Monday Mailbag: Jack Rathbone’s big offseason, Tyler Myers’ bonus, and more Canucks questions

The Vancouver Canucks are all back in town and we are just a few days away from the Young Stars Classic in Penticton.

A new season looms after a long offseason, making us hungry to watch the blue and green get back on the ice. Canucks jerseys will be back in action beginning on Friday when the Canucks’ youngsters will battle with the Calgary Flames at 7:30 pm. Game two for the Canucks will be Sunday, as they battle with the Winnipeg Jets’ at 2:00 pm. They will wrap up the weekend with a 2:30 pm game against the Edmonton Oilers and then we are off to Canucks training camp in Victoria — which begins on Thursday, September 21st.

Some of the names we are excited to watch in Penticton include Vilmer Alriksson, Hunter Brzustewics, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Akito Hirose, Danila Klimovich, Josh Bloom and Cole McWard.

We are still uncertain of the exact roster but believe that it is coming either Monday or Tuesday.

Until then, we will patiently wait as hockey is so close, you can taste it!

One name we are wondering about is Aatu Räty. The 20-year-old centre was not at Canucks development camp this summer and Räty already has 15 NHL games under his belt. His age certainly puts him in the ‘Young Stars’ category but we are just not certain if he will be on the Young Stars roster just yet. We’d love to see him participate and potentially be Klimovich’s centre for the three games but we will have to wait for the roster release.

We’ve got another crop of great questions from the wonderful people of #CanucksTwitter. Let’s not waste any more words and instead, dive right into the mailbag and get rolling.

Here’s what some of the folks asked this week.

Last season saw Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko score 39 goals on the year. If I had to guess who has the best chance to score 50 next season, I’d easily be going with Pettersson.

Pettersson only had six power play goals last year while scoring 28 at even strength and five while shorthanded. It’s certainly possible that Pettersson can score 14+ on the power play while adding a few on the penalty kill and then getting 30+ at even-strength. It’s a long shot for sure but Pettersson would be my pick.

As for Quinn Hughes getting to 100 points — it’s also possible but very difficult for a defenceman to hit the century club. Hughes is not likely to be a 20+ goal scorer so you’re basically asking him to be an assist per game player to get to 100 points. It’s possible but both of these are very hopeful.

I’d be shocked to see one of them happen next year and would love to see the Canucks as the best team in the Western Conference if both happen.

I’m betting on Spencer Martin making a decent comeback and becoming a trusted backup next season so I’m going to guess that Silovs won’t play more than 10 NHL games next season.

Another year of evolving in the AHL is what I see coming for Arturs Silovs. He should be challenged a lot more and be given some back-to-backs on the weeks where Abbotsford doesn’t have any mid-week games and should see 50+ starts. That will help him in the long-term.

The problem is that Jack Rathbone doesn’t have a ton of value on the trade market so he likely doesn’t help move with one of the surplus wingers. From what we’ve heard, Rathbone has had a hell of an offseason and added a lot of muscle so that he can be more prepared to play a full season. He’s been taken off the ice on a stretcher in each of the last two years and those injuries certainly slowed him down in his development.

Now, he’s back at training camp with the strongest body he’s ever had and is in a battle for NHL ice time with Christian Wolanin, Matt Irwin, Akito Hirose and Guillaume Brisebois. It’s not an insurmountable task to ask Rathbone to beat out those four defencemen but we have to think that Wolanin is the clubhouse leader after being named defenceman of the year in the AHL for the 2022-23 season.

Rathbone is heading into the final year of his two-year deal that was signed by Patik Allvin on July 1st, 2022. It’s likely the last go with the Canucks for Rathbone if he can’t find success in the NHL this season. We will have to see how training camp and preseason shake down for him. I’d expect him to be a lot stronger defensively due to the added muscle from the offseason.

It’s not a fair race if you include curly fries because Arby’s and their loaded curly fries are three tiers up on any fry in the fast food game.

If you’re just going with simple straight-cut fries, I’m going with the classic at McDonald’s.

The two youngsters on the wings — Nils Höglander and Vasily Podkolzin. I’d throw Spencer Martin in there as well.

I’m high on Jett Woo this season and will guess 16 NHL games.

Only if the team has been using Tyler Myers in a bottom-pairing role all season and the club feels confident enough in their depth at right-shot defence with Noah Juulsen, Filip Johansson, and Jett Woo.

I don’t think they would end up doing it in the end.

There’s nothing as far down the road as the SFU rumours. There’s been a lot of chatter about it being the spot for the new practice rink.

It’s got to be Andrei Kuzmenko right? The smiles per hangout have to be through the roof with this guy.

There’s certainly a lot more flexibility after the bonus is paid out but the $6,000,000 cap hit is still a tough one to swallow. There’s a chance but ultimately, I doubt the Canucks actually trade Myers unless they are out of playoff spot at the trade deadline.

My prediction is 43 goals, so I’ll take the under. Give me those odds though and let me see.

It feels like less needs to bounce in the Canucks’ way for them to make the playoffs. They addressed their biggest weaknesses from last season so I’d say the Canucks can make the playoffs next season and maybe even push for a top-three spot in the Pacific Division.

Well, that wraps up another Monday Mailbag here at CanucksArmy. We’re off to Penticton on Thursday to get set up for the Young Stars tournament and we are stoked to cover the Canucks’ prospects all weekend long.

See you next week, where we will preview training camp with a big ol’ mailbag. Enjoy the final bits of the offseason/summer!