And it ends just as quickly as it began.
The Vancouver Canucks have wrapped up their training camp in Penticton with the intrasquad scrimmage on Sunday. While a lot of things seemed set in stone heading into the week, there were more than a few moments that stood out throughout camp. As training camp transitions appropriately into the preseason, here are seven takeaways from the four days in Penticton.
Hughes-Hronek is good, but it’d be nice not to need them together
Talented players like playing with talented players. That’s a given, and the captain of the Canucks has been vocal in wanting to stick with Filip Hronek as his partner. “I’m always under the assumption of, ‘Don’t fix what’s not broken.’ Me and Fil were great last year. We were plus-40, the team was a goal away from going to the Conference Finals,’ Quinn Hughes said on Canucks Central Friday. “I haven’t really talked to anyone about it, [but] I love playing with Fil.”
It’s clear that these two are the best defencemen on this Canucks team. However, to start camp, they were placed in two different groups, with Rick Tocchet trying out different pairing partners with them throughout the week.
Hughes-Hronek is a great pairing, cementing themselves as one of the league’s best tandems. But is that necessarily the best for the team? In an interview earlier in the summer with the Athletic, Tocchet hinted at trying to see if Hronek could be the guy to drive his own pairing this upcoming season. “Saying that, does Fil tend to defer too much? I think he does,” Tocchet continued. “We had that talk at the end of the year, so it’s not something he’s shocked by. He knows he defers too much and I’d like to see him be more forceful with his decisions.”
“The thing with Huggy too is that he can play with a lot of different guys. With a bigger defenceman that can sling him the puck, and play a smart game, that’s a luxury too if that could happen, and then Filip could drive his own pair. That’s something we have to look at as an organization.”
It would certainly go a long way in helping stabilize the back end for Vancouver, and they’ve been testing the waters at training camp to see who might be able to fit alongside the pair that aren’t each other.
The kids are alright
For the longest time, a dearth of prospects was the norm. That has begun to tilt the other way ever so slightly. Perhaps it was low expectations heading into training camp, but more than a few Canuck prospects looked darn good and made great auditions for themselves in front of the big team’s brass.
Vilmer Alriksson dominated headlines through the Young Stars tournament, getting more than a few glowing reviews from Tocchet himself. Defenceman Elias Pettersson looked sharp, while Aatu Räty looks to have taken a step in his skating as well. Kirill Kudryavtsev looked smart and poised, definitely showing a lot of promise for a former seventh-rounder. Ty Young, the Canucks’ prospect goalie with the Prince George Cougars, has himself an admirer in Marco Torenius.
Probably the biggest headline through it all was just how good Jonathan Lekkerimäki looked. The Canucks’ first-rounder was firing home pucks as if he belonged with presumable top-6 forwards. In all, there were plenty of pleasant surprises amongst the Canucks prospect group – and that in and of itself was a win.
Lekkerimäki has a legit shot at making the team
Speaking of Lekkerimäki, the Swedish winger put together a strong camp that most probably didn’t expect. Iced in a trio with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk, his finishing caught plenty of attention. Lekkerimäki’s getting himself compliments left and right and has, at the very minimum, pushed himself into a legitimate conversation to make Vancouver’s team.
“Up until today, I didn’t really consider it a legitimate chance that he would stay in that spot,” said Harman Dayal on Canucks Conversation. “But the more I watch him play, the more I think he’s got an opportunity. I don’t think he’s necessarily the favorite to stick with the main team for the full 82 games, but he’s going to get a real crack at it – especially if he impresses in the preseason. His hockey IQ and playmaking off the rush have been really impressive. Considering the Canucks are focusing on being a team that attacks more off the rush, does that give Lekkerimäki a better chance?”
At the very minimum, Lekkerimäki is going to be featured in quite a few exhibition games as the Canucks want to take a long, hard look at their best prospect. Tocchet has said as much, and that is in and of itself encouraging to hear. Not many expected the Swede to be in this position coming in.
Conor Garland has found a home with the Canucks
It’s seriously hard to believe that Conor Garland, at this point last year, had gotten into a fight with Dakota Joshua at camp and, a couple of weeks later, put in a trade request because he just didn’t have a fit in Vancouver’s lineup. Now, after his least productive season (on paper!), Garland is an indispensable part of this team’s forward corps and is best friends with Joshua.
Tocchet has said that Garland can play with any of the guys. That versatility was certainly put to the test during training camp, as both Joshua and Teddy Blueger are currently out of the running; the winger was slotted in with many different combinations to get things going. The best part is that Garland didn’t seem out of place at all.
The Swiss-knife versatility will be needed this year as Vancouver will be trying to figure out some different combinations up front to be a better team off the rush. For one of the best 5v5 players in the league, Garland should be a key asset in that regard. It’s hard to believe that a year ago, this player who could play anywhere didn’t have a fit in the lineup.
The Canucks want to be better on the rush
A key point emphasized coming into camp was how the Canucks could become a better team off the rush. “Sometimes we break out and we’re ahead of everybody, but somehow the other team catches up. I don’t think it’s the other team’s faster, I think sometimes we play a little bit safer. Guys are just content and get and chip in a puck because we are one of the best teams forechecking teams, especially on the same side chip,” Tocchet said in his opening media availability. “But I think there’s more weak side plays for us, and I think that’s on me to get the players to do that.”
That emphasized point was underlined and highlighted by the focus and time that Vancouver devoted to working rush drills into training camp. With the added speed in the roster with the likes of Kiefer Sherwood, Danton Heinen, and Jake DeBrusk, there’s plenty of tools that the Canucks will want to take advantage of to make them that better team in transition offensively.
It’s also why Lekkerimäki has a better shot than first thought to crack the lineup, given some of the plays that he put together through the Young Stars and training camp. Vancouver’s focus and execution on the rush will be truly tested in the first couple of exhibition and regular season games.
The Canucks’ forward depth gives them options
While it looked like Vancouver was entering camp with a glut of bottom 6 wingers that couldn’t really separate themselves, it turned out to be quite an intriguing competition for the final few spots, as well as leading to more questions about how the lineup would all click together.
Take Daniel Sprong, who is trying to shake his lackadaisical defensive reputation in Vancouver. He’s buying into what Tocchet is preaching and showing off the weapon that makes him such an interesting depth addition – his shot.
Then there’s Sammy Blais, the bottom-6 winger signed to an AHL deal that’s looking to cash in on the PTO opportunity. He fits the wrecking ball mentality that Tocchet preaches and is an addition that Allvin was more than keen about having on board to see if he can be an NHL contributor. Certainly, Blais matches what the Canucks want to bring to the bottom of their lineup, that sandpaper and grit to make them hard to play against. There’s Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson, and Phil Di Giuseppe, all of them looking to make a push as well.
This isn’t even getting into what the Canucks want for their top six on top of that. Danton Heinen is getting a great look and opportunity to click alongside Miller and Boeser. Then DeBrusk was brought in to be Pettersson’s partner in crime.
In all, Vancouver has plenty of interesting conversations to be had about how their forward lineup will be put together. At the very minimum, there are intriguing depth options that’ll give plenty of permutations for the Canucks to try out.
Organizational goaltending depth
Thatcher Demko’s injury headlined the conversation in the crease, and for good reason. Missing your number-one starter is never an ideal situation, but it is the reality the Canucks will have to contend with currently.
However, Vancouver has done a good job of figuring out a variety of stop-gap measures. Arturs Silovs won’t be thrown to the wolves at the very least, which is great news for the talented Latvian netminder. He’ll get an opportunity to prove himself at the NHL level without having his long-term development harmed by being shelled.
Signing Kevin Lankinen to a team-friendly deal was a masterclass by Allvin to further shore up Vancouver’s goaltending. Jiri Patera was unconvincing at best throughout training camp, so adding the veteran netminder should help stabilize the situation further while providing a safety net and competition for Silovs. Patera as the fourth-best goalie in an organization’s depth chart, is a pretty good situation to be in, and that isn’t even factoring Nikita Tolopilo into the equation as someone who could push Patera further down.
It’s the best of an unideal situation, and given the timeline that Vancouver had to work with, it’s some creative patchworking to create this goaltending depth within the system. At the very minimum, the Canucks have three goalies with NHL experience that they can play in case things don’t go to plan with Demko.
Vancouver will begin their preseason action on Tuesday, September 24th, as they host the Seattle Kraken at Rogers Arena.
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