Monday Mailbag: Luke Schenn, Virtanen’s Linemates, and Building the Prefect Front Office

I think Schenn returning next year is basically a lock at this point. With Michael Del Zotto and Erik Gudbranson gone, the Canucks are likely to believe he fills a need. I’m not convinced he really brings any more utility to the role of a 6/7 than Alex Biega, but I think you could do much worse than the two of them as your go-to depth defensemen. We’ve seen how often the Canucks’ blue line deals with injuries and I’m sure the Comets organization would appreciate not having to lose it’s entire top four to call-ups by the end of February every season.

I would be in favour of re-signing Schenn if only because it might save the team’s front office from themselves. If they feel they need a big, physical, stay-at-home defenseman, Schenn will come at a fraction of the cost of most of their other options.

The Canucks made waves when they banned playing Fortnite on the road this season. A lot of people laughed it off, and I know opinions on the merit of video games tend to be divided, but setting aside wherever you come down on that debate, I think we all can agree that there’s such a thing as playing too much.

Patrik Laine plays too much. We’re talking so much it might qualify as a bonafide addiction. On a Saturday in late January the guy literally logged 14 hours.

Someone on Reddit even tracked his on-ice performance when he’s taking a break from Fortnite vs. when he’s logging big minutes. The results are honestly pretty convincing. It’s a bit of a conspiracy theory but until someone comes up with a better answer I’m sticking with it.

Tanev: Traded at some point over the next year.

Edler: Re-signed to a three-year deal.

Juolevi: Makes his NHL debut late next season.

They miss him in the sense that he’s a proven NHL-calibre defenseman and that can’t be said for everyone currently manning the Canucks’ blueline. The Canucks already have one of the weakest blue lines in the NHL at the best of times, so losing one of their only defenders with a basic level of competency was going to hurt them regardless of who it was.

Having said that, people really need to understand how much Tanev’s play has dropped off in the last two years. Even when he’s been healthy, the solid underlying shot metrics that were once his calling card have completely deteriorated. With his issues staying healthy and the team’s need to revamp the defense, I would be surprised if he isn’t traded at some point in the near future.

I don’t see it happening. Brock Boeser’s a great goal scorer, but he hasn’t even reached the 30-goal plateau yet, let alone 50. Obviously, injuries have been a major stumbling block when it comes to reaching that milestone, but I still think it’s relevant information when we’re talking about whether or not Brock Boeser can be in an extremely exclusive club.

Over a 137-game career, Boeser has scored 59 goals. That’s an average of roughly 35 goals per season, if he stays healthy. So, theoretically, he would have to improve on his average output by almost 30%. He’s been a pretty consistent goal-scorer over his career and has boasted a shooting percentage well above league average and it still looks like his ceiling right now is maybe 40 goals, if he plays all 82 games. I just don’t see him taking that big of a step over the next season or two.

That’s not a knock on him, either. I think people don’t really realize how rare a 50-goal campaign is. Offense is up from historical levels in a big way this season and there’s still only one player who’s reached 50, and he’s arguably the greatest pure goal scorer in the history of the game. In the post-lockout era, players have scored 50 or more goals just 21 times, and 8 of those times were Alex Ovechkin. The remaining players on that list are a who’s who of the most lethal offensive players of the modern era, including Steven Stamkos, Ilya Kovalchuk, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Corey Perry, Vincent Lecavalier, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, and Jaromir Jagr. I think the world of Boeser but I don’t think he’s quite at the level of most of those players. Then again, Johnathan Cheechoo scored 56 in 2005-06, so I guess anything is possible.

I’m going to have to go with option 2. It already came reasonably close to happening and the team hasn’t even been very good. Unless they get some more decent wingers, I don’t see them getting the secondary scoring that would be needed to get Boeser and Horvat the necessary assists to eclipse 70 points for some time.

If Adam Fox makes it publicly clear that he’ll only sign with a few teams and Vancouver is one of them, and the Hurricanes have absolutely no leverage, then there’s maybe a 1% chance that could happen. Otherwise, no. They just aren’t even in remotely the same stratosphere as prospects. Adam Fox is arguably the best defenseman in the world not currently in the NHL, whereas Lockwood would be an afterthought in post team’s pools.

To be completely honest, I don’t think it matters as much as some people think it does. Some players need linemates they can mesh with to be productive, but I see Virtanen as basically an independent contractor. He doesn’t exactly make great use his linemates and his skill set is tailor-made for end-to-end rushes and individual plays. People talk about him as if he doesn’t get opportunities but his most frequent linemate this year has been Bo Horvat, so I think he’s had plenty of chances to prove he belongs in a top-six role. At times he’s teased a bit of his potential, but he’s also struggled with consistency for stretches, too. Ideally, I would like to see the Canucks revamp their top six, and roll an offensive-minded third line of Virtanen, Adam Gaudette, and Josh Leivo, but in the short term I don’t mind Travis Green moving him up and down the lineup on a game-by-game basis.

If the Canucks think Tanner Pearson and Josh Leivo are their silver bullets in the top six next year they’re going to be headed for another bottom-ten finish.

In an ideal world, where everyone who could feasibly take a job with the Canucks is interested in working in Vancouver, my ideal front office would have Steve Yzerman in a Presidential role; Laurence Gilman as general manager; and Pat Verbeek and Eric Tulsky as AGMs. I’d like to see Brackett retain his position, I think he’s done about as good a job as anyone could ask of him; but I would want to make a few changes to the amateur scouting staff by bringing in new CHL scouts. I’d also like to see Jonathan Wall take an AGM or senior advisor position, working closely with Tulsky in this fantasy scenario I’ve concocted.

To be honest, I’d also ideally like to diversify the Hockey Operations staff, too. I don’t know if teams ought to go as far as to have an inclusion rider necessarily, but scouting and hockey ops staffs across the NHL are overwhelmingly male and Caucasian and while obviously there’s nothing wrong with white guys, that seems like it has the potential to breed an intellectually stale and incurious environment. The Maple Leafs recently made Hayley Wickenheiser their Assistant Director of Player Development, which was frankly long overdue considering she’s one of the most decorated players in the history of the sport. The Canucks happen to have a similar figure in their own backyard in the form of Cammi Granato, perhaps there’s a role for her somewhere in the organization if there’s interest on her part.