Smyl told Canucks.com: "I don’t know if I can really compare him to anyone, he just has his own game. He reminds me a little bit of, and I hate to put this comparison out there, but the Mogilny-type.

I think he’s a guy who plays the game at his pace and he can make plays so he has a little bit of that element to his game like Mogilny really had."

More on Smyl's take here. The Steamer keeps it cautiously optimistic, which is fair. Shirokov is not a lock. How is his defensive game? How will he handle the rough and tough NHL? We'll soon find out.

An intriguing part of the article was a fact that I had forgotten about: Shirokov was part of the Luongo trade. The Canucks traded Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan Allen and Alex Auld to Florida for Roberto Luongo, Lukas Krajicek and a 6th round pick. Dave Nonis selected Shirokov as that 6th round pick.