Canucks fans’ wish list over the final month of the NHL season: Canucks Conversation
1 month ago
On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal discussed a few things Canucks fans’ would like to see to help the team’s chances in the playoffs as this season comes to a close.
Hoping for a Favorable Playoff Matchup and an Oilers Slide
“5 weeks left of the NHL regular season, and for Canucks fans, you know you’re going to make the playoffs so that’s not on the wish list like it is every year,” Quads stated. “We’re talking about things around the league that you’re looking for in the final weeks if you’re a Canucks fan. The first one on my list- you want Vegas to win, Nashville to lose so Nashville falls in that second spot, you want a favorable playoff opponent so obviously you’re watching for that over the final weeks. Moving past that, though: the Oilers losing over the final month. Do you know how insufferable our friends at OilersNation would be if the Oilers come back and take the 1st spot in the Pacific before the end of the season?”
Harm echoed those sentiments, adding a specific wish: “That, and you don’t want them to find their game right into the playoffs. It’s better if they have a little slide, if Stuart Skinner loses some confidence and re-summons his form from the last playoffs- that’d be great. Overall, the key for this Oilers team always comes back to their defence and goaltending being a wildcard. We know they’re offensive juggernauts, but they have these lulls in stretches- some periods where they’re stingy, don’t give up a lot, dominating possession because of their offence, Skinner will put together stretches where he does well- and those are the point where they look, I don’t want to say unbeatable, but that’s where they enter that conversation with people crowning them as Stanley Cup favourites heading into this season. But then, you have moments where Evan Bouchard forgets how to play defence, Darnell Nurse and Cody Ceci aren’t reliable at all, and Skinner is Swiss cheese in the net.”
Focus on the Stars: Don’t let Oettinger get hot
The conversation then shifted to the Dallas Stars, with Harm focusing on goaltender Jake Oettinger’s underperformance this season: “The one thing I’m looking for is making sure Jake Oettinger stays playing at a sub-par level. He’s got a .896 save percentage this year, which is huge because if Oettinger got back to playing like Jake Oettinger, I think the Dallas Stars are the best team in the Western Conference at that point.”
Quads agreed, highlighting the danger of a resurgent Oettinger: “That’s a good take. You’re talking about the Jake Oettinger who put up a .919 last year and a guy a lot of people thought would be in the Vezina conversation this season, myself included.”
Harm went on to break down why a fully-firing Dallas Stars team is a force to be reckoned with: “And you just look at their team, their roster up and down. Year in and year out, that top line is consistently one of the best in the NHL. I know Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, and Joe Pavelski aren’t the biggest names, but whether it’s controlling shots, chances, actual goals- they consistently dominate and put up elite results. Then to follow that up with Matt Duchene, who has been the best free agent signing of this past summer, plus they’re going to get Seguin back, so that second line of Duchene, Marchment, Seguin is one of the best second lines in the NHL. And they don’t even have a third line, they basically have another second line.”
“You want to compare them to Colorado; yeah, the Avs’ big line is probably better than Dallas’ first line, but Dallas’ second and third are on another planet compared to Colorado. They brought in Chris Tanev to shore up their blue line, Thomas Harley is having a breakout year as a top defenseman to complement Miro Heiskanen… If they get Oettenger playing like Oettenger, I’m telling you, the Dallas Stars are a problem.”
The guys went on to chat about Demko and an ideal landing spot for Macklin Celebrini, the top prospect coming into this year’s draft.
You can watch the full replay of today’s show below:
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