On Tuesday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal welcomed Rinkwide’s Jeff Paterson to break down the Vancouver Canucks’ 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche, Kiefer Sherwood’s impressive play, and Brock Boeser’s future contract situation.

Kiefer Sherwood’s standout performance against the Avalanche, capped off by his first career NHL hat trick, was a major talking point.

“What’s so impressive about Sherwood is he hasn’t gone more than five games without a goal,” said JPat. “Think about the struggles Nils Höglander has had, Danton Heinen, the slow return of Dakota Joshua, even Jake DeBrusk not scoring the first nine games of the season. Sherwood just hasn’t had pockets of his season yet where you wonder where he is; he’s there nightly being the physical spark plug.

“We knew he had some offensive chops, but there were some who suggested there might be more there. Then on that second goal  — his awareness and anticipation, and pulling away from Cale Makar from a flat-footed start to snap it home — there was so much to like from that goal.”

The conversation then shifted to Carson Soucy, who delivered one of his strongest performances of the season against the Avalanche.

“This is a different Carson Soucy than the first 20 games of the season,” said JPat. “Since he and Myers have been broken up, he’s really levelled up and it’s good to see. He’s erased the mistakes, looks confident, assertive, aggressive, and he was out there for six of the eight penalty kill minutes against the Avs, where they just gave up four shots.

“It’s not just Soucy, and there’s still some questions about him and Juulsen in your top four, but they matched up a fair bit against MacKinnon and Rantanen and passed the test. You’re looking for Soucy to play a simple, low-maintenance game, the way he did for the majority of last season, and it’s good to see he’s getting back to that.”

After a dismal showing against the Bruins on Saturday, JPat praised the Canucks for bouncing back with a strong effort.

“The Canucks have done a nice job under Tocchet in not allowing those poor performances to linger,” he said. “I was expecting them to be better; they couldn’t be a whole lot worse than they were against Boston. They had back-to-back stacked shifts right off the jump, so you could tell they were into the game.”

While Elias Pettersson remained off the scoresheet, JPat noted positive signs in his play. “I know people want Pettersson to dominate on the scoresheet, and it was another game without a point for him, but he exploited [Casey] Mittelstadt and his line with four shots, eight attempts, and some good looks. With more nights like that, the points have to follow.”

Finally, the conversation turned to Brock Boeser’s next contract, with reports suggesting he’s seeking around $8 million per season. JPat explained that the average salary isn’t as much of a concern as the term of the deal.

“I don’t have an issue with something that starts with an eight,” said JPat. “He had 40 goals last year. He’s not anywhere close to that pace this year, and the head injury seemed to slow him down along with Miller’s absence. I still think he’ll be a 30-goal guy every year in his prime, and those guys get paid. As the cap goes up, the jump from $6.65 to $8 million isn’t much.

“It’s all about term for me. I’d have some real concerns about going on a max deal and how that would look on the back end; Brock’s foot speed is going to be a concern into his 30s. He loves it in Vancouver, you know he doesn’t want to leave after just passing the 500-game mark in the only NHL home he’s known.

“It depends if him and his agent are willing to play ball, but I think the Canucks would have trouble getting him on a six-year contract. Twenty-eight-year-old free agents who have scored 40 know they’re going to get paid. It would be a difficult conversation for the player to have as he’d be leaving a bunch of money on the table.

“It’s pretty clear by now this management group is playing the long game and isn’t 100% sold on the repeatability of another 40-goal season. But Boeser was one of their best players in the playoffs last year, which strengthens his value. It’s going to be fascinating. It doesn’t sound like there’s a lot happening behind the scenes right now, which makes you wonder where it’s going to go.

“Brock’s been a really good Canuck for a lot of years, and I believe him when he says he wants to stay, but it’s a business, and he’s not going to take a massive hometown discount just to make the Canucks happy.”

You can watch the full segment below: