As someone so succinctly summed it up in my mentions over the weekend, ‘The first two games of the preseason are all about optimism and the boundless possibilities. Then by the time the next two games roll around, everyone just wants to fast forward to opening night.’ 
It’s all so true. But there’s still a week to go before the Canucks start playing games that truly matter. To help fill that gap, we offer up the Monday Mailbag. It’s almost as anticipated and exciting as an Aatu Räty shift with Conor Garland these days. Let&#8217;s jump right in.
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If Raty makes the opening night lineup, who is the odd man out? Assuming Joshua isn&#39;t ready
&mdash; Brian C (@brianhwc) <a href="https://twitter.com/brianhwc/status/1840227681625092530?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
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What a sense of occasion. Setting me up to start with a Raty question. Let’s see what the final two preseason games bring, but I am leaning toward using Raty between Höglander and Garland as an effective and hard-working third line to start the season. Bump Sprong up to Pettersson’s wing and use Suter with Miller and Boeser then roll with the Raty line which has been the most effective and most consistent trio through Canucks camp and the first week of the preseason. From there, you could have a fourth line of Heinen-Blueger-Sherwood. 
I think that would be a fairly effective opening night forward group. Under this deployment, Phil Di Giuseppe would be the 13th forward and Nils Aman, who has been remarkably quiet in his two preseason appearances, would be the odd man out. This also assumes that Jonathan Lekkerimaki doesn&#8217;t lock down a roster spot to start the season. Of course, once Dakota Joshua gets the green light to return, another difficult decision will have to be made.
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Do you have confidence Silovs can hold the fort if Demko is out the first twenty games?
&mdash; vanhockeytalk (@vanhockeytalk) <a href="https://twitter.com/vanhockeytalk/status/1840382600646418858?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
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I do. I mean, who doesn&#8217;t love an Arty Party? But I also expect that it will be more of a job share with Kevin Lankinen over those first 20 than running the likeable Latvian out on the regular. The schedule sets up perfectly for the Canucks to run a tandem in the early going with plenty of practice time between games for both goalies to work with Marko Torenius to help dial in their performances. 
As the preseason has shown, Silovs still has to improve his puck tracking on long shots through traffic. But last spring’s playoffs – and before that the World Championship – wasn’t a mirage. Silovs has demonstrated he can play and win at this level. And I think between Silovs and Lankinen, the Canucks should have enough goaltending to get them off to a quick start this season.
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Will Quinn repeat with another Norris?
&mdash; GeeNVee (@GeeNVee) <a href="https://twitter.com/GeeNVee/status/1840439054623805714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
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I’m going to ride with recent trends here and say no. And it’s not because I expect Captain Canuck to falter or take any kind of step back this season. Far from it. I’m excited to see how Quinn Hughes follows up his 92-point Norris season and I&#8217;m sure he&#8217;ll take defending that trophy seriously. But history shows it’s nearly impossible to hold on to the Norris in consecutive seasons. Niklas Lidstrom was the last to go back to back when he won three straight from 2006-2008. This is a golden age of incredible defencemen in the NHL and Hughes is very much in the mix along with Cale Makar, Adam Fox, Roman Josi, Miro Heiskanen, Rasmus Dahlin, Evan Bouchard and others. It’s a steep hill to climb. Hughes got to the top of the mountain last season –and I think he’ll get there again in his career – I’m just going according to recent form and guessing it won’t happen this season.
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Over the years …. What is your favorite away town to cover in and why ? 
Lets go top 3
&mdash; #WalkItLikeITocchet (@bctorres604) <a href="https://twitter.com/bctorres604/status/1840227224827695325?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Easy choice: New York City. I’ve been fortunate to visit probably 10 times in my life and barely feel like I’ve scratched the surface. There’s just so much to do and see and eat and drink at all times of the day and night. A game at Madison Square Garden should be on any hockey fan’s bucket list. Doing the three-game Canucks swing through Manhattan, Long Island and New Jersey is always an amazing time. If it works out, throw in a Yankees game — it’s hard to beat NYC. As for the runners up, I’d go Las Vegas. 
The game presentation alone is worth the trip not to mention all of the available distractions. Plus Canucks Nation travels well and all of the games I’ve been to at T-Mobile have had plenty of Canucks fans adding to the atmosphere. Let’s go with Tampa Bay as the third stop on my list. It’s become a terrific hockey market. The pregame festivities are always fun around the rink. The sun is almost always shining. And there is a terrific hockey bar – Hattricks – not far from the arena that is always worth a visit.
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If the Petterssons changed jerseys, do you think we’d notice? Like the early sedins years.
&mdash; Ryan Hank (@always90four) <a href="https://twitter.com/always90four/status/1840232171099013450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Yeah, what kind of question is this? The Petterssons are not identical twins. They just happen to have the same name. And they play different positions. Plus, if one wears a Vancouver Canucks jersey this season and the other wears an Abbotsford Canucks jersey, then yeah, I think we’d notice. Although in fairness to you question, the NHL data base is having trouble distinguishing the two Peteys. So on paper, apparently it is difficult. On the ice, not so much.
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Who starts the season on the second power play unit? Who starts the season on the first penalty killing unit?
&mdash; Jay (@TheHeartPlumber) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHeartPlumber/status/1840230051155161202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
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If it were up to me, PP2 would be Hronek, Garland, Sprong, Raty and Heinen. Pius Suter may get a look there as a natural centre, but the way Raty is winning face-offs in the preseason, he may force his way onto that second unit. When Dakota Joshua returns to action, I’d find a net front role for him. As for the top penalty killers, I think you’re looking at Teddy Blueger and Danton Heinen up front with Derek Forbort and Filip Hronek on defence.
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which longtime canuck in the system would you like to see get another shot or call up&#8230;Woo, Brisbois, Wolanin, Klimovich etc?
&mdash; AlfaKennyOne (@JoshuaTelford1) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshuaTelford1/status/1840238023927312888?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 29, 2024</a></blockquote>
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I’m going with Wolanin. I just feel comfortable when he’s out on the ice. He’s got the hockey smarts to play at the NHL level and has shown that once again in this preseason. He’s not flashy. But the guy has been the top defenceman in the AHL. He’s put up big numbers in the American League and has logged 86 games in the NHL. He had a tough season with injuries last year, but appears healthy and I think there’s a world where he could be the Canucks seventh defenceman if they felt they needed an additional puck mover on the roster. I don’t believe when the dust settles that he’ll be the seventh D on the big league team. But I won’t be shocked if he plays games for the Vancouver Canucks this season.
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As someone so succinctly summed it up in my mentions over the weekend, ‘The first two games of the preseason are all about optimism and the boundless possibilities. Then by the time the next two games roll around, everyone just wants to fast forward to opening night.’ 

It’s all so true. But there’s still a week to go before the Canucks start playing games that truly matter. To help fill that gap, we offer up the Monday Mailbag. It’s almost as anticipated and exciting as an Aatu Räty shift with Conor Garland these days. Let's jump right in.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2111" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="329"></div>
&nbsp;

https://twitter.com/brianhwc/status/1840227681625092530

What a sense of occasion. Setting me up to start with a Raty question. Let’s see what the final two preseason games bring, but I am leaning toward using Raty between Höglander and Garland as an effective and hard-working third line to start the season. Bump Sprong up to Pettersson’s wing and use Suter with Miller and Boeser then roll with the Raty line which has been the most effective and most consistent trio through Canucks camp and the first week of the preseason. From there, you could have a fourth line of Heinen-Blueger-Sherwood. 

I think that would be a fairly effective opening night forward group. Under this deployment, Phil Di Giuseppe would be the 13th forward and Nils Aman, who has been remarkably quiet in his two preseason appearances, would be the odd man out. This also assumes that Jonathan Lekkerimaki doesn't lock down a roster spot to start the season. Of course, once Dakota Joshua gets the green light to return, another difficult decision will have to be made.

https://twitter.com/vanhockeytalk/status/1840382600646418858

I do. I mean, who doesn't love an Arty Party? But I also expect that it will be more of a job share with Kevin Lankinen over those first 20 than running the likeable Latvian out on the regular. The schedule sets up perfectly for the Canucks to run a tandem in the early going with plenty of practice time between games for both goalies to work with Marko Torenius to help dial in their performances. 

As the preseason has shown, Silovs still has to improve his puck tracking on long shots through traffic. But last spring’s playoffs – and before that the World Championship – wasn’t a mirage. Silovs has demonstrated he can play and win at this level. And I think between Silovs and Lankinen, the Canucks should have enough goaltending to get them off to a quick start this season.

https://twitter.com/GeeNVee/status/1840439054623805714

I’m going to ride with recent trends here and say no. And it’s not because I expect Captain Canuck to falter or take any kind of step back this season. Far from it. I’m excited to see how Quinn Hughes follows up his 92-point Norris season and I'm sure he'll take defending that trophy seriously. But history shows it’s nearly impossible to hold on to the Norris in consecutive seasons. Niklas Lidstrom was the last to go back to back when he won three straight from 2006-2008. This is a golden age of incredible defencemen in the NHL and Hughes is very much in the mix along with Cale Makar, Adam Fox, Roman Josi, Miro Heiskanen, Rasmus Dahlin, Evan Bouchard and others. It’s a steep hill to climb. Hughes got to the top of the mountain last season –and I think he’ll get there again in his career – I’m just going according to recent form and guessing it won’t happen this season.

https://twitter.com/bctorres604/status/1840227224827695325

Easy choice: New York City. I’ve been fortunate to visit probably 10 times in my life and barely feel like I’ve scratched the surface. There’s just so much to do and see and eat and drink at all times of the day and night. A game at Madison Square Garden should be on any hockey fan’s bucket list. Doing the three-game Canucks swing through Manhattan, Long Island and New Jersey is always an amazing time. If it works out, throw in a Yankees game — it’s hard to beat NYC. As for the runners up, I’d go Las Vegas. 

The game presentation alone is worth the trip not to mention all of the available distractions. Plus Canucks Nation travels well and all of the games I’ve been to at T-Mobile have had plenty of Canucks fans adding to the atmosphere. Let’s go with Tampa Bay as the third stop on my list. It’s become a terrific hockey market. The pregame festivities are always fun around the rink. The sun is almost always shining. And there is a terrific hockey bar – Hattricks – not far from the arena that is always worth a visit.

https://twitter.com/always90four/status/1840232171099013450

Yeah, what kind of question is this? The Petterssons are not identical twins. They just happen to have the same name. And they play different positions. Plus, if one wears a Vancouver Canucks jersey this season and the other wears an Abbotsford Canucks jersey, then yeah, I think we’d notice. Although in fairness to you question, the NHL data base is having trouble distinguishing the two Peteys. So on paper, apparently it is difficult. On the ice, not so much.

https://twitter.com/TheHeartPlumber/status/1840230051155161202

If it were up to me, PP2 would be Hronek, Garland, Sprong, Raty and Heinen. Pius Suter may get a look there as a natural centre, but the way Raty is winning face-offs in the preseason, he may force his way onto that second unit. When Dakota Joshua returns to action, I’d find a net front role for him. As for the top penalty killers, I think you’re looking at Teddy Blueger and Danton Heinen up front with Derek Forbort and Filip Hronek on defence.

https://twitter.com/JoshuaTelford1/status/1840238023927312888

I’m going with Wolanin. I just feel comfortable when he’s out on the ice. He’s got the hockey smarts to play at the NHL level and has shown that once again in this preseason. He’s not flashy. But the guy has been the top defenceman in the AHL. He’s put up big numbers in the American League and has logged 86 games in the NHL. He had a tough season with injuries last year, but appears healthy and I think there’s a world where he could be the Canucks seventh defenceman if they felt they needed an additional puck mover on the roster. I don’t believe when the dust settles that he’ll be the seventh D on the big league team. But I won’t be shocked if he plays games for the Vancouver Canucks this season.

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