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Entering the 2004 Entry Draft, the Vancouver Canucks had just one pick in the first three rounds, but by dealing a 2005 pick they were able acquire another pick this year. In total they selected seven players: three wingers, two defensemen, and two goalies and in doing this the Canucks were able to increase depth in positions that were lacking. They made the draft historic by selecting their first goaltender in the opening round and selecting a player from Denmark for the first time. They also broke a few hearts by selecting a mystery defenseman from the desolate region of Northern Sweden.

 

Corey Schneider, G

1^st round, 26^th overall, Phillips Andover (USHSE)
6’2” 195 (3/18/86)

 

The Canucks made history with their first pick, selecting the first goalie ever in the first round by the team. Schneider was the seventh position for the mid-term and final CSS rankings.

 

The 18-year-old American attends Phillips Andover Academy where he has tended goal for the past three years. Although the scouts had questioned Schneider's talent because of the low level of competition he faced in high school, he proved himself a capable goalie at the World Under 18 tournament in Minsk, where he led the U.S. team to a silver medal. Earlier in the fall of 2003 he had backstopped an American squad to the gold medal at an Under 18 Challenge tournament in Piestany.

 

Although he went prestigious prep school, Schneider is actually a blue collar type player who displays a good work ethic and is admired for his leadership skills as he was elected team captain in his senior season. His most impressive trait is the amount of composure he displays when the competition and pressure intensifies especially at the under 18 championships. When asked at the draft what he had learned about goaltending playing for USA he said, “it was more the mental aspect, learning how to hold the lead late in the game and learning how to win those games.”

 

Schneider possesses great athleticism, which is displayed in his good lateral movement and his ability to recover after going down to make the save. He has an above average glove hand and uses his large frame to full advantage. Asked which current goalie he patterns his style after, he said, “I like Raycroft out of Boston. We’ve worked with the same goalie coach (Brian Daccord) before so he’s learning the same things I am.”

 

Despite being able to move laterally very well, Schneider could use work on his positional play and his ability to control the rebounds. While his athletic ability has helped him survive at the high school level, players in the NHL are much faster and can capitalize on second chances with deadly accuracy. Fortunately both these deficiencies are teachable and as the young goalie enters the next level, he should be able to correct these problems.

 

Although Schneider was scheduled to play in the USHL with Green Bay next year before entering college, he impressed Boston College with his play and was told by BC head coach Gerry York “that the job is open right now.”

 

Because Schneider played his draft year in high school, he is considered a project by some scouts. However, with Schneider possessing the skills that can’t be taught, being weak in areas that can be corrected and his stellar play at the international level, he is one of the safer projects available in this draft.

 

Projection: No. 1 Goalie

 

YEAR	TEAM	GP	W	L	T	GAA	SVPCT	SO
2002-03	Phillips Andover	23	13	7	3	1.80	0.950	4
2003-04	U.S. U18 team	9	8	1	0	1.69	0.924	1
2003-04	Phillips Andover	24	17	5	2	1.42	0.960	4

 

 

Alexander Edler, D

3^rd round, 91^st overall, Jamtland (SWE II)

6’3” 198 (04/21/86)

 

Dave Nonis was able to out maneuver a few teams to select Alexander Edler, a relatively unknown Swedish defenseman in the third round. Earlier in the year, Head European scout Thomas Gardin received a phone call from a friend in Northern Sweden about a young player that was playing well beyond his years. Gardin traveled to the remote part of Sweden where he instantly fell in love with Edler’s offensive skills and open ice hitting.

 

There were a few other teams that were watching Edler as well, one rumored to be Detroit and famed Euro scout Hakan Andersson. Despite Edler not being ranked by Central Scouting, he came to Raleigh because of at least one team promising him that he would be selected. Nonis was able to trade a 2005 third round draft pick to Dallas for pick 91 just ahead of Detroit and Philadelphia, another one of those rumored teams.

 

Edler is a solid two-way defenseman that has offensive upside and can develop into a power play quarterback down the road. He displays good skating ability and makes that all important first pass out of the defensive zone. Despite displaying good strength in his hits, Edler needs to become stronger and fill in his 6’3” frame in order to progress to the next levels. Because of the low level of competition he played at this past year, Edler needs to continually raise his game to meet the rising level of play.

 

After playing all of last season for Jamtland of Swedish Tier II hockey, Edler was signed by top Elite League team MoDo to play for their junior team. After developing current Canucks Markus Naslund and the Sedin twins, the Canucks are confident that Edler will be able to remove any question marks that surround his selection.

 

Projection: Two-Way Defenseman

 

YEAR	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
2001-02	Jamtland	8	0	1	1	NA	2
2002-03	Jamtland	8	1	2	3	NA	0
2003-04	Jamtland	24	3	6	9	+8	20

 

 

Andrew Sarauer, LW

4^th round, 125^th overall, Langley (BCHL)

6’4” 190 (11/17/84)

 

Dave Nonis and the Vancouver Canucks continued this year’s trend of high risk/high reward players, with the selection of Andrew Sarauer of the BCHL. A native of Saskatchewan, Sarauer is a 19-year-old who opted out of last year’s draft hoping to be selected higher this year. The gamble seemed to pay off as despite being ranked at 227 in the North American rankings he was selected in the fourth round.

 

Playing his hockey in the Canucks back yard, Sarauer was most likely closely scouted and viewed by most of the staff. He has a very tall, lanky build that will definitely need filling to play with the Canucks in the NHL. He possesses above average skating for a big man but is very raw in his offensive skills. The biggest knock on Sarauer is his lack of hockey intelligence, as he is unable to read the play and is guilty of turning the puck over on numerous occasions.

 

Sarauer will be attending Northern Michigan of the CCHA, playing with fellow 2004 draftees Darin Olver of the NY Rangers, Dustin Collins of Tampa, Mike Santorelli of Nashville and Matt Siddall of Atlanta. While Canucks hope Sarauer turns into a power forward with a high skill level, this particular projection may not be realized until four or five years down the road.

 

Projection: Power Forward

 

YEAR	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
2002-03	Victoria	50	10	16	26	NA	56
2003-04	Langley	57	43	32	75	NA	71

 

 

Mike Brown, RW

5^th round, 159^th overall, Michigan (CCHA)

6’0” 210 (6/24/85)

 

The Canucks made their safest pick in the draft when they selected of American Mike Brown out of Michigan University. Brown was developed in the U.S. National Team Program, helping the program to victory in many international tournaments. He spent this past year at Michigan as a freshman where he was relegated to third and fourth line duty because of the deep sea of forwards in front of him. When injuries did occur he was able to fill in on the top two lines and the team didn’t miss a beat.

 

His biggest role was on the penalty kill where Coach Red Berenson was able to use Brown’s speed.

 

“Yeah, he doesn’t put you out for a penalty kill unless he has trust in you. I think that’s a pretty good accomplishment to be on the penalty kill. As long as I’m working hard every time I go out there, I’ll stay out there and do a great job.”

 

Brown said at the draft that thought he had a good year in 2003-04 because “I played my style of game. I think I went out there and played a tough physical game. Worried about defense and the offense will come. I think that worked out pretty good.”

Asked what he would be working on improving the most this year, he said, “I’m trying to get better at putting more goals in the net. I’m striving for 15-20 goals next year. I think that would be good for me.”

 

Brown is described as a sparkplug type player who has good skating ability and has a tenacious forechecking ability. Although he drives the net very hard, he is also responsibly defensively and is a punishing hitter. Even with these attributes, Brown’s upside is no more than a third line checker or a fourth line agitator as his scoring ability is very limited.

 

Brown will enter his sophomore year at Michigan with a chance to play in more offensive situations. He has also been invited to the U.S. National Junior Team camp where he will compete with others to make the roster for next year’s championships.

 

Projection: Checking Forward

 

YEAR	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
2001-02	U.S. U17 team	63	11	15	26	NA	69
2002-03	U.S. U18 team	50	5	6	11	NA	76
2003-04	Michigan	42	8	5	13	+12	51

 

 

Julien Ellis-Plante, G

6^th round, 189^th overall, Shawinigan (QMJHL)

6-0 188 (1/27/86)

 

The Canucks made their annual late round selection from the Quebec League with the drafting of Ellis-Plante and brought a smile to his face after a grueling couple of days. The butterfly goalie continued his steady slide as he was ranked sixth at mid-season, dropping to tenth among North American goalies and ended up being the 14th domestic goalie selected in this year’s draft.

 

When asked whether the wait to be drafted was the hardest thing he’d ever gone through, he said “Yeah, sure I think. When I heard my name it was a good feeling and I forgot the moments before.” Ellis-Plante had actually stepped outside the arena at the start of the sixth round and was called by his agent who said simply ‘Vancouver!’

 

Despite the slide, Ellis-Plante completed a successful rookie campaign, winning the starting role at Shawinigan and led all rookie goaltenders in the QMJHL with 32 wins. He also participated in the CHL top prospects game where he felt his downfall occurred after allowing four goals on 14 shots. He said after being picked, “I didn’t have a good prospects game and the scouts who saw me for the first time had a bad picture of me.” He wasn’t able to continue his success into the playoffs as his squad failed to make out of the second round, losing four straight to Rimouski.

 

Ellis-Plante is a classic Quebec butterfly style goaltender who displays a calm demeanor and has shown that he can handle a heavy workload. He also has good balance, displays quick reflexes and is satisfactory in many of the skills needed for a goaltender. However, scouts didn’t see the upside in Ellis-Plante’s future to become a starting goaltender and this was the main reason for the slide. When asked who he likes to pattern himself after Ellis-Plante said “I like Giguere in Anaheim. I worked with him two times each summer with (famed goaltending coach) Francois Allaire.”

 

The Canucks hope that Allaire will do for Ellis-Plante what he did for Giguere and his most famous student, Patrick Roy. As Ellis-Plante returns to the Q for at least two more seasons as the No. 1 goalie, history is on his side as the Canucks tend to select a quality prospect from the QMJHL every year in the later rounds.

 

Projection: Starting/Backup Goalie

 

YEAR	TEAM	GP	W	L	T	GAA	SVPCT	SO
2002-03	Shawinigan	7	2	3	0	3.45	0.870	0
2003-04	Shawinigan	68	32	18	2	2.85	0.903	1

 

 

David Schulz, D

8^th round, 254^th overall, Swift Current (WHL)

6-3 201 (1/3/86)

 

There are a number of prospects who own a number of positive attributes and every year these players slip in the draft based on one negative trait that over shadows all the positives. The Canucks eighth round pick, David Schulz out of Swift Current, is one of those players this year.

 

Schulz participated in both the CHL top prospects and the World Under 18 Championships in Minsk, Belarus. He finished the season on Swift Current with 17 points in 70 games and most impressively at a plus/minus rating of plus 14. Schulz and the Broncos only lasted one round in the WHL playoffs, losing to the eventual champs from Medicine Hat.

 

Schulz posses the ideal frame for an 18-year-old defenseman at 6’3” 200 pounds and skates very well for his size. He plays a very simple and is reliable in the defensive zone by limiting his mistakes and not doing too much. Along with his potential to become a future shutdown blueliner, many scouts feel he has an upside in his offensive game that will make him a legitimate two-way defenseman.

 

Despite his large frame, Schulz has been very inconsistent in using his size and strength to his advantage. All agree that if he is to progress to the NHL level, he needs to not just become stronger but actually use his strength to over power the opposition in his zone.

 

He will return to Swift Current and may receive an invitation to the Canadian Junior team evaluation camp this summer. Canuck management hope the steep slide of Schulz in the draft will motivate him to be more aggressive in his play next year. If he is able to leap over this one hurdle, Schulz could very well be an excellent late round gem that could help the blueline.

 

Projection: Two-Way Defenseman

 

YEAR	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
2001-02	Pembina Valley	44	4	20	24	NA	42
2002-03	Swift Current	48	1	6	7	+1	43
2004	CAN U18	6	0	0	0	0	4
2003-04	Swift Current	70	3	14	17	+14	79

 

 

Jannik Hansen, W

9^th round, 287^th overall, (Rodovre, DEN)

6-0 176 (3/15/86)

 

While this regime of the Canucks have yet to select a player from hockey power house Czech Republic, they have now selected their first player from Denmark in Jannik Hansen. He was the second player from the up and coming hockey country of Denmark to be selected in the 2004 draft. Hansen was one of the fastest risers in the draft moving up to 41, at the final CSS rankings, from 98 at the mid season rankings of European skaters.

 

Hansen played against men in 35 games for the Rodovre hockey club in the Danish Elite League last year recording 12 goals and 19 points. What helped him rise in the rankings was a strong outing in the Under 18 Championships, in Minsk, where he recorded 3 goals and 7 points in six games in front of many surprised scouts.

 

The main aspect of Hansen’s game is his speed and above average skating, as most defenders tend to back off at the line due to their respect for his speed. Fellow draftee and member of Canada’s Under 18 team Wes O’Neill was victimized many times by Hansen in their head to head match up. Because of a strong wrist shot, Hansen also has above average potential in his scoring and is very creative with the puck.

 

Like most young players, especially in Europe, the improvement in strength is the most important key to Hansen’s chance at making a NHL roster. On the smaller North American rinks he will have to take on mobile defensemen who can neutralize his speed with their strength. Because Hansen is coming from the inexperienced Danish school of hockey, he will have to improve his hockey smarts.

 

Hansen’s rights are held by Swedish Elite team Malmo and could joint the team next year or he could return to his Danish team Rodovre to hone his skills further. Unfortunately the Denmark junior team will not participate in the elite junior tournament, having been relegated to the second level.

 

Another possible diamond in the rough, Hansen is another draftee who has the potential to turn this draft into a very good one for the Canucks. He could also very well prove to be another typical European player who despite his high skill level will not meet the physical aspect of the NHL.

 

Projection: Skill Forward

 

YEAR	TEAM	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
2003	DEN U18	5	2	5	7	+6	14
2002-03	Rodovre	15	0	0	0	-1	0
2004	DEN U18	6	3	4	7	+3	32
2003-04	Rodovre	35	12	7	19	-27	48

 

 

 

FINAL ANALYSIS

 

The Canucks followed a couple of trends in selecting players in this draft. They drafted three players that will develop in the college ranks. They also selected a player from the QMJHL in a late round, with the selection of Julien Ellis-Plante in the sixth. Ten years after drafting Mattias Ohlund, they went back to Northern Sweden to select another two-way defenseman. Breaking some trends they did draft a goalie in the first round and went to the land of Danes for the first time to draft a speedy winger.

 

With this draft labeled as having very little depth and the Canucks only owning one pick in the first three rounds, there was very little expected from the draft picks making an immediate impact. Therefore the Canucks and Dave Nonis as GM, used this draft to select players that were of the high risk/high reward type in the earlier rounds. The trio of Schneider, Edler and Sarauer were all players that competed at low levels of competition, but their athleticism and future potential were too high too pass on.

 

The final three selections on day two, Ellis-Plante, Schulz, and Hansen, are players that possess athleticism and were rated fairly high coming into the draft but for one reason or another slipped and were picked by the Canucks in the late rounds. These are the type of selections that can turn an average draft into a very positive draft for the Canucks scouting staff.

 

 

Holly Gunning contributed to this article.

 

Copyright 2004 Hockey's Future. Do not duplicate without written permission from the editorial staff.