By Robert Brent -
Minnesota Wild hockey is finally back! Last weekend, Minnesota took the ice for the first time this year in the Tom Kurvers Prospect Tournament. The Wild joined the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues for a two-game tournament, during which the team's prospects got some experience playing for the organization.
The tournament isn't exactly a monumental event. Still, seeing some of the team's most exciting youngest players don the forest green is fun. One player suiting up for the Wild, Caedan Bankier, has recently been the subject of discussion regarding his quality as a prospect. Hockey Wilderness recently completed our top ten Wild Prospects series, but Bankier did not make the list.
Still, he’s a promising prospect. Let’s examine why so much conversation has surrounded the 21-year-old forward.
Bankier climbs the ladder
Even some of the most hardcore Wild fans may not be familiar with Caedan Bankier. Minnesota drafted him in the third round (86th overall) of the 2021 draft. However, some experts considered the pick a bit of reach. Bob McKenzie didn’t rank Bankier in his top 100 prospects ranking or The Hockey News’ top 120 at the time.
After the Wild drafted him, Bankier went on a run to the Memorial Cup with the Kamloops Blazers before beginning his professional career last season with the Iowa Wild. Iowa had a disappointing year, but Bankier improved significantly throughout the season. Seeing the young forward improve after an injury that bothered him at the beginning of the campaign was incredibly encouraging.
The British Columbia native scored 13 goals and 23 points in 51 AHL games. It was a decent rookie season but hardly one that inspired Wild fans to have the prospect constantly brought up in conversations. Still, the center has recently become one of the most-talked-about Wild prospects.
In his recent rankings of Minnesota’s prospects, Corey Pronman had Caedan Bankier as his sixth-best prospect in the Wild organization. Pronman’s ranking was especially surprising, given some of the names behind him. Liam Ohgren ranked seventh on the list, while Marat Khusnutdinov came in at No. 11. Ohgren and Khusnutdinov should play significant roles on this year. Pronman’s rankings can undoubtedly be provocative, but his appraisal of Bankier caught many by surprise.
The Athletic's prospect guru also recently named Bankier the Wild’s most interesting prospect entering the 2024-25 season. In a year where prospects like Khusnutdinov, Ohgren, and Jesper Wallstedt will have crucial years in their development, calling Bankier the most interesting prospect in Minnesota is high praise. His sudden ascension up the Wild ladder leads to a natural question.
What makes him so promising?
Examining Bankier’s game
At 6'2", 192 lbs., Caedan Bankier is a center with NHL size. At 21, he may fill his frame out even more, but he wouldn't need to prepare for the league physically. He uses his size well, especially in puck battles against the boards, and projects as a defensively responsible power forward. The biggest knock on Bankier when the Wild drafted him was that he was a relatively weak skater, but he's made progress since the draft.
Pronman ranks players based on their skating, puck skills, hockey sense, compete level, and shot. He ranks Bankier as NHL average in every category, except for his shot (rated as above NHL average). Pronman also praised the forward for having "legit hands and creativity and can create with pace. He showed in the AHL and in junior that he has enough touch to be a flank power-play type."
Bankier has a good shot but has struggled to assert himself and use it frequently. However, he may change that this season. One of the most encouraging aspects of Bankier's involvement in Tom Kurvers Prospect Tournament was a post-game interview in which he said he'd make a concerted effort to shoot more.
"Going back to last year, me and Joël Teasdale always talked about being a shooter out there," Bankier said. "We had a couple of good talks this summer that stuck with me, and I wanted to bring that in tonight."
Bankier used his shot effectively in the prospect tournament, scoring two goals over the weekend. During the first game, Bankier potted a goal through a screen from the top of the faceoff circle that spotlighted his shot exceptionally well.
He doesn't project as a big-time scorer in the NHL, but a well-rounded center with size and an excellent shot fits nicely on any NHL team. When you look at how the Wild have built their team, it becomes clear why Bankier has risen the Wild's prospect ladder rapidly. The center fits perfectly for their needs and roster-building philosophy.
Bankier is a good fit for the Wild
Let’s talk about Minnesota’s areas of need. The Wild are set at center in their top six with Joel Erikson Ek and Marco Rossi. But things get a bit harder to project after that. Marat Khusnutdinov will have an opportunity to seize the role of third-line center. Veterans in the bottom six will also fill in spots. However, depth at center is still not a strength for Minnesota. Their lack of scoring depth was evident last season.
If he graduates to the NHL, Caedan Bankier could provide another option at center that can give some of that depth scoring the team is missing. Bankier also fits the big and physical mold Minnesota is going for in their bottom six. Bankier has many positive traits and fits into areas of need for the Wild. In Pronman’s prospect writing, he projects Bankier as a player who, at his ceiling, has the chance to be Minnesota’s third-line center. The young forward has the tools to develop into that role.
We tend to talk exclusively about the positives when evaluating prospects. Caeden Bankier is a third-round draft pick who is still developing. He isn’t ready for the NHL this year, and we shouldn’t expect him to be. Still, if he continues improving at the rate he has over the last several seasons, there is reason to be excited about how he may contribute to the Wild.
Bankier has all the tools to improve. Before this offseason, his name wasn’t on everyone’s mind. Still, he has become one of the Wild’s most exciting prospect names to follow this coming season.
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