After the Vancouver Canucks made their final roster cuts of the season and announced their opening night roster, General Manager Patrik Allvin met with the media to discuss all the recent news in Canucks-land.

While the roster was announced today, the club also signed forward Nils Höglander to a three-year, $9 million contract on Sunday.

“Nils has earned it,” Allvin said proudly. “Two years ago, when I was sitting in my office with him and making the hard decision for him to go down to Abbotsford, [it] kind of reset his game, and learning how to play the right way. He wasn’t happy about it, but he accepted it and he trusted the organization and he’s gotten better ever since. The way he carried himself, it’s important for all our young players to see the commitment to his fitness level and the way he plays and practices every day. He’s still young and we believe there’s still more to come in his game.”

Making roster cuts is difficult and sometimes doesn’t work out as you hoped. The Canucks learned that the hard way when they placed Jiri Patera on waivers, and the Boston Bruins claimed him. Luckily for Vancouver and Boston, the Bruins re-signed their star goaltender Jeremy Swayman, thus placing Patera on waivers for the Canucks to claim him again.

“Boston apologized, but that’s part of the business,” Allvin joked about the situation. “Jiri, he told the staff in Abbotsford how much he liked it and he wanted to be apart of it. We’re excited to continue to work with him. He’s a good goalie and a good depth guy for us.”

One of the biggest surprises in training camp and preseason had to be the emergence of Aatu Räty. His poise and unique faceoff abilities impressed management and the coaching staff enough to earn him a spot on the opening night roster.

“Räty is going to his third year of pro and learning the details of playing a 200-ft game. [He’s] Very smart, committed, just comes in every day to prove something and he earned every day here. That being said, it’s not going to get any easier. You’ve got to continue to work hard, and the competition we have for roster spots is still here.”

While there are some success stories, there are also disappointing stories. Arshdeep Bains was among the final roster cuts earlier today. Allvin touched on how difficult that conversation was for him to have with Bains.

“It was tough. Rick and I met [with] him this morning. We still have a couple days before opening night, things could change. But again, very pleased with his season last year. The way he prepared himself for the summer and I thought from Penticton to yesterday, he just got better and better. Especially the last two games against the full lineup of Edmonton [Oilers], I thought he carried himself really well. We’re definitely excited, [he’s] still in the mix. Tocc hasn’t made up his mind for the lineup of Wednesday yet, but we’ll see the next day at practice and go from there.”

The organization announced that goaltender Thatcher Demko and forward Dakota Joshua would start the season on the non-roster injured reserve. Allvin spoke on both of these players, how they’re progressing and their timelines to return.

“Nothing has really changed in terms of his timeline. Thatcher is very committed. He’s been skating almost every day on his own, or with the injured guys and he’s doing his rehab. At this point, the luxury of having [Arturs] Silovs and [Kevin] Lankinen, we don’t feel we need to rush Thatcher and that’s important for his long-term health. Also, being around the guys here, he seems to be very upbeat, in good spirit. He’s coming along really well.”

“Dakota’s been skating for a week now with Jason Krog [Canucks skills and skating coach] and Demko in the mornings. So he’s definitely making progress. It’s been a tough couple months for him, but being around the guys and being around the team, he definitely is making progress here.”

Roster cuts weren’t the only piece of business Allvin and the Canucks handled over the last few days. The club also traded Tucker Poolman and a fourth-round pick to the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for defenceman Erik Brannstrom. The Canucks GM spoke about their interest level in the young Swede during the offseason.

“We talked about Brannstrom within our staff with his ability to move pucks and [as] a powerplay option. I think the two things, the competition we had, and the make up of our roster at the time, we felt it wasn’t really a fit there. But definitely a guy that our pro scouts [are] seeing as an option for us. He cleared waivers here means we can continue to work with him and hopefully being a depth option and letting some of the younger players grow their game more in Abbotsford.”

It’s been public knowledge that the organization wanted to avoid using long-term injured reserve to accrue cap space for the trade deadline. Trading Poolman’s $2.5 million in this deal helps them do just that.

“We had different options, different ideas if we weren’t able to execute a trade. But it definitely helps us, definitely helps the competition with some flexibility here now, and I think all good teams have depth and all good teams have internal competition. I’m happy for our coaches to have harder decisions to make here now, [it’s] good for the younger players to get a chance for call-ups, and I think it’s going to be a lot of hungry players in Abbotsford this year.”

“It’s definitely easier to work not being in LTIR and the difficulty of setting your roster as we did last year. I think this definitely give us more flexibility. I’m excited about the competition here.”

When the Canucks were eliminated from the postseason last season, there was optimism had they advanced, Demko would be available for Game 1 of the next round against the Dallas Stars. So now, entering the season with Silovs and Lankinen as the goalie tandem wasn’t on their bingo card. But Allvin still holds faith in his current goaltending situation.

“I’m very confident in Silovs and Lankinen. Kevin came in here with a great attitude, he’s an experienced goalie. His work ethic is pushing Silovs and I think Silovs responded really well. I think those guys set us up really well. I’m very comfortable with those guys carrying the load here.”

There were seven different Canucks skaters that are currently on the roster that had career years last season. It’s hard to expect another career year for these players. Allvin touches on how bringing in fresh talent throughout his roster can help push others to build off those career years.

“Obviously Rick and I talk every day and definitely sitting down after last year and looking [at] how do we get better? What type of player types do we need? We felt we needed more speed. I hope we can still push players to have career years and finding that consistency. That’s the next level I think Rick’s talking about. [Guys] Like Brock Boeser, Nils Höglander, [Elias] Pettersson those guys having to find the consistent level. I think that’s the next level of being a good team and good individuals. I added pieces here to give us more competition. I can already see that in practice this year too, that guys are growing and pushing each other. So far, I’ve been very pleased with what I’ve seen.”

Elias Pettersson signed the highest contract in Canucks history when he inked an eight-year, $92.8 million deal that pays him $11.6 million annually. This contract makes him the fifth highest-paid player in the entire National Hockey League. While he didn’t have the strongest end of the season, Allvin seems to believe in a Pettersson bounce back.

“I think he’s excited about the new players we got here, and his line. The expectations are higher. The standard is higher here now. I think he demands more out of himself and obviously we need him to play to the level of what he’s capable of. That line the coach has together of [Daniel] Sprong, [Jake] DeBrusk and Petey could be a very dangerous offensive line. I know he’s not satisfied, he always wants to get better.”

To listen to the full interview, watch this clip!