Roundtable: Who will be on the Canucks’ third pairing on opening night?

The Canucks are just a handful of weeks away from training camp and the third defensive pairing is completely wide open for a player or two to shine in camp and earn themselves a job.

I got a few of our contributors together on a roundtable and we gave our thoughts on what the third pairing will end up looking like on opening night.

I really like the idea of an Alex Edler and Brogan Rafferty bottom pairing, for a multitude of reasons. Firstly, it means Olli Juolevi has earned a spot in the top-four, which is good news all round. Secondly, it means that Edler will avoid those tough minutes against top competition that he often crumbled under last year. Lastly, it means that none of the rookies will have to carry Jordie Benn.

So long as the matchups aren’t strenuous, Edler is more than capable of insulating a rookie partner. That same middling competition will allow Rafferty plenty of room to translate his offensive prowess to the big leagues. Either should be capable of moving up the lineup whenever necessary, but this is a fine place for both to start.

I see the third pairing on opening night as Brogan Rafferty and Jordie Benn. Despite me being high on both Olli Juolevi and Jack Rathbone, I think in the end, Travis Green’s love for having a left shot and right shot on the same pair will trump all. Green’s hand is already forced a bit because he has to play three left handed defencemen in his top four, and I just can’t see a world where he’s happy dressing five left-shot defencemen.

I’m hoping Jack Rathbone will have the training camp some expect him to have and squeeze next to Tyler Myers. I don’t believe Jordie Benn will compare to the several prospects named in this roundtable attempting to prove themselves this year, and I also want Olli Juolevi to work something out with Alex Edler in the top-four. Rathbone’s upward trend in points at HU, skating ability and puck creativity are things that I think the team desperately need in order to develop some sort of depth. Alongside a penalty-prone Myers following a down-year who produced negative results when playing with Oscar Fantenberg (who recently signed with the KHL) and Benn, I think Travis Green could consider letting Myers take a prospect like Rathbone under his lengthy wing, which can produce some needed two-way urgency and support the Canucks’ unreliable bottom six.

At this point, I think there’s a decent chance that Jordie Benn gets moved to create some cap space and Vancouver will sign a few depth defenders such as Slater Koekkoek and/or Jan Rutta. If that happens, a potential Juolevi-Koekkoek/Rutta pairing will be the likeliest scenario, and it depends on whether or not Travis Green will be lenient with playing defenders on their off-side. However, in the event that Benn doesn’t get moved, I think that a Juolevi-Benn pairing will happen. Again, it wouldn’t be Green’s ideal pairing, but I believe that the gap between Juolevi and one of Rathbone or Rafferty is large enough to force Green’s hand in playing Benn on his off-side.

Green will have visions of sugar plums dancing in his head, knowing he has Jamie Benn’s versatility at his disposal.

Benn can play either side of the ice and will play with either Brogan Rafferty or Olli Juolevi. Green admires having a veteran presence in the lineup, which will surely be the case this season. It will come down to who has a good camp; however, the likelihood of having extra guys stay with the big club means Rafferty and Juolevi will be battling for the sixth spot all year long.

As of right now, I would give the edge to Juolevi. He is coming off a good camp 2.0 and saw action in the postseason. Benn also feels more comfortable playing on the right side as he did in Montreal, which makes having Juolevi playing on his strong side more desirable to start the season.

The addition of Nate Schmidt really affects the third pairing. Schmidt was fourth in penalty kill minutes for Vegas last season and he can play the part if needed. It’s going to depend on who has a better camp between Olli Juolevi and Brogan Rafferty. I feel that Rafferty is the most NHL ready of the two but Juolevi’s ability to kill penalties means that Schmidt could get some time off and the Canucks could roll out Quinn Hughes and Schmidt together for a powerhouse shift after every penalty kill.

Jack Rathbone is definitely in the mix but he will have to be so good that the Canucks’ coaching staff simply can’t say no to his skill.

My opening night third pairing consists of Jordie Benn and Brogan Rafferty. I think Juolevi will be in a good spot as the seventh defenceman but his penalty killing ability is something that is enticing to any coach. It’s really Rafferty’s job to lose, Juolevi impressed at camp 2.0 but looking at last year as a whole, Rafferty was a much better player. Rafferty is also a right-shot defenceman and I can see the grey hairs coming in on Travis Green if he plays Juolevi with Benn on the third pairing and therefore has five left-shot defencemen in his lineup.

It’s going to be one of the biggest stories at camp this year.