On Friday, September 7th, Canucks hockey will be back. Sort of.
At the Young Stars Classic next week, the Canucks prospects will take on the Winnipeg Jets’ prospects in two games in Penticton. It’s not exactly the same as Canucks hockey, but they’ll at least be wearing Canucks jerseys, so it’s pretty close. And, after a summer bereft of hockey, it will come as welcome relief.
Among the prospects already drafted and/or signed by the Canucks will be several invitees. These players are not in the Canucks’ system, but could be signed and added to the prospect pool if they impress at prospect camp.
Anthony Salinitri isn’t your typical invitee, in that he’s not exactly undrafted. Salinitri was a 6th round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2016, but the Flyers, already at 48 of their maximum 50 contracts, chose not to sign the speedy centre this June.
That makes Salinitri an intriguing free agent. Let’s take a closer look.
Anthony Salinitri – Centre
5’11″ – 182 lbs – Mar 5, 1998 (20)
Windsor, ON
Sarnia Sting (67-27-31-58)
At a glance, Salinitri has all the qualities you like to see in an offensive forward. The most immediately noticeable is his speed, but he can also make plays with his passing and vision, and has a sneaky good shot that he can get away quickly.
On top of that offensive skill, Salinitri is a solid two-way player, who can kill penalties and use his speed to close down on opposing players defensively. While he generally plays at centre, he can play all three forward positions, borne out of necessity when he joined a deep
“It was asked of me to move around,” said Salinitri. “I had to be able to play different positions if I wanted to get into the lineup...I started really playing wing and I got used to it and then I got bumped back to centre a few times, so I’m able to play both positions.”
A two-way, versatile centre with speed and offensive upside? What’s not to like?
There are just a couple issues. One is that he’s a little bit undersized. Salinitri is listed on the Canucks Young Stars roster at 5’11” and 182 lbs, which isn’t tiny, but may be slightly exaggerating his height. Hockey DB has him at 180 cm, which comes out to 5’10.89”. That said, plenty of undersized forwards thrive in the NHL thanks to speed and offensive flair.
That’s the other issue. When it comes to offense, Salinitri just hasn’t produced enough in the OHL to give you enough confidence that he could someday put up points in the NHL.
The Flyers took a chance on Salinitri in the 2016 draft despite underwhelming point production in his draft year, mainly because he was buried on a deep Sarnia team and didn’t get top-six ice time. He had 17 goals and 30 points in 62 games that year.
The following season, Salinitri improved to 28 goals and 58 points in 66 games, but his development stalled last season. He put up similar numbers in his draft+2 year at 27 goals and 58 points in 67 games. When there are guys on his team scoring well over a point per game, including Jordan Kyrou at 109 points in 56 games, it makes you wonder why Salinitri isn’t putting up more points.
Perhaps it was an issue of ice time once again, as Salinitri was fourth on the team in estimated time on ice per game according to Prospect-Stats and was accordingly fourth on the team in scoring. He still got first unit power play time, however, and at 19 there are few excuses available for a prospect in Major Junior.
With his skill set, size, and production, Salinitri is starting to fit the profile of an AHL player, or perhaps the type of speedy forward that would thrive in the larger rinks in Europe. If he wants an NHL career, he’ll need to take a step forward with his production.
That said, speed will take you a long way in the modern NHL, as will Salinitri’s defensive responsibility. For the Canucks, a team with a distinct lack of depth at centre in their prospect pool, Salinitri might be worth a contract.
After Elias Pettersson and Adam Gaudette, the pickings get slim at centre for the Canucks. There’s AHL veteran Tanner Kero, Zack MacEwen, who spent most of last season at right wing with the Comets, and a couple wild cards in Tyler Madden and Dmitry Zhukenov. While Salinitri has played plenty on the wing in Junior, the Canucks can take a closer look at camp to see if they think he projects as a centre.
If the Canucks sign Salinitri, he could head straight to the AHL or ECHL. Alternately, he could return to Sarnia for his over-age year whether or not he signs an NHL contract.
