After beating the Penguins for their <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/stanchies-vancouver-canucks-pettersson-comeback-bains-nhl-goal-penguins">fourth straight win on Saturday night</a>, the Canucks are rolling. And thanks to you, loyal CanucksArmy readers, questions are rolling in for another edition of the Monday mailbag. There’s plenty on your minds these days, so let’s jump in and do our best to provide some answers. 
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Has Brannstrom played well enough to force Alvin into finding a way to keep him in the roster?
&mdash; Josh Haggstrom (@JoshHaggstrom) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshHaggstrom/status/1850503140203782582?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Ummm, yeah. Without a doubt. And forget just a roster spot, Brännstrom has done enough already to prove he belongs in the line-up on a nightly basis. The team has won all four games since he joined the line-up. He has an individual Corsi For of 57.6%, scoring chances at 5-on-5 are 26-18 in the Canucks favour when he&#8217;s on the ice and the team has outscored opponents 4-0 in his more than 50 minutes of even-strength ice time. So yes, he easily looks the part of one of the six best defencemen this team has at its disposal. The question becomes what is the optimal deployment of those defenders and can Brännstrom hold his own on the right side, if that’s where the Canucks choose to use him. On Friday, Rick Tocchet said the club had looked into the analytics of Brännstrom playing the right side in the NHL and the numbers had shown he can hold his own on that side. It’s something the Canucks will likely explore now that fellow lefty Derek Forbort is back in the fold.
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How long do you think the Canucks wait to make a move on Defense or do they go all the way to the deadline
&mdash; AlfaKennyOne (@JoshuaTelford1) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshuaTelford1/status/1850419292350877709?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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I think the addition of Brännstrom has changed the conversation around the Canucks defence – in the short term. I think it has taken them from Code Red in terms of needing to upgrade their blueline immediately and buys management a little time to assess what exactly they’ve got and how it stacks up against other top teams in the NHL. We’re not seeing trades around the league at this early juncture of the schedule, so give it another month or so to see what the Canucks defence corps looks like as currently constructed. It was late November last year when the team acquired Nikita Zadorov. I wouldn’t expect much significant player movement around the league until after the US Thanksgiving.
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When Joshua is back should the Canucks reunite the line with him, Garland, and Blueger and have Sherwood join Petey?
&mdash; Tyrel Iverson (@IversonTyrel) <a href="https://twitter.com/IversonTyrel/status/1850437102720405577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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As much as everyone loved Joshua and Garland together last season, Garland has elevated his game to the point it’s hard to imagine him not playing in the top six. He has been that good – and then some – to start this season. I think the question becomes does Joshua find his way onto the left wing with Pettersson and Garland at some point? I have to say I’m intrigued by the idea of Joshua and Sherwood wreaking havoc on the same line likely with Teddy Blueger in the middle. These are the champagne problems Rick Tocchet will soon have when Joshua gets the green light to return to the line-up. However, it’s important to remember that Joshua is coming off a significant injury, has missed training camp, the preseason and the first month of the schedule. It’s likely to take him a little bit of time to find his game. But there is no question that options abound — and many of them are intriguing. I just don&#8217;t know if Joshua-Blueger-Garland is one of them or if the team has evolved past that. 
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Where’s DeBrusk? Expecting more…
&mdash; JP (@JerPennington) <a href="https://twitter.com/JerPennington/status/1850420792271765617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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I’m liking those initials. What I’m not liking, so far, is Jake DeBrusk’s production. To be fair, he has four assists in seven games which would put him on a 45-point pace. So that’s not the problem. But we all know this was the team’s splashy off-season addition who was brought in for the expressed purpose of scoring goals. And, on that front, it’s been crickets. DeBrusk joked after the morning skate on Saturday that he feared he had used up too many goals in the preseason when he scored three times and looked poised to hit the ground running. 
He’s a likeable guy who knows he needs to score – and he will – but he just hasn’t looked settled since the start of the season. Part of that is the fact he’s bounced around the line-up in seven games and hasn’t found chemistry anywhere at five-on-five or on the power play. DeBrusk has managed only 11 shots on goal in his first seven games. He had four shots in the 3-2 shootout loss to Philadelphia on October 13th. Yet he’s also had three of his seven games where he hasn’t registered a single shot on net. The bottom line is that DeBrusk needs a bottom line and the Canucks need him to look more dangerous than he has so far.
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At this point of the season, what letter grade would you assign the Canucks? And why?
&mdash; Ed Helinski 🇺🇸🇵🇱 (@MrEd315) <a href="https://twitter.com/MrEd315/status/1850513140137562538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Well, Mr. Ed, I’d give the Canucks a solid B+. It’s hard to argue with one outright loss in seven games. Kevin Lankinen gets an A on his own, but overall the team gets a B+ from me. I’m not sure we’ve seen the club play a complete 60-minutes yet and still it has managed to pick up 10 of a possible 14 points in the standings. The team needs more from Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk, there’s plenty of room for improvement on the power play and the shutdown pair of Carson Soucy and Tyler Myers hasn’t had its best stuff yet. 
But depth scoring has been terrific, Conor Garland has been a machine since training camp, Quinn Hughes continues to tilt the ice and on Saturday it seemed we saw several examples of the way Rick Tocchet wants his team to attack off the rush. The Canucks wobbled briefly out of the gate, but with four straight wins now, it looks like they’re headed in the right direction. It’s only seven games into the season, so they haven’t even had a mid-term yet. It’s probably a tad premature for a letter grade to be perfectly honest, but you asked. So I answered. 
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Time for a big boy’s question. We all know the Nucks are going for it this year. With that in mind, do we start to hear trade rumours at Xmas of a trade for Toch fav Sid Crosby for a slumping Pettersson?
&mdash; GeeNVee (@GeeNVee) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeeNVee/status/1850418791936913538?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Pettersson scored and Crosby didn’t on Saturday. Case closed, no? Okay, maybe not. But let me say that was as quiet as I can recall Crosby against the Canucks in a while. Maybe it had something to do with back to backs for the now 37-year-old, but Sid just didn’t have it on Saturday night. He had a single shot on goal and won only seven of 19 face-offs. That said, he’s a legend of the game and everyone is entitled to the odd off night. As for trade rumours, it doesn’t take much to start them these days. So who knows how the rumour mill will churn. But if the Penguins struggle, I won’t be surprised to hear trade speculation even though Crosby has made it clear he wants to remain in Pittsburgh. Then again, we know this management group’s history with the Penguins so perhaps those are logical dots to connect. 
Pettersson has shown signs of life lately with his first goal and points in three straight. So let&#8217;s not run him out of town just yet. It feels like a remarkable long shot to think Crosby will pack it in on the Pens after all these years, but if gets so bleak in the Steel City that he wants to chase another Cup, I hope the Canucks are one of the teams he&#8217;d consider (even though we all know he&#8217;d probably want to join his coffee drinking/Zamboni driving buddy Nate MacKinnon in Colorado). All I ask is if Crosby is going to be traded to the Canucks, please pull the trigger on February 28th – a week before the NHL’s March 7th trade deadline – but more importantly, the 15th anniversary of his golden goal. By the way, how can it be 15 years already?
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Is it <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Canucks</a> vs <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WinnipegJets?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WinnipegJets</a> for the conference title in June?
&mdash; vanhockeytalk (@vanhockeytalk) <a href="https://twitter.com/vanhockeytalk/status/1850465071991849087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 27, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Locked and loaded. 
Oh wait, the Vegas Golden Knights are on Line 1 and would like a word. The Knights are 6-0 at home and lead the NHL with 42 goals. Wasn’t this the year they were supposed to take a step back? And what about Mark Stone leading the league with 17 points? Shouldn’t he be resting until the playoffs? Somebody tell him to pace himself, it&#8217;s a long season and that back needs to hold up. Look, Winnipeg&#8217;s 8-0 start is incredible as is the team’s +20 goal differential in the early going. The Jets have four players tied for the team lead with 10 points and another with nine. So they’re getting spread and balanced production. And with Connor Hellebuyck in goal most nights, they don’t give up much. Certainly the Jets look like they mean business. But they need to prove it at playoff time. Vegas, Dallas, Colorado, Edmonton and maybe even Minnesota want in on the Western Conference Final conversation. And, of course, the Canucks would like a piece of that action, too. So it’s way too soon to make any bold proclamations about the best in the West. I’m still having trouble getting over Vegas, though. I thought maybe, just maybe, this was the year the Golden Knights faded into the background. Apparently not. Won&#8217;t VGK ever just go away?
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After beating the Penguins for their <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/stanchies-vancouver-canucks-pettersson-comeback-bains-nhl-goal-penguins">fourth straight win on Saturday night</a>, the Canucks are rolling. And thanks to you, loyal CanucksArmy readers, questions are rolling in for another edition of the Monday mailbag. There’s plenty on your minds these days, so let’s jump in and do our best to provide some answers. 

https://twitter.com/JoshHaggstrom/status/1850503140203782582

Ummm, yeah. Without a doubt. And forget just a roster spot, Brännstrom has done enough already to prove he belongs in the line-up on a nightly basis. The team has won all four games since he joined the line-up. He has an individual Corsi For of 57.6%, scoring chances at 5-on-5 are 26-18 in the Canucks favour when he's on the ice and the team has outscored opponents 4-0 in his more than 50 minutes of even-strength ice time. So yes, he easily looks the part of one of the six best defencemen this team has at its disposal. The question becomes what is the optimal deployment of those defenders and can Brännstrom hold his own on the right side, if that’s where the Canucks choose to use him. On Friday, Rick Tocchet said the club had looked into the analytics of Brännstrom playing the right side in the NHL and the numbers had shown he can hold his own on that side. It’s something the Canucks will likely explore now that fellow lefty Derek Forbort is back in the fold.

https://twitter.com/JoshuaTelford1/status/1850419292350877709

I think the addition of Brännstrom has changed the conversation around the Canucks defence – in the short term. I think it has taken them from Code Red in terms of needing to upgrade their blueline immediately and buys management a little time to assess what exactly they’ve got and how it stacks up against other top teams in the NHL. We’re not seeing trades around the league at this early juncture of the schedule, so give it another month or so to see what the Canucks defence corps looks like as currently constructed. It was late November last year when the team acquired Nikita Zadorov. I wouldn’t expect much significant player movement around the league until after the US Thanksgiving.

https://twitter.com/IversonTyrel/status/1850437102720405577

As much as everyone loved Joshua and Garland together last season, Garland has elevated his game to the point it’s hard to imagine him not playing in the top six. He has been that good – and then some – to start this season. I think the question becomes does Joshua find his way onto the left wing with Pettersson and Garland at some point? I have to say I’m intrigued by the idea of Joshua and Sherwood wreaking havoc on the same line likely with Teddy Blueger in the middle. These are the champagne problems Rick Tocchet will soon have when Joshua gets the green light to return to the line-up. However, it’s important to remember that Joshua is coming off a significant injury, has missed training camp, the preseason and the first month of the schedule. It’s likely to take him a little bit of time to find his game. But there is no question that options abound — and many of them are intriguing. I just don't know if Joshua-Blueger-Garland is one of them or if the team has evolved past that. 

https://twitter.com/JerPennington/status/1850420792271765617

I’m liking those initials. What I’m not liking, so far, is Jake DeBrusk’s production. To be fair, he has four assists in seven games which would put him on a 45-point pace. So that’s not the problem. But we all know this was the team’s splashy off-season addition who was brought in for the expressed purpose of scoring goals. And, on that front, it’s been crickets. DeBrusk joked after the morning skate on Saturday that he feared he had used up too many goals in the preseason when he scored three times and looked poised to hit the ground running. 

He’s a likeable guy who knows he needs to score – and he will – but he just hasn’t looked settled since the start of the season. Part of that is the fact he’s bounced around the line-up in seven games and hasn’t found chemistry anywhere at five-on-five or on the power play. DeBrusk has managed only 11 shots on goal in his first seven games. He had four shots in the 3-2 shootout loss to Philadelphia on October 13th. Yet he’s also had three of his seven games where he hasn’t registered a single shot on net. The bottom line is that DeBrusk needs a bottom line and the Canucks need him to look more dangerous than he has so far.

https://twitter.com/MrEd315/status/1850513140137562538

Well, Mr. Ed, I’d give the Canucks a solid B+. It’s hard to argue with one outright loss in seven games. Kevin Lankinen gets an A on his own, but overall the team gets a B+ from me. I’m not sure we’ve seen the club play a complete 60-minutes yet and still it has managed to pick up 10 of a possible 14 points in the standings. The team needs more from Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk, there’s plenty of room for improvement on the power play and the shutdown pair of Carson Soucy and Tyler Myers hasn’t had its best stuff yet. 

But depth scoring has been terrific, Conor Garland has been a machine since training camp, Quinn Hughes continues to tilt the ice and on Saturday it seemed we saw several examples of the way Rick Tocchet wants his team to attack off the rush. The Canucks wobbled briefly out of the gate, but with four straight wins now, it looks like they’re headed in the right direction. It’s only seven games into the season, so they haven’t even had a mid-term yet. It’s probably a tad premature for a letter grade to be perfectly honest, but you asked. So I answered. 

https://twitter.com/GeeNVee/status/1850418791936913538

Pettersson scored and Crosby didn’t on Saturday. Case closed, no? Okay, maybe not. But let me say that was as quiet as I can recall Crosby against the Canucks in a while. Maybe it had something to do with back to backs for the now 37-year-old, but Sid just didn’t have it on Saturday night. He had a single shot on goal and won only seven of 19 face-offs. That said, he’s a legend of the game and everyone is entitled to the odd off night. As for trade rumours, it doesn’t take much to start them these days. So who knows how the rumour mill will churn. But if the Penguins struggle, I won’t be surprised to hear trade speculation even though Crosby has made it clear he wants to remain in Pittsburgh. Then again, we know this management group’s history with the Penguins so perhaps those are logical dots to connect. 

Pettersson has shown signs of life lately with his first goal and points in three straight. So let's not run him out of town just yet. It feels like a remarkable long shot to think Crosby will pack it in on the Pens after all these years, but if gets so bleak in the Steel City that he wants to chase another Cup, I hope the Canucks are one of the teams he'd consider (even though we all know he'd probably want to join his coffee drinking/Zamboni driving buddy Nate MacKinnon in Colorado). All I ask is if Crosby is going to be traded to the Canucks, please pull the trigger on February 28th – a week before the NHL’s March 7th trade deadline – but more importantly, the 15th anniversary of his golden goal. By the way, how can it be 15 years already?

https://twitter.com/vanhockeytalk/status/1850465071991849087

Locked and loaded. 

Oh wait, the Vegas Golden Knights are on Line 1 and would like a word. The Knights are 6-0 at home and lead the NHL with 42 goals. Wasn’t this the year they were supposed to take a step back? And what about Mark Stone leading the league with 17 points? Shouldn’t he be resting until the playoffs? Somebody tell him to pace himself, it's a long season and that back needs to hold up. Look, Winnipeg's 8-0 start is incredible as is the team’s +20 goal differential in the early going. The Jets have four players tied for the team lead with 10 points and another with nine. So they’re getting spread and balanced production. And with Connor Hellebuyck in goal most nights, they don’t give up much. Certainly the Jets look like they mean business. But they need to prove it at playoff time. Vegas, Dallas, Colorado, Edmonton and maybe even Minnesota want in on the Western Conference Final conversation. And, of course, the Canucks would like a piece of that action, too. So it’s way too soon to make any bold proclamations about the best in the West. I’m still having trouble getting over Vegas, though. I thought maybe, just maybe, this was the year the Golden Knights faded into the background. Apparently not. Won't VGK ever just go away?
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JPat’s Canucks mailbag: On Brännström, DeBrusk; and who’s best in the West?

Thatcher Demko works out ahead of day two of Vancouver Canucks training camp. Sep. 21 2024

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