Daniel Wagner joins to chat about potential diamonds in the rough to target: Canucks Conversation
12 days ago
On Wednesday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal were joined by journalist Daniel Wagner to discuss some players who have the potential to take the next step and make an impact on Vancouver’s roster under the guidance of Rick Tocchet.
Daniel has been researching players who fit the mould of potentially following the Dakota Joshua path—becoming the best version of themselves with Rick Tocchet’s style of hockey. With Joshua and the Canucks reportedly not close to agreeing on a new deal, Vancouver’s front office will be doing their due diligence in finding a replacement power forward who can come in and make an impact.
Former Canucks prospect Kole Lind was the first name Daniel mentioned.
“Why isn’t anyone signing Kole Lind? He immediately jumps out, and not just because he’s a former Canuck,” said Daniel. “He’s been dominating the AHL the last couple of seasons, led the AHL playoffs in scoring just two seasons ago. He’s a guy who isn’t getting that opportunity in the NHL and maybe deserves a longer look. That’s a guy I’m intrigued by.”
Lind was drafted 33rd overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and has failed to stick in the NHL to this point. He has 2 goals and 8 points in 31 career NHL games while steadily producing in the AHL with 232 points in 313 games.
“I’m also looking at Brett Murray from the Buffalo Sabres organization,” Daniel continued. “He fits that Dakota Joshua mold; he’s got the size, he’s 6’5, kills penalties, physical, fights, defends his teammates—he’s got a lot of those qualities. He’s not as fast as Dakota Joshua, which is maybe a point against him, but he’s someone who’s not getting that opportunity, was really good in the AHL this last season and might be worth a shot. The Rochester Americans love him. The coach calls him one of their most physical players, best puck protector, and a guy who has a major impact on puck possession because he does those things on the boards: protecting the puck, winning battles. If that doesn’t sound like a Rick Tocchet guy, I don’t know who does. That foot speed is an issue, which is maybe why he hasn’t stuck in the NHL, but when he was in for a few games this last season, he showed pretty well; his underlying numbers were really good. Dakota Joshua had really good underlying numbers before he came to Vancouver; there were a lot of indications that he had more to give. Someone like Riley Tufte, who has poor underlying numbers—you wonder if he has more to give or if that’s who he is, a player who can’t make it in the NHL.”
Murray was taken with the 99th pick by Buffalo in the 2016 draft, but has only made it into 23 NHL games, tallying 2 goals and 6 points. He stands at 6’5, 228 pounds.
“If you take a shotgun approach with a lot of chances on these guys, maybe one of them hits. You have this situation in Abbotsford where it’s right down the road; you can have the Sedins or other development coaches spending time with them in Abbotsford and potentially Vancouver. That’s a really nice opportunity in terms of development, and those players could take that next step with that situation in the AHL. Abbotsford has a couple of players who are potentially leaving, guys like Sheldon Dries, so maybe there’s an opportunity for those players to take a leadership role in Abbotsford if they’re not the next Dakota Joshua in the NHL,” Daniel concluded.
You can watch the full segment below:
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