Jeff Paterson talks Filip Hronek’s next deal, Elias Lindholm’s building blocks, and more: Canucks Conversation
1 month ago
On yesterday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal were joined by RinkWide’s Jeff Paterson to discuss a number of topics surrounding the Vancouver Canucks.
Quads kicked off the discussion by asking Jeff how confident he is that the Canucks can string some wins together during Thatcher Demko’s absence.
“If they can bottle up what they’ve had here over the last 4 games, absolutely,” JPat answered. “Colorado is going to be a test; the Avs are in Calgary tonight so they’re getting another team on back-to-backs. This is where the schedule plays in the Canucks’ favor, but it’s Nathan MacKinnon, it’s Cale Makar – the Avs are going to be a handful. Massive test for Casey DeSmith, but if this team can stick to its staples and defend the way they did against the Winnipeg Jets, I think DeSmith is up to the challenge. Tocchet said DeSmith’s going to start the next two, and then they’d reassess where he is and where the club is. Wouldn’t commit to an Arturs Silovs start with the call-up, so it is Casey DeSmith’s net. It was really important he got that win in Anaheim – he hadn’t played since being shelled for 8 in Minnesota. He had to sleep on that for a couple of weeks. Even the other night – 33 minutes of relief duty against a Jets team that wasn’t out of it (although they didn’t look that into it either). But his job as a goaltender is to stop pucks and that’s what he did; stopped all 10 shots that came his way. I think he can build off 93 minutes of hockey where he gave up one flukey goal to the Ducks and be ready for the challenge.”
On Lindholm’s improvement — Harm: Do you think Elias Lindholm’s game is starting to trend in the right direction?
JPat: “There’s been a lot of things to like in his game,” JPat replied. “He’s not a 40-goal, 80-point guy. He’s had two big seasons offensively in his NHL career, but if you look at his other years, they’re in that high-40s, low-50s point totals. That’s really more who he is, and then you add that to the faceoffs, the penalty killing, late-game protecting leads, and those things. Rick Tocchet was raving about him today (at practice) and said if he continues to do what he’s doing, the building blocks are there, there’s going to be some offense. You think about how many different linemates he had after the trade – to the point he had Arshdeep Bains playing with him, who was trying to find his level in the NHL – but he looked a little reluctant to make plays. And here you’ve got Lindholm trying to settle in with a new team, and he’s got a raw rookie. Now he’s got Podkolzin on his wing, but he’s looked pretty good in the 4 games he’s played. Would you like a little more production? Sure, but this team scores enough goals when the other guys are doing what they do. They don’t need Elias Lindholm scoring multiple times a night. It’s more those little things that coaches truly appreciate, and listening to Tocchet today, he seemed to give Lindholm far better than a ‘passing grade’ for his time here.”
On Filip Hronek’s next contract — Quads: “What do you think Hronek’s next contract will look like?”
JPat: “From the surface, it’s impossible to imagine a teammate playing the same position could get more than Quinn Hughes, but we understand the economics and how the market works, and Hughes right now is one of the best value contracts in the NHL. You’d like to have an internal salary cap, but a right-shot defenseman, putting up the points, playing the minutes at the age Hronek is – he’s going to be able to command a fair bit. I think it’s going to be tough for the Canucks to keep that number under Quinn Hughes’ salary. We’ll see where it goes. Would love to know the initial contract offer; I would imagine they start low and negotiate from there. It’s going to be fascinating, but they’ve got the cost-certainty of Elias Pettersson – that was the big domino.”
You can watch the full segment in the video below:
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