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Vancouver Canucks Analyst Doesn't Believe Forward Prospect Will Stand Out at NHL Level
Photo credit: Bob Frid - Imagn Images.
A Vancouver Canucks analyst doesn't believe that one of the team's top forward prospects will be a stand out player at the National Hockey League level in his career.
As the Vancouver Canucks get ready to make a significant number of cuts this week ahead of their first game of the 2025-26 season next Thursday, Adam Foote and his coaching staff have some very difficult decisions to make.
Among the decisions they'll have to consider involve the team's bottom-six forward group with quite a few players, including Finnish prospect Aatu Raty, competing for just a couple of spots on the opening night roster.
One thing that is helping keep Aatu Raty's chances of making the opening night roster alive is that he now requires waivers in order to be assigned to the AHL and there's no chance that the Vancouver Canucks will want to risk losing him for nothing over the next seven days.
Vancouver Canucks analyst doesn't believe Aatu Raty will be stand out player at the NHL level
So far this preseason, Aatu Raty has looked good, and while he might not be guaranteed an opening night roster spot at this point, last night he showed that he could be ready for the NHL on a full-time basis very soon.
During last night's game against the Edmonton Oilers, Raty picked up a loose puck and cut through the faceoff dot, firing the puck top corner past a screened Stuart Skinner to get Vancouver on the board, four minutes into the third period.
"Aatu Raty gets the Canucks on the board with a perfect shot 🎯"
Whether or not Aatu Raty is ready to be a full-time NHLer is up to Adam Foote and his staff, but what his ceiling could be at this level remains to be seen, with one Vancouver Canucks analyst saying that he doesn't believe the Finnish forward will be a stand out player.
"I don't think Aatu Raty is ever going to stand out. I don't think he's a flashy player and so, you know, he had some moments in Penticton, a lot of them on the defensive side of the puck. I think that part is encouraging, but you know, he's never going to go coast-to-coast, he's not going to be the fastest guy on any sheet of ice, we know that, and I think for him it's more about checking off the boxes of being positionally sound, winning faceoffs, does he get a chance to kill some penalties?" Jeff Paterson of Canucks Army said.
The former second round pick of the New York Islanders may have to settle for being a bottom-six player for the Vancouver Canucks and for now, that's totally okay, especially if he can establish himself as a bit of a role player for the club, as Paterson mentioned - potentially being an option for Adam Foote to utilize on the penalty kill - or perhaps if they need someone to win a defensive zone faceoff late in the game.
With just two preseason games remaining on Vancouver's schedule and opening night rosters due to the National Hockey League in exactly one week, Aatu Raty doesn't have a whole lot of time left to prove to the Canucks' coaching staff that he belongs with the big club right out of the gate.
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 29 | 1411 ANSWERS Vancouver Canucks Analyst Doesn't Believe Forward Prospect Will Stand Out at NHL Level Do you think Aatu Raty will make the Vancouver Canucks' opening night roster? | ||
| Yes | 1095 | 77.6 % |
| No | 316 | 22.4 % |
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