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The Vancouver Canucks made changes to their blue line Sunday as well as adding some depth upfront. This comes after Vancouver lost their prospect Jonah Gadjovich on waivers to the San Jose Sharks earlier this week.
After a rough at-best training camp and pre-season for the former 1 round pick Olli Juolevi, he has now been flipped to the Florida Panthers in exchange for forward Juho Lammikko and blue-liner Noah Juulsen.
Vancouver originally drafted Juolevi fifth overall in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He produced two goals and one assist in 23 games last year in Vancouver as a rookie. But that doesn’t tell the full tale of a very high draft pick surrounded by shining stars picked just a few spots after him.
General Manager Jim Benning announced today that the club has acquired defenceman Noah Juulsen and forward Juho Lammikko from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Olli Juolevi.
DETAILS | https://t.co/sdeeneAOQR pic.twitter.com/yNCjuDj8H4
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) October 10, 2021
Many fans in Vancouver are quick to burn Jim Benning, the current general manager of the Canucks, for originally drafting him, and then the handling of Olli over the years. Now, Juolevi didn’t do himself much of a favor, with years of injuries plaguing his development, fans were impatient on the return of the team’s investment.
Going into the 2021-2022 season the Canucks look solid upfront but have roster spots open on forward and defense. That’s where Juho Lammiko comes in, he’s 25 years old from Noormarku, Finland. 6’2″ 207lbs, originally selected in the third round, 65th overall by the Florida Panthers.
https://twitter.com/FlaPanthers/status/1447284361947238400?s=20
Lammikko scored 4 goals and 1 assist over 44 games played last season with the Panthers. After producing at a high level in his junior years, this may be a nice addition to the Canucks fourth line, or at the least be able to go to their new farm team in Abbotsford. But that still doesn’t address the blue line.
That’s where Noah Juulsen comes in. The Surrey, BC native comes homes to play for the hometown squad. After being selected the right shot defencemen 26th overall in the 1st round by the Montreal Canadians, Juulsen looks to put right the ship in Vancouver.
After missing a decent amount of time due to vision-related issues while playing with the Canadians, Noah looks to get his career started in a familiar place, and maybe this is exactly what both sides need.