Canadiens: Three First Round Projects To Pursue In The Off-Season

It was a tough 2021-22 season for Olli Juolevi, after numerous question marks were raised about the future of the Vancouver Canucks once fifth overall pick in the 2016 Draft. A talented two-way defenseman coming out of the OHL’s London Knights, Juolevi showed promise alongside professional competition whilst playing for SM-liiga club TPS Turku in the 2017-18 season. Since then, however, Juolevi has done little to convince both fans, analysts, and GMs alike that he has come close to reaching that fifth overall potential.

After struggling to make the Canucks roster out of the gate, Juolevi was given a 23-game run with the team in the injury plagued Covid bubble season in 2020-21, posting 2-1-3 totals. Ultimately unimpressed by what they saw, the Canucks shipped Juolevi to the Florida Panthers in exchange for former Canadiens first rounder Noah Juulsen and fourth line energy winger Juho Lammikko. After an unimpressive 10-game stint in Florida, Juolevi hit the waiver wire where he was claimed by the Detroit Red Wings. All in all, the 6’02 blueliner managed no points over 18 games this season with a -1 rating.

In spite of all this however, I wouldn’t put Juolevi down as an entirely lost cause just yet, and feel, in my mind, he’s needing of a stint with a true basement dweller to see how he could play with increased minutes and a chance to be something more than just an injury fill in. With the Canadiens defense poised for a rebuild and restructuring next season (along with much of the rest of the roster) I could see Juolevi being an interesting and surprising contributor for the Habs a la Chris Wideman or Corey Schueneman, possessing, like Dal Colle, bottom of the barrel trade value to boot.

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