What’s the most sustainable thing we’ve seen from the Canucks so far?

On Tuesday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, Chris Faber and David Quadrelli fittingly continued their conversation about the then-2-0 Vancouver Canucks.

First, they broke down the Jack Rathbone trade at length. In case you missed it, the Canucks traded Rathbone along with forward Karel Plasek in exchange for right-shot defenceman Mark Friedman and 23-year-old centre Ty Glover. Glover and Plasek are the “make the contracts work” side of the deal. Plasek will report to Pittsburgh’s ECHL team, and Glover could be reunited with former college teammate Max Sasson in Abbotsford.

The big part of the deal is the Rathbone for Friedman swap. Rathbone gets the fresh start he’s needed for the past couple of years, and the Canucks manage to shore up their right defence depth in the process. Friedman can play both sides and should be an upgrade on Noah Juulsen, who hasn’t been very good through the Canucks’ first two games.

Both Faber and Quads liked the trade, but were sad to say goodbye to longtime friend of the show, Jack Rathbone. Rathbone holds the record for most appearances by a player on the show with six.

Ahead of yesterday afternoon’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, Faber and Quads debated the subject of their Atlas Goods Poll Question: What’s the most sustainable part of what we’ve seen from the Canucks through two wins?

Our options were: Goaltending, Structure, Goal Scoring, and as always, I’m angry.

The Canucks’ structure won by a landslide, as you can see.

Later, Jeff Paterson joined the show to give his take on a number of topics.

“Without a doubt it’s goaltending,” said JPat when asked for his answer to our poll question. “I know 62 percent are saying structure, they’re wrong. Look, they got out attempted 88-33 the other night in Edmonton, and that was the Oilers, a lot of it was power play, that was all situational numbers, but the structure was lacking. At times there, they were hanging on for dear life. There’s every reason to believe the goaltenidng is sustainable all season long. Thatcher Demko has looked good through training camp and the preseason and the part of the one game he played, and I’m looking forward to seeing him get back in against the Flyers, but Casey DeSmith has looked terrific, maybe even better than terrific in his time. Both preseason games, the game in Edmonton, and then when he was pressed into duty the other night, Casey DeSmith has given the Canucks everything they would expect from a backup goaltender, and that’s what he is. He’s got a track record of producing at the NHL level whereas guys like Spencer Martin and Colin Delia were tweeners. Without a doubt, there’s been an upgrade at that position.”

Of course, after this episode, Thatcher Demko put on an absolute show as his teammates broke down in front of him.

Watch the full episode below!

WE ARE BACK TO FIVE DAYS A WEEK! You can catch the livestream of Canucks Conversation at 1:30 PM Pacific Time Monday through Friday on the CanucksArmy YouTube channel and the CanucksArmy Twitter account here. Clips of the show are also posted daily to the CanucksArmy YouTube channel, which you can find by clicking here.

The show is also available in podcast format around 2 PM every day wherever you get your podcasts! Be sure to subscribe to the CanucksArmy YouTube channel, and join in on the fun with the live chat!