.<\/p>\n He\u2019s produced 12 points while winning 54.7% of his faceoffs across 104 draws \u2014 good for 10th among conference freshmen. Lansing is still early in his development, and that youth alone keeps him firmly on the radar.<\/p>\n Team: St. Cloud State University (NCAA) | Age: 22 | Position: Centre\/Left Wing | Height: 6\u20194 | Weight: 205 lbs | Shoots: Left | Drafted: Fourth round, 112 overall, 2022 |Summer rank: HM<\/p>\n Since he was drafted in the fourth round (112th overall) in 2022, Daimon Gardner has piqued our interest as a heavy-set power forward archetype. And with 42 points in 46 games through his draft-plus-one season in the USHL, there was some valid excitement.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, with a high of 14 points set in his sophomore year, that production just hasn\u2019t followed him through three seasons at the NCAA level. With just two points through 20 games this season at St. Cloud, minutes are increasingly becoming tough to come by for the now 22-year-old centre. As we saw with Jackson Kunz, another heavy-set forward who earned an AHL contract over the summer, we are likely looking at an AHL-bound prospect.<\/p>\n Team: Northeastern University (NCAA) | Age: 22 | Position: Centre\/Left Wing | Height: 5\u201911 | Weight: 174 lbs | Shoots: Left | Drafted: Fourth round, 119 overall, 2023 | Summer rank: HM<\/p>\n Drafted around the same time as Gardner (119th overall) a year later, Matthew Perkins has also struggled to produce at the NCAA level. While an initial freshman year with 15 points in 35 offered some interesting potential, that production and utilization have gradually declined. Now with the Northeastern Huskies, Perkins has seen occasional elevation in the lineup, but there hasn\u2019t been enough progression to suggest meaningful upside growth. Now 22 and without a defining physical trait to lean on, it\u2019s difficult to project Perkins as anything more than organizational depth at this stage.<\/p>\n Team: Abbotsford Canucks (AHL) | Age: 23 | Position: Right Wing\/Left Wing | Height: 6\u20193 | Weight: 203 lbs | Shoots: Right | Drafted: Second round, 41 overall, 2021 | Summer rank: 13<\/p>\n Yes \u2014 we know. Seeing Klimovich in the Honourable Mentions will raise eyebrows.<\/p>\n After a promising bounce-back season last year, where he posted career highs and showed renewed confidence, expectations were cautiously rising. But now in his fifth AHL season, much of that momentum has stalled. Despite seeing good minutes on a dwindling roster, there\u2019s been little growth in his overall impact. His contract expires at the end of this year, and we would not be surprised to see him either start fresh elsewhere or sign an AHL deal.<\/p>\n At this point, the projection feels increasingly capped.<\/p>\n Team: Abbotsford Canucks (AHL) | Age: 23 | Position: Right Wing\/Left Wing | Height: 635 | Weight: 201 lbs | Shoots: Left | Drafted: Undrafted | Summer rank: 16<\/p>\n Brought in from Finland through free agency, Anri Ravinskis has been in and out of the Abbotsford Canucks lineup<\/a>. When dressed, he does bring a decent amount of speed and ruggedness to the ice, but it just hasn\u2019t been enough to warrant any true excitement as an upside prospect. That said, he has chipped in with a few more points in recent weeks. But at 23, we probably know where he stands, and that\u2019s a serviceable AHL grinder.<\/p>\n Team: Abbotsford Canucks (AHL) | Age: 22 | Position: Right Wing\/Left Wing | Height: 6\u20191 | Weight: 185 lbs | Shoots: Right | Drafted: First round, 29 overall, 2021 | Summer rank: N\/A<\/p>\n First-round pedigree always buys time, and Stillman is no exception. Despite a difficult sophomore season in 2024-25, he showed encouraging signs during his AHL rookie year two seasons ago.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, a broken leg has sidelined him for much of this campaign. Turning 23 soon, there\u2019s still a chance he finds a role down the line \u2014 and in a Top-20 list, he\u2019d likely make the cut. For now, he sits just outside the main rankings.<\/p>\n Team: Kalamazoo Wings (ECHL) | Age: 22 | Position: Left Wing | Height: 6\u20192 | Weight: 185 lbs | Shoots: Left | Drafted: Third round, 95 overall, 2021 | Summer rank: 15<\/p>\n When he\u2019s playing down in the ECHL, we love what he brings to the ice. He plays the game with speed and knows how to put the puck into the net. Yet, when he\u2019s up in the American League, he struggles to bring that same type of confidence. With the number of injuries and promotions in Abbotsford this season, he has seen stints in their top six and still hasn\u2019t shown much at that level. Playing on an expiring contract, we wonder whether Bloom will make it to another contract with the Canucks beyond this season.<\/p>\n Team: Boston University (NCAA) | Age: 21 | Position: Defence | Height: 6\u20191 | Weight: 194 lbs | Shoots: Right | Drafted: Sixth round, 171 overall, 2023 | Summer rank: HM<\/p>\n