By the end of this week, Vancouver Canucks prospects will take the ice at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton for the Young Stars Classic.

Clad in full Canucks gear, the tournament will mark the start of the official on-ice portion of the Canucks’ season.

In advance of the tournament, The Athletic’s Vancouver bureau has gone through the exercise of ranking the top-10 prospects in Vancouver’s system. The Canucks’ prospect pipeline has undergone a fair bit of change over the past 18 months, with significant additions to the depth of the club’s system evident in our preseason ranking of the No. 10 through No. 6 Canucks prospect (plus honourable mentions).

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At the top end of the system, however, Vancouver has a lot of work to do. The club still doesn’t have as much elite talent as most teams that have missed the playoffs as frequently as the Canucks have over the past five years.

Still, significant organizational change is evident in the top-end portion of our prospect rankings. A major trade to bring in a high-quality prospect ahead of the 2023 NHL trade deadline and two picks in the top half of the first round in as many seasons have bolstered the top end of the club’s prospect system somewhat over the past 18 months.

It remains to be seen whether that will be enough. If the Canucks aren’t able to efficiently identify and develop young players, the club isn’t going to have the reliable source of cheap labour and tradeable assets that will be required to surround its core group with sufficient talent to contend going forward.

5. Elias Pettersson, LD, Örebro HK (SHL)
Selected 80th, 2022
6-foot-3, 196 pounds
2022-23 statistics: 43 GP, 1G-6A-7P

The Canucks’ other Elias Pettersson saw his stock rise in his post-draft season.

Pettersson was deployed in a prescribed, heavily sheltered role, but emerged as a regular SHL defenceman in 2022-23 nonetheless, suiting up in 43 games. The mere fact he was trusted to play regular SHL minutes as an 18-year-old defenceman is a promising sign. Lian Bichsel, for example, was drafted at No. 18 by the Stars last year and scored six points in 42 games while averaging just 11:54 per game. The only other U19 defencemen who played at least 25 SHL games last season were Elias Salomonsson and Mattias Hävelid, both second-round picks in 2022, and Theo Lindstein, who was drafted No. 29 in 2023.

Pettersson’s ceiling isn’t very high, but he offers many projectable tools that NHL teams look for in third-pair defencemen. He has a robust 6-foot-3 frame and couples it with smooth skating and pivots, which helps him close gaps authoritatively and make effective defensive stops on the rush.

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The Canucks have also identified that he has a natural mean streak to him, which isn’t always common in this generation’s prospects. Pettersson’s offensive upside is limited and his puck skills aren’t the best, but he showed improved composure at making simple, complementary plays on the breakout. Look for him to hopefully earn more minutes and defensive trust this season, even though he’s likely to slot in a third-pair role again.

4. Artūrs Šilovs, G, Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)
Selected 156th, 2019
6-foot-4, 216 pounds
2022-23 statistics: 44 GP, 26W-12L-5OTL .909 sv%

Artūrs Šilovs built on a stellar performance at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton last fall and put in a strong age-22 performance with heavy usage at the American Hockey League level last season.

What really set Šilovs apart as a goalie prospect, however, is firstly, how well he played in three relief stints at the NHL level, and secondly, his tournament MVP performance for Latvia at the World Championship.

Šilovs is a star pupil of Vancouver’s goaltending development assembly line, and the first graduate to have been both scouted and developed under the watchful eye of the club’s director of goaltending Ian Clark in his second stint with the team. He’s large and athletic and appears to be exceedingly calm and collected, willing to battle and compete no matter the difficulty of the competition he’s facing.

As a result of his starring performance at the worlds and his convincing run of games at the NHL level, Šilovs is slated to have an opportunity to earn the backup goalie spot at Canucks training camp this month. He could be a full-time NHL player sooner, rather than later.

While Šilovs is a decent bet to provide the club with average performance in relief of Thatcher Demko as soon as this season, one wonders, especially given Šilovs’ high ceiling as a potential future NHL starter, if the club wouldn’t be better off making sure he plays in 45-55 games this upcoming season, regardless of whether those games are played in the NHL or AHL.

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3. Jonathan Lekkerimäki, RW, Örebro HK (SHL)
Selected 15th, 2022
5-foot-11, 172 pounds
2022-23 Allsvenskan statistics: 29GP, 3G-6A-9P

Could Jonathan Lekkerimäki be on the cusp of a breakout?

The undersized, skilled winger had trouble producing in Sweden’s second-tier Allsvenskan league during a 2022-23 regular season in which he was plagued by injuries. Lekkerimäki had a big bounce back in the playoffs with 15 points in 15 games, which stoked optimism that he can get back on track in 2023-24 with a clean bill of health. Djurgårdens didn’t get promoted back up to the SHL for this season, so Lekkerimäki was loaned to Örebro HK, the same club Pettersson plays on. Lekkerimäki has picked up right where he left off at the end of the playoffs, but this time in a higher league, scoring four goals in seven SHL preseason games. That’s fantastic to see, although it has to be taken with a grain of salt since the games aren’t as intense and meaningful.

But still, the fact that Lekkerimäki is producing and playing with confidence again is a great sign. He’s always had a wicked shot, which has been an especially potent weapon on the power play, but what stands out about his preseason SHL tape is he’s doing a significantly better job of getting to scoring areas on the inside. He’s using his lightning-quick hands to make deceptive dangles and assertively cut to the middle in high traffic rather than settling for low-percentage shots on the perimeter.

We love a Lekkerimäki goal.

This is in his preseason debut with Örebro.

— 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀 Faber 🔥🎙 (@ChrisFaber39) August 15, 2023

He’s also working harder away from the puck to park himself in better offensive positions on the cycle.

The potential development of Lekkerimäki’s playmaking is another thing to keep an eye on this season. GM Patrik Allvin told reporters in Montreal at the 2022 draft that the club saw Lekkerimäki as a dual offensive threat, a talented sniper and playmaker, and even described him as a “lighter Lucas Raymond.” Most NHL scouts that we spoke to at the time, on the other hand, thought his playmaking value was limited. Clearly, the Canucks were more bullish on his ability to create and set up plays than the rest of the industry. Lekkerimäki will always be a sniper first and foremost, but if he can also show strides as a distributor — even as an average one — it would go a long way toward fulfilling his potential as a top-six winger.

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2. Aatu Räty, C, Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)
Selected 52nd, 2022
6-foot-2, 187 pounds
2022-23 statistics: 52GP, 9G-18A-27P

Hailed a phenom from the age of 14, Aatu Räty struggled in his draft year and dropped to the second round, then immediately looked like a steal and plateaued a bit in his first year of North American professional hockey and was dealt to the Canucks as part of the Bo Horvat trade.

Räty has NHL size, a high-end skill level and a commendable work rate. A high IQ player with solid two-way chops, Räty projects as the sort of centre who can potentially carve out a role at the NHL level in either the top six or bottom six, which dramatically enhances his chances of having a successful NHL career.

While Räty didn’t light the world on fire in his first North American professional season, the fact remains that for a 20-year-old player to produce the way he did in the American League — at an age when most North American-based prospects are still playing major junior — and earn multiple NHL games across two different organizations is very auspicious. He has real NHL comparables, and not just journeymen-type players. His age-20 production across the NHL and AHL compares closely to players like Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller, among others.

The concern within the industry, and it’s shared internally, about Räty’s ceiling stems from his foot speed. Räty is going to need to work to develop better core strength and straightaway speed and enhance the explosiveness of his first two steps, particularly if he’s going to stick at centre full-time in the NHL. While there’s a fair bit of work to do and improvement required on Räty’s skating, his combination of size, smarts and high-level skill should give him an opportunity to be an everyday NHL player on the wing, even if he isn’t able to add a step or two to his stride.

Ultimately, despite valid concerns about Räty’s skating, his age-20 production and the quality of his comparables — and for the sake of comparison, no forward who struggled to produce the way Lekkerimäki did in his age-19 season in the Allsvenskan has gone on to be an impact NHL player — hints at a ceiling that’s higher than any other Canucks prospect not named Tom Willander.

Speaking of which …

1. Tom Willander, RD, Boston University (NCAA)
Selected No. 11, 2023
6-foot-1, 179 pounds
2022-23 J20 statistics: 39GP, 4G-21A-25P

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Vancouver’s prospect pipeline desperately needed a right-shot defenseman of Willander’s calibre.

A late riser ahead of the 2023 draft, Willander is an incredibly smooth and agile skater. He leverages that exceptional four-way mobility to evade forechecking pressure with ease and proficiently transport pucks up ice. Willander is intelligent defensively and his impressive shutdown performance at the World U18 Championship, especially against USA’s star-studded top line, caught the industry’s attention and boosted his draft stock. He couples that defensive intelligence with good size and competitive, physical play that’s been described as “nasty.”

There’s an impressive foundation of two-way tools, although his statistical profile last season was a bit lacklustre, which sheds light on his modest offensive skills and upside.

Many NHL teams that interviewed Willander at the draft combine in Buffalo were impressed by his bold decision to play for Boston University this fall instead of the SHL. There are a number of advantages he could gain. The first one is that the NCAA’s more relaxed schedule means significantly more practice time. When Willander spoke to media in Nashville, he stressed how important he felt that maximizing practice time would be for his development. At another point, he spoke about wanting to grow his offensive game. Improving that may not have been easy if he was still in the SHL fighting against seasoned pros for limited minutes, not getting power-play reps and focusing on a mistake-free style of game to earn the coaching staff’s trust. Boston University offers a strong program, with Jack Eichel and Charlie McAvoy among the alumni, and the Canucks should have connections there as Scott Young, Vancouver’s director of player personnel, spent three years working at BU from 2014 to 2017.

Willander probably won’t earn first-unit power-play time as a freshman. Lane Hutson, Montreal’s second-round pick in 2022, dominated with 48 points in 39 games for the Terriers last season and will be given the keys to the club’s best offensive situations. We probably shouldn’t expect big point totals from Willander this season, as a result. Willander would likely be handed a much bigger offensive portfolio in 2024-25 as a sophomore. He’s probably best served spending two years in the NCAA before turning pro, considering how much he needs to grow offensively, rather than signing an entry-level contract after his freshman season like Quinn Hughes.

(Photo of Arturs Silovs: Anne-Marie Sorvin / USA Today)