Welcome back to WDYTT, the only hockey column on the internet to consistently release in non-musical fashion.

Speaking of unsung, every year the Vancouver Canucks hand out an award for the team’s Unsung Hero. But it’s always a tricky little endeavour. As soon as someone wins the award, they’re no longer all that unsung. And those who are truly unsung in the first place don’t draw enough attention or votes to ever actually take home the darn thing.

But perhaps we can yield different results with a similar vote held right smack dab in the middle of the season.

Family Day’s unmitigated disaster of a game aside, the Canucks are absolutely rolling right now, and have been since October. As a result, the fanbase’s expectations for the 2023/24 campaign have all-but-entirely shifted to the postseason, and that’s all well and good.

But in the meantime, it has to be said that the 2023/24 is already a massive success, and that several individual Canucks have played outsized roles in that success.

But of the bunch, who isn’t getting the credit they deserve?

You tell us!

This week, we’re asking:

Let it be known in the comment section.

 

You answered below!

I would prefer to see Lindholm playing in Calgary.

Lindholm at centre with Petey and Höglander on the wing needs to be given some runway. Tocchet’s last interview indicated they will get the opportunity.

Swedish Touch line: Elias  x2 and Höglander.

Run that Swede line for a while. Let them work out the kinks. It is the ideal line needed for the playoffs in that both Lindholm and Pettersson can play center or wing, and they are opposite-handed, which is ideal for faceoffs. And they are both “200-foot players.” Höglander is an excellent and relentless forechecker who will excel in o-zone possession time. They should face the top line on the opposing team.

That’s the key. Give them time to find chemistry.

Best place for Lindholm is where he already appears to be playing — in the heads of all the Swede-bashing commenters!!

I’d like to see him play on a line with Petey in the top-six, whether that be on the wing or at centre. Tonight against Detroit, it looks like he will play centre with Petey and Hogs on the wings. I prefer Petey at centre, but he can be excellent on the wing, as he showed on the Lotto Line earlier this season.

I would try the Lotto Line together again, Lindholm centering the second line with Höglander on his wing and a cast of the usual suspects cycling in and out on the other wing, until we see what potentially Phil Kessel can bring to the other wing.

I’d be fine with him at centre, with Pettersson on LW and then go after Toffoli on RW. That would give Vancouver arguably the best top-nine in the League. It would take some wrangling, but it would be a great line if they could swing for the fences on that trade.

He is best suited as a centre, having him play with EP works fine as both are very capable of taking draws. But he is good enough to jump around on different lines. Tocstar should let this Swedish line roll, at least until they secure a playoff position to give them time together. The talk around this player not being good for three of the six or so games he played is way overstated. The reality is the team secured 9 points of possible 12 with player in lineup. He only helps great pickup by GM.

Sometimes, reality answers a WDYTT before the readers get to.
Not long after sending this one in to Quadrelli, the Canucks’ coaching staff put together the Tre Kronor line of the Eliases Lindholm and Pettersson alongside Nils Höglander, and they look pretty good together. No surprise, then, that most commenters here voted to stick with what’s working.

By putting Lindholm and Pettersson together, as a few commenters alluded to, the Canucks gain the option of rotating either through the center position. This gives Rick Tocchet and Co. the rare opportunity to shuffle a scoring line within itself, and that could be a vital bit of flexibility come the postseason.

In fact, this author would go as far as to say that Lindholm looks good enough with Pettersson and Höglander that, for the time being, that can count as “a line,” and the focus can be shifted to figuring out their other top-six unit, which means figuring out who best belongs on JT Miller and Brock Boeser’s wing. Right now, Pius Suter looks alright there, but there are other in-house candidates and perhaps a few more on the trade market.

But maybe that’s a WDYTT for another day.