Vancouver Canucks prospect profile: Jonah Gadjovich

The Vancouver Canucks have a plethora of forward prospects. Jonah Gadjovich is among the most fascinating of them.

Jonah Gadjovich is a power-forward left winger who weighs 209 pounds and stands 6’2″. He was drafted 55th overall in the 2017 draft by the Vancouver Canucks. In his draft year, Gadjovich played for the Owen Sound Attack in the OHL, putting up 74 points (46 goals and 28 assists) in 60 games.

He returned to the OHL in his draft plus one year and had 48 points (25 goals and 23 assists) in 42 games. Gadjovich had a total of 89 in the four years he was in the OHL, after getting only four in his first year.

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This past season, he played for the Utica Comets of the AHL. In the 43 games Gadjovich played for them, he had 10 points (4 goals and 6 assists). That is one point better then he had in his first year in the OHL which gives me hope that he can take his game to another level in the AHL.

There was so much of his game I liked in his OHL seasons that I saw glimpses of over the last season. I won’t say that he is going to turn into the elite guy he was at the OHL level in the AHL, but I do believe he can be a good addition to the Canucks in a bottom 6 role.

The Good

From the four goals he scored this year, to the four he scored in his first OHL season, there is one thing that most of them have in common. They were scored from within 10 feet of the net.

Gadjovich has the hands to find rebounds quickly and bury the puck. However, his best skills for scoring would have to be his ability to deflect the puck from his office in front of the net. Not only is a good net presence, but he is great at battling for the pucks along the boards.

Without the puck, Gadjovich is just as effective, with his hard hits. He will stand up for his teammates. The Canucks have talked about wanted to get tougher and bigger. Gadjovich can fight. Even though he only had four fights last season, he proved that he isn’t afraid to stand up to anyone.

Room for improvement

There are three things Gadjovich would need to improve on to have a more successful season next year. The first is his skating ability. He also seems to be a step behind the play. The good news is that skating is also the easiest thing to fix. After a good summer of training maybe we will see him return with better skating.

The second is knowing where to be in the offensive zone and the defensive zone. If he can learn to read plays on the ice better, I believe it could lead to him having more scoring chances in the offensive zone and able to impose his will on the defensive side, much like the way he was in the OHL.

Lastly, Gadjovich must find more ways to put the puck on the net. I know that could be easier said than done because the AHL is a tougher league where there is less room to shoot, but he only had 42 shots on net. The lowest on record from his time in the OHL is 175.

I have hope that Gadjovich is going to have a better season this year and will show more of what he brings to the table. Where do you think Gadjovich will end up on the Canucks? Let us know in the comments below. All stats were found on eliteprospects.com, attackhockey.com, and theahl.com.