With a couple slots open on the Canucks back end, is Olli Juolevi ready for prime time?

It’s been tough for Canuck fans to have to watch fellow 2016 draftees Matthew Tkachuk and Clayton Keller make All-Star games while their team’s selection struggles with injuries and inconsistent play.

The Canucks opted for Finnish defensemen Olli Juolevi instead of any of the aforementioned forwards and have had to be patient with the young player’s development. Still, the team has not given up on him and this season may finally be the one where they can reap their reward for their patience.

We finally got to see Juolevi in a Canucks’ jersey for a little over six minutes during this year’s playoff run and the results were encouraging. Of course it’s hard to discern anything from just a handful of shifts but the fact that he looked comfortable and made some nice plays is enough cause for optimism.

So, is this the year that Juolevi will finally crack the Canucks roster and carve himself a role as a regular? Let’s take a look at some of the positives of Juolevi’s game as well as some of the causes for concern.

Strengths

One of Juolevi’s top qualities has to be his passing ability. He can jumpstart rushes with long, crisp stretch passes that find their target more often than not. This is a valuable trait in a defensemen, especially for a team like the Canucks who are looking to play a fast, up-and-down game which allows their skilled players to show off their talent.

Across two years of AHL competition, Juolevi has managed to collect 35 assists in 63 games, and that’s with losing his spot on PP1 to Brogan Rafferty this year. He’s not tearing the league up but it’s encouraging that he has managed to steadily produce in a professional league against men.

Juoelvi’s straight line speed is more than adequate and he does occasionally use it to jump up into an offensive rush.

Weaknesses

While it may not be a weakness per se, the biggest hurdle that Juolevi has had to face in his development has been health issues. He has suffered serious injuries in his back and knees that have caused him to miss significant chunks of time.

Skating, especially moving laterally, has always been another one of the knocks against Juolevi and having to deal with serious injuries in his back and knees will only exacerbate those issues.

However, Juolevi is now healthy and has done the rehab work to get his body back to where it needs to be. He is a cerebral player who can hide some of his lateral quickness weakness by using his hockey IQ to make sure his positioning is strong.