Monday Mailbag: Benching Pettersson, Klim-update and who will go third overall at the 2022 NHL Entry Draft

The Canucks are still losing and we are back for another Monday mailbag.

Let’s crack into this week’s questions and see what we’ve got to work with this week.

I’m starting to worry about Elias Pettersson. He looks like a completely different player this season and it’s not just his skills as a scorer. His poor play is seeping into his effort level and that is a big problem.

Pettersson used to be praised for his effort level in the defensive zone and how much of a difference he made as a two-way player. The cliche answer that we hear from players and coaches is that a slumping player needs to focus on play in the defensive side of the game to get their offensive game going.

Right now, Pettersson is not doing any of that. He is making passes to nobody; there’s no confidence as a finisher, and he is not engaged in the defensive zone as we’ve seen in the past.

For these reasons and more, Pettersson was the low man for five-on-five ice time on Sunday.

You’d like to hope that a new coach would make a difference in Pettersson’s play but right now, this seems like a Petey problem, not a soon-to-be Brad Shaw problem.

Potentially a little bit more consistency with linemates could help Pettersson get going. He has moved around the lineup quite a bit this season, as Pettersson has played 20+ minutes of five-on-five with seven different linemates. Perhaps it’s time to go with Conor Garland and Vasily Podkolzin on his wings. That duo seems to be able to spark a line no matter who is playing centre.

The things that Joakim Kemell is doing excite me a lot about the player.

Matthew Savoie can absolutely fly and finish in the WHL at a level that looks like it should immediately translate to the NHL.

Ivan Miroshnichenko has a lot of very special physical traits and possesses a beautiful release on his shot.

I’d be very happy to add any of these three to the Canucks’ pipeline and if the season keeps progressing downwards, I will crank up the draft coverage to 11.

I’d project Miroshnichenko goes third overall.

It can’t be that much longer. The general manager and coach are basically both in interim positions right now. Hockey Night in Canada reported that the Canucks are actively looking for replacements, in particular, for Green.

I am not a fan of the treatment of the head coach. It’s going to be a tough few days for Green, who is asked to come out and speak to the media every single day. He has to know that his job is dangling by a single thread and will be cut at the owner’s choice.

The Canucks should just cut bait now, and go with a real interim GM and coach. What the organization is doing to Green is cruel and unfair.

We are all ready for change, and it wouldn’t shock me if Green is too.

Pray for a president that has the correct autonomy, presence and respect.

Then we can hope.

After being the lowest in five-on-five ice time, I don’t think it’s the worst idea. The kid needs a reset.

I’d like to see some hunger in the lineup. It’s time for Will Lockwood to get up to the NHL.

My go-to chicken sandwich is the spicy chicken sando at Parallel 49’s street kitchen. You swap the jalapenos for pickles and it’s damn near close to perfection. I have not tried The Frying Pan but I will put it on the list.

If I’m in a hurry, it’s hard to beat a popeyes chicken sandwich.

I’m so over the Alex Chiasson situation. Prioritizing the 31-year-old Chiasson over the youthful Jonah Gadjovich or physical presence that is Zack MacEwen seemed like a bad idea at the time and feels like an even worse idea now.

Chiasson is a liability at five-on-five, he consistently loses possession on the power play, and isn’t tough around the net or in scrums. He’s a guy who can score a few goals when you put him in front of the net on the first power play unit, but there’s a ton of those guys around the NHL.

Once again, I’ll say that Will Lockwood should be called up. His energy is enough to spark a line and he is finding his scoring touch in the AHL with an early goal in each of this past weekend’s games.

202 days.

These Twitter spaces have been taking off over the past week or so.

The comments section here is filled with some smart people.

I’d imagine that it happens when the team gets back from the road trip, if it’s going to happen soon. Elliotte Friedman said he was told not to expect any sort of timeline because the Canucks are still undecided on what to do.

Right now, it’s likely Brad Shaw coming in for Travis Green and Ryan Johnson, Chris Gear or Stan Smyl coming in for Jim Benning.

The team will take their time to evaluate who the best option is and I’d think that the Olympic break will give them plenty of time to conduct interviews and make a decision. The organization would have one month from the end of the Olympic break before the trade deadline. They have some time in that Olympic break to assess the situation.

The 18-year-old Danila Klimovich came out of the gate firing. He scored two goals in his first two AHL games. After that, he fell off when it comes to scoring. Klimovich has no goals in his last 11 AHL games and only one point in his last nine.

If the AHL team wasn’t so desperate for forwards, I’d imagine that sending him to the QMJHL would be in consideration.

I still feel that he can develop in the AHL and we’re at a point now where Abbotsford Canucks head coach Trent Cull needs to shift from being a father figure to being a coach. There are a lot of exciting things that Klimovich tries to do but he’s not playing in an all-star game every night. He needs to bear down and practice the fundamentals of offence a bit more.

I love his confidence and you don’t want that to be coached out of him but you’d like to see him be a bit more willing to get in the dirty areas instead of just relying on his shot from the right side. The reason why he was selected so high was his shot. There was enough tape on him to show that he relies on that shot for so much of his offence.

He can be a hard-nosed player when he wants to be, we just aren’t seeing it on a consistent basis in the AHL. I’d love to see more but I have to keep remembering that he is still only 18 years old and it’s still way too early to worry.

It’s somewhat shocking that he is already in the AHL and this year could do wonders for his development and potentially grow his game enough where the potential for gearing up for an NHL game as a teenager next year is possible.

Well, that wraps up another Monday mailbag. We are still just sitting here with our hands on our heads waiting for the pin to drop and change to begin.

See you all next week. Thanks for the questions!