VANCOUVER — New head coach Adam Foote and a staff rebuilt around him will give the Vancouver Canucks a newness in training camp and the pre-season.
But almost everything that occurs before the season opener on Oct. 9 will be with the intent to make the Canucks as they were: with $92.8-million centre Elias Pettersson a first-line presence, star goalie Thatcher Demko healthy and in form, and Quinn Hughes primed for another Norris Trophy campaign. Harmony and health everywhere is the goal after the drama, upheaval and injuries that plagued the organization last season.
Despite a significant hole at centre, the Canucks are already ahead of where they were a year ago with players healthy and, apparently, prepared. They are desperate for a good start.
Salary cap space: $3.27 million
General manager: Patrik Allvin (5th season)
Head coach: Adam Foote (1st season)
Assistant coaches: Scott Young, Kevin Dean, Brett McLean, Marko Torenius (goaltending), Jason Krog (skills), Henrik and Daniel Sedin (player development)
Unsigned players: None
Key new addition: Evander Kane
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WHAT WE’LL LEARN DURING THE PRE-SEASON
Centres of attention
Three years ago, the Canucks opened the season with Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller and Bo Horvat at centre. It was difficult some nights to tell who was the first-line centre and who was the third, but it was one of the best centre trios in the NHL and the backbone of the team.
But salary-cap choices and dressing-room dysfunction led to the trades of Horvat and Miller. And although this allowed the Canucks to significantly upgrade their defence (adding Filip Hronek and Marcus Pettersson), it has left them with Pettersson, Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger as their top three incumbent NHL centres.
After his 15-goal, 45-point season, Pettersson needs to re-establish himself as a front-line centre, and Chytil must stay healthy to prove he can pilot a second line. Versatile and experienced as he is, Blueger is not a third-line centre.
As Vancouver general manager Patrik Allvin continues to plumb the trade market for another pivot, internally filling the gap on the third line while building out centre depth is the Canucks’ biggest mission of the pre-season. Patiently developed centre prospect Aatu Raty, who had seven goals and 11 points in 33 games last season, will get a chance to audition in the top nine, and speedy Max Sasson could also push his way into the NHL lineup after centring the first line in the Abbotsford Canucks’ American league championship run last spring.
But whether through trade or waiver pickup, centre is the position most likely to change in Vancouver before the season opener.
Young defencemen cometh
The Canucks have built the organization’s strongest blue line since the team went to the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. Led by Norris Trophy winner Hughes, with Hronek as the No. 2 and backed by physically imposing veterans Marcus Pettersson, Tyler Myers and Derek Forbort, Vancouver’s defence could be top-five in the NHL. And yet, there is room at the bottom of the blue line for one or two prospects — and the Canucks have several candidates.
Elias Pettersson (Junior), the 21-year-old who surpassed all expectations last season by earning 28 games with the Canucks in his first winter in North America, is the favourite to reclaim an NHL spot during camp and the pre-season. But top prospect Tom Willander, after two years at Boston University, could make the team as a 20-year-old straight out of college. The Canucks also have big and mobile 22-year-old Victor Mancini, who played 16 games for them last season after arriving from New York in the Miller trade.
Signed in free agency after splitting last season between St. Louis and Pittsburgh, Pierre-Olivier Joseph appears to be the experienced depth defenceman the kids are chasing.
And the winner is …
July’s trade of third-line winger Dakota Joshua to the Toronto Maple Leafs gave the Canucks a little more cap space to pursue a centre. But in the meantime, it also created another roster opening for which the organization has a handful of players auditioning.
Raty and Sasson are not the only forwards the Canucks feel have earned the right to challenge for an NHL spot after winning the Calder Cup. Net-front winger Linus Karlsson, who led the AHL team with 14 playoff goals, is waiver-eligible and a strong candidate to earn a spot in Vancouver. Fast, offensive winger Arshdeep Bains could also graduate full-time to Vancouver after playing 21 NHL games over the last two seasons, and sophomore sniper-in-training Jonathan Lekkerimaki has a chance to make the Canucks in the pre-season.
Allvin appears to have succeeded in his stated goal to build more depth into the Canucks’ prospect pool and then develop it so minor-league graduation isn’t about only one or two players.
H2 or no?
Hughes and Hronek have played mostly together since the latter was acquired from Detroit two-and-a-half years ago, giving the Canucks one of the best defence pairings in hockey. But there have been sporadic attempts to split them so Hronek can use his own considerable puck-moving skills to drive a second pairing. The likelihood of a couple of talented young defencemen making the Canucks increases the chances of Hughes and Hronek changing partners. The pre-season is expected to be a test case.
Line formations
With Miller traded and third-line centre Pius Suter gone in free agency, not only are the Canucks trying to settle on centres, they need to figure out new line combinations. Conor Garland’s role will be fascinating to watch because he is a top-six winger who has proved himself capable of driving the third line. Newcomer Evander Kane is expected to play alongside Pettersson on the top line, but will he shift to the right side to allow 28-goal scorer Jake DeBrusk to stay on the left side of the top unit? And even if Brock Boeser stays with Chytil, there will be competition for a spot on the second line. Look for Nils Hoglander and Kiefer Sherwood, among others, to compete. Unless Garland plays there.
ONE BOLD PREDICTION
The lineup that starts the pre-season will not be the one that starts the regular season. The Canucks’ need for a middle-six centre — for capable depth, should something happen to Pettersson or Chytil — is too great for them not to make a significant move before the season opener at home against the Flames.
PROJECTED LINEUP
Forward lines
Jake DeBrusk-Elias Pettersson-Evander Kane
Nils Hoglander-Filip Chytil-Brock Boeser
Conor Garland-Aatu Raty-Kiefer Sherwood
Drew O’Connor-Teddy Blueger-Linus Karlsson
Defence pairings
Quinn Hughes-Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson-Tyler Myers
Elias Pettersson (Junior)-Derek Forbort
Goaltenders
Thatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen
Extra skaters
F Max Sasson, D Tom Willander
