Welcome Matt: Canucks defence prospects looking suspect again

Jett Woo was cut on Monday. And Guillaume Brisebois was released today.

And that may be the last we hear about both players when it comes to the Vancouver Canucks.

In all likelihood, they’ll play for Abbotsford this season, although Brisebois will have to clear waivers first, but their chances of playing for the big club are now all but gone.

Woo, 22, was the 37th pick of the 2018 draft and many, myself included, liked the value on a player who some draft observers thought would go in the first round. He had size and a big right-shot, and for several years he was the one defenceman in the Canucks organization who maybe, just maybe, had an NHL future.

Then there was Brisebois or “Breeze-bew-aaah” as the former GM called him.

Do you remember how often the Canucks would utter his name, or tack his name on to a list of young players when they were trying to pretend they had prospects?

The 66th pick in the 2015 draft, he was selected with the third-rounder acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes for Eddie Lack. He played a game for the Canucks last year when injuries and COVID-19 struck, and had an eight-game cameo in 2018-19.

But not sure we hear from Brisebois this year.

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In fact, for the first time in many years, Blake and I did not hear from fans wondering if Woo or Brisebois would take the next step and vie for a role by making it to the final cuts.

That was a staple of previous Canucks’ camps: optimistic fans hoping to speak suspects into prospects. And I get it, when the cupboard is so barren, you focus on the best ones you have, and you maintain hope.

But in successive years here, the Canucks have brought in journeymen blueliners who have suppressed the upward mobility of Woo and Brisebois.

Last year it was Noah Juulsen (who is still here) and Madison Bowey. This year it’s Christian Wolanin.

The thing is — and this is the depressing part — the Canucks don’t presently have a next round of Woo and Brisebois. At least not beyond their reserve list.

We had some inquiries about one-time first-round pick Filip Johansson this year, but he was signed only to be loaned back to the Swedish Hockey League. That likely says it all.

Barring blue-chip defence prospects, I guess we’ll next turn our attention to Joni Jurmo, Jonathan Myrenberg, and Jacob Truscott.

Gotta keep the faith.