Two days ago, we concluded our report on the Young Stars tournament invitees — Antoine Roussel, Nathan Longpre and Karel St. Laurent — and their quests to earn professional contracts within the bowels of the Canucks organization. Roussel had been successful, Longpre’s tryout was extended, and St. Laurent had unfortunately been released and would be attending and playing goal for Trois Rivieres, according to our sources.

Turns out, we were wrong. St. Laurent’s not heading home; he’s heading to Pennsylvania to be the number one netminder for the ECHL’s Reading Royals, after signing a contract with the Providence Bruins.

Last week, we provided an update on Antoine Roussel, one of three young players that managed to parlay an invitation from the Canucks’ to the Young Stars tournament in Penticton into a tryout with their AHL affiliate in Chicago. Roussel had done what he set out to do, earning a contract with the Wolves.

At the time, there was no news on the other two invitees, Nathan Longpre and Karel St. Laurent, but with the Wolves’ first game of the regular season set for this Saturday, a decision on both players was expected by the middle of this week. That decision has been made. Despite a strong showing, Karel St. Laurent was unable to crack the Wolves’ goaltending depth chart, and has been released. Meanwhile, Nathan Longpre’s long shot continues, as the Wolves have signed the 23-year-old centre to a professional tryout (PTO) of their own.

Of the handful of players invited to pad out the roster for the Canucks’ Young Stars team in Penticton, three impressed: Karel St. Laurent, Nathan Longpre, and Antoine Roussel. At the end of the tournament, all three were invited to main camp and, while they failed to earn contracts with the Canucks, each was eventually assigned to the training camp of the Canucks’ AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves.

Antoine Roussel has already made the most of the opportunity, signing a contract to join the Wolves forward corps’ for the upcoming season.

The Canucks closed out a cut-heavy Sunday night by losing four more members of the training camp roster, assigning Matt Climie and Antoine Roussel to the Wolves, and reassigning both Owen Nolan and Niko Dimitrakos from their tryout contracts. Once again, PITB is here to break down the moves, although if these four need any explanation, it’s possible you won’t even comprehend the one I provide.

Despite Alain Vigneault’s claims that the next round of cuts wouldn’t come until Friday, the Canucks made two minor reductions today, sending 2011 third round draft pick Alexandre Grenier back to the QMJHL and releasing prospect camp invitee Karel St. Laurent to their AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves. Followers of Grenier on Twitter saw this coming, as he tweeted this morning that he was on his way back to the Halifax Mooseheads.

As always, PITB is here for the explanation. Since we’re not too far into training camp and the preseason just yet, the explanations are not too difficult. Grenier is clearly not ready for the NHL yet and there’s just no room for Karel St. Laurent in Vancouver.

On the eve of tomorrow’s split squad games with the Calgary Flames, the Canucks have trimmed their preseason roster by two, sending defensemen Sawyer Hannay back to Halifax and releasing Marc Anthony Zanetti outright. Any time this happens, we at PITB will do our best to explain why these players were cut, and it’s pretty easy this early into training camp. Neither was good enough.

Shortly after the conclusion of the final game of the Young Stars Tournament, the Vancouver Canucks announced their first round of cuts, letting eight players know that they would not be coming to the main camp. Unfortunately for me and my increasingly creepy obsession, all eight players were invitees. We bid a sad farewell to Michael Curtis, Craig Duininck, Ryan Harrison, Steven Janes, Brendan Jensen, Jonathan Lessard, Ian Saab, and Andrew Smith.

In happier news, this means that several invitees are heading to main camp and are still in the running to earn a contract with the Canucks or Wolves. Sticking around are Marc Anthony Zanetti, Nathan Longpre, Antoine Roussel, and Karel St. Laurent. It’s worth noting that the invitees asked to stay were four of the five oldest invitees. All four are at least 20, with the only 20-year-old not staying being Jonathan Lessard.

So how did these players fare during the Young Stars Tournament? Are any invitees heading back to Junior unjustly? And of those staying, do any of them have a chance at earning a contract? Fortunately for you, I watched all four games of the tournament and took extensive notes. Let’s take a look.

Throughout the Young Stars Tournament, we will have in-person coverage from Harrison, while I will be “in studio” back here in the Valley. We won’t be writing our usual I Watched This Game feature, as the games themselves are not what matters. Instead, we’ll be looking at the individual performances. I will be choosing the 3 stars from amongst the Canucks prospects as well as making a few other observations. Why just the Canucks prospects? Because we don’t care about the other teams. Screw ‘em.

Throughout the Young Stars Tournament, we will have in-person coverage from Harrison, while I will be “in studio” back here in the Valley. We won’t be writing our usual I Watched This Game feature, as the games themselves are not what matters. Instead, we’ll be looking at the individual performances. I will be choosing the 3 stars from amongst the Canucks prospects as well as making a few other observations. Why just the Canucks prospects? Because we don’t care about the other teams. Screw ‘em.

Back when the Canucks’ Young Stars roster was released, I made a point of boosting for invitee Ryan Harrison, who immediately earned my affection by having the same last name as my first name.

As the Jersey Foul bingo card establishes, putting your own name on the back of a team jersey is a massive fail (unless you play for the team). That in mind, I’ve been waiting for quite some time for the Canucks to dress a player with whom I shared a name. As a guy with two last names, I figured it would only be a matter of time until the day one of them showed up on a nameplate.

That day has come. Ryan Harrison, je t’aime.

Throughout the Young Stars Tournament, we will have in-person coverage from Harrison, while I will be “in studio” back here in the Valley. We won’t be writing our usual I Watched This Game feature, as the games themselves are not what matters. Instead, we’ll be looking at the individual performances. I will be choosing the 3 stars from amongst the Canucks prospects as well as making a few other observations. Why just the Canucks prospects? Because we don’t care about the other teams. Screw ‘em.

Nicklas and Brendan Jensen may have the same last name, but they enter prospect camp with completely different expectations. And, for that matter, pronunciations. Nicklas sports a soft “J”, while Brendan has a hard “J”, which is appropriate, as he has a much harder path ahead of him.

Nicklas is a first-round pick, while Brendan is an unsigned invitee. Nicklas spent his summer at the Canucks’ development camp, while Brendan spent the summer wondering if he’d have a job with the Vancouver Giants with Canucks draft pick Jonathan Iilahti slated to come over from Finland. Nicklas has been training with the Danish U-20 team in Quebec, playing exhibition games against teams in the QMJHL, while Brendan has been training with the Giants and having his coach publicly question his ability to be a number one goaltender.

And yet, both find themselves at the Canucks’ prospect camp and Young Stars tournament, both wearing the familiar orca on the front of their jerseys.

Throughout the Young Stars Tournament, we will have in-person coverage from Harrison, while I will be “in studio” back here in the Valley. We won’t be writing our usual I Watched This Game feature, as the games themselves are not what matters. Instead, we’ll be looking at the individual performances. I will be choosing the 3 stars from amongst the Canucks prospects as well as making a few other observations. Why just the Canucks prospects? Because we don’t care about the other teams. Screw ‘em.

On Tuesday, I finished introducing you to the invitees to the Vancouver Canucks 2011 prospects camp. Or so I thought. When I went back and compared my posts to the prospect camp roster I realized that I had missed a forward: right winger, Steven Janes. With the camp kicking off with a morning press conference today, I had to make up for my mistake and give Janes his due. Here’s hoping he becomes the hockey equivalent of the 5th of November.

The Vancouver Canucks will have just one signed goalie appearing at the 2011 Young Stars Tournament, third round draft pick David Honzik. A teammate of invitee forward Andrew Smith, Honzik will likely see the bulk of the action between the pipes for the Canucks. But with Eddie Lack graduating to a starter’s role in the AHL, Jonathan Iilahti still in Finland, and Joe Cannata in the NCAA, the Canucks needed to fill out their roster, necessitating two invites.

They didn’t need to look particularly far, with one invite coming from the Vancouver Giants and the other being an invitee from their Summer development camp. With prospects camp just a few days away, here are the final two invitees looking for a contract offer.

The Canucks prospect camp opens on Friday, September 9th. Last Friday I introduced you to the 3 defensemen invitees, Craig Duininck, Ian Saab, and Marc-Anthony Zanetti. Today, it’s time for the forwards, highlighted by a solid two-way winger, a French sniper, and a standout NCAA scorer. Three of these forwards trace their origins to the QMJHL. In fact, five of the eleven invitees come from the QMJHL, which is an interesting trend.

Will any of these invitees earn themselves a spot on the Canucks roster? It’s extremely unlikely. The Canucks have a logjam of forwards at every position, but it’s possible that an impressive performance could earn one of these forwards a contract and a spot with the Chicago Wolves.

The complete Canucks prospects camp roster was announced recently and Canucks fans are excited to see the team’s young prospects in the Young Stars tournament, including their 2011 first round draft pick Nicklas Jensen and free agent signees Darren Archibald and Bill Sweatt. But beyond the big names deep in the Canucks depth chart, there are 10 undrafted/unsigned invitees coming to camp, hoping to earn an invite to the Canucks main camp and, perhaps, a contract.

The Canucks 2011 Development Camp starts today. This is a big moment in the lives of the Canucks prospects: for some, this is their first chance to see Vancouver, step into Rogers Arena, and show the staff and management of the Canucks what they can do in person. But this is also a big moment for those who have hopes of becoming Canucks prospects. Some of the invitees are coming to their first ever NHL camp and have years of development ahead of them, while others are nearing the end of their major junior or college careers and are looking for a professional contract within the next two years.

I introduced you to 6 of the 12 invitees yesterday morning. Here are the remaining invitees, highlighted by a towering goaltender and a Swedish twin.

The 2011 Canucks Prospect Camp opens on Tuesday, July 5th, marking the first chance for Canucks management and fans to see their 2011 draft picks in person and mark the development of their other prospects. The Canucks have announced that 34 players will attend the camp, though the released roster has 35 names. And while it will certainly be fun to see the big names, like 2011 first round pick Nicklas Jensen, December signee Darren Archibald who finished 9th in OHL goalscoring, and 2009 second round pick Anton Rodin, I am more interested in the invitees.

The undrafted and unsigned players are often the most intriguing players at camp, as there’s always the hope that one of them will be the next Martin St. Louis, Dan Boyle, or Alexandre Burrows. While none of last year’s invitees were signed by the Canucks, a few signed with other NHL teams, like Matt Fraser with the Dallas Stars, Keith Kinkaid with the New Jersey Devils, and Taylor Fedun with the Edmonton Oilers.

The Canucks will have 12 invitees at this year’s prospect development camp. So just who are these mystery players? Do any of them have the potential to make the NHL? Will any of them earn a contract with the Canucks?

The Canucks 2011 Development Camp opens this coming Tuesday, July 5th. 34 (or possibly 35) players are expected to attend, including a number of invitees who do not yet have an NHL contract. Before delving into the who these new invitees are and what we might expect from them at camp, I’m looking back at the invitees to the 2010 development camp and training camp: where are they now? Have they moved ahead in their careers? Do any of them now have NHL contracts?

While everyone else is eagerly anticipating July 1 and the start of Free Agent Frenzy, I’m looking a little further ahead. To be quite honest, I can’t be bothered to speculate too much about what free agents might sign where. Most of the rumours and rosterbating ends up wildly inaccurate, so why bother worrying about it? I certainly have my own ideas about what players I would like to see in a Canucks uniform, but I have no control over the matter whatsoever.

Instead, I’m looking forward to the opening of the prospect development camp. For most people, the development camp is the first chance to see the Canucks most recent draft picks and compare them with prospects already in the system. While this is certainly a highlight, my favorite part of the development camp and, later in the summer, the opening of training camp, is getting to see all of the un-signed and un-drafted players who are invited to the camp. There’s always a bit of intrigue about these players: who are they? Why weren’t they drafted? Will they sign with the Canucks?