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Most of the top Canadian players eligible for June's draft, of course, are in the thick of the CHL playoffs and not available to coach Jesse Wallin. Nonetheless, the event is still hugely important to the Canucks who are taking part -- such as Red Deer defenseman Mathew Dumba, a projected top-five pick this summer -- and part of the reason is precisely because the planet's top producer of NHL talent isn't the favorite this time around.

"I think for all these players  there are a number of players on our team that are going to get drafted -- the thing scouts are really looking for this time of year are intangibles," Wallin told us in a phone interview from Toronto Thursday afternoon, a day before the team's departure for Europe. "They've watched these kids all year and they know what they're capable of. So I think more than anything at this point, they want to get a read on what type of teammates they are. They want to see if they're willing to buy in to have success, to show that leadership. That would be the biggest accomplishment they could all have there."

That and a title, of course.

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