A shutout win in Toronto, you say? Does it really matter what the Canucks do from this point on? Does it get a whole lot better than silencing the team from the Centre of the Universe? Alright, that’s too many questions from me. This feature is the Monday mailbag where you ask the pressing questions and I do my best to answer them. So let’s get after this week’s batch of queries.
The win over the Leafs wasn’t enough? Nah, it wasn’t. There is still work to do. But hanging with top teams like Washington, Carolina and Toronto in a three game in four night span was a start. The team’s defensive solidity seems to be returning to form even if the component parts don’t inspire on many nights. But there are some weighty challenges ahead: Winnipeg, Los Angeles, Edmonton twice and Washington again over the next six games.
The Canucks have not won back-to-back games at home all season and haven’t strung consecutive victories together since the start of December. Let’s start there. Walk into Winnipeg and back up the performance in Toronto with a similar effort and maybe they’re onto something. Then they need to come home off the road and start stringing some wins together at Rogers Arena.
Sure, and maybe get Chris Tanev and OEL back and convince Alex Edler to come out of retirement, too. Anyone know what Oscar Fantenberg is up to these days?Why the fascination with former Canucks? And in Schenn’s case, a guy that’s been here on two separate occasions. I have nothing but respect and admiration for Luke Schenn, but at 35, and with two points this season in Nashville, is he really what this team in need of puck movers is looking for on your proposed second pair? I’m not so sure.
Could you leave Myers with Hughes, drop Hronek to hold down the second pair and have Schenn as a third pair guy at this stage of his career? That seems more likely. But Zadorov just signed in Boston, has a full no-movement clause, and likely isn’t looking to bolt from Beantown after six months of a six-year contract. Plus, there is the matter of making salaries fit under the cap. So I’m all for nostalgia, but for a number of reasons, I don’t see the Canucks getting the blueline band back together. Time to look for new – and improved – options. 
Yes. I think he should and he will. Now, the Vezina is voted on by NHL general managers and unlike other year end awards, it’s based on a first, second and third place system where the other awards go five places deep. So there aren’t as many votes to go around. But last season, the Islanders Ilya Sorokin and the Capitals Charlie Lindgren both received a third place vote with 25-win seasons. Lankinen is 16-7-6 with a 2.51 GAA and a .906 save percentage. Lankinen is ninth in wins, second in shutouts and has been one of the best news stories in the NHL this season. Give the man the Vezina respect he’s earned. Connor Hellebuyck is going to win it again, so the real intrigue is where the remainder of the ballots go.
No. I refuse to engage in this nonsense, but wanted to include this question in an attempt to nip this dialogue in the bud. What’s wrong with having two goalies you trust? Boston employed a job share last season and Washington is doing it this season. Thatcher Demko has started eight games and finished seven of them. His season has barely started.
He’s nowhere close to the best version of himself yet, so the Canucks are fortunate to have Kevin Lankinen provide them the kind of goaltending he has all season which should allow Demko more time to work on his form. I think the Canucks can easily find enough starts to satisfy both netminders between now and the 4-Nations Face-Off. After the break, there will likely come a point where they want to lean on one of the two down the stretch. Maybe you get your controversy then, but in the short term the Canucks have a one-two punch that most teams would love to possess. It’s a strength of the organization and there is nothing controversial about that.
Following that logic, how do you explain Friday’s flatline in Carolina when there was no media at the rink on game day and the club’s PR manager was the only one asking questions of the coach? A morning skate in Toronto on Saturday likely would have included questions about the drama that has surrounded the team of late. So I’m sure players didn’t mind that they were able to avoid any and all of that.
But no, I am not buying for a second that there is a correlation between that and Pettersson’s play on Saturday. I hope his time off since Christmas allowed him to reflect on an underwhelming first half of the season. He looked like a guy who understands that if this team is going to make any kind of second-half push, he’s going to have to be at the leading edge. Saturday was full of encouraging signs for Pettersson, especially in his own zone. But he needs that to be his baseline now and still find ways to elevate the offensive side of his game, too. If he does that, he’ll find the noise will diminish, and the questions will be much more to his liking, too.
This is tricky. If his career were to end today, it would be impossible to say that he’s the greatest Canuck of all time. Henrik and Daniel Sedin got to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, won individual awards, were among the best in the game at their heights, and all of that was recognized by the Hockey Hall of Fame. Hughes is trending toward a lot of those same accolades, although the same level of team success has eluded him to this point.
When all is said and done, it’s quite possible and maybe even quite likely that the answer to the question will be yes. He is an incredible talent doing things never before seen from a player at his position in this market. He will own every conceivable individual scoring record for Canucks defencemen in short order. And sometimes you have to remind yourself he is only 25 years old. Amazing, astounding, and getting better every game. Trending in the direction, but still some ground to cover before he stands alone as the greatest Canuck of all time.
No. It’s not that simple. Moving up in the Pacific looks like it’s going to be a challenge, although with a game against Los Angeles on Thursday and two games against the Oilers over the next 10 days, opportunities to make up some ground on teams ahead of them are on the horizon.
The Kings have played the fewest home games in the league and are 14-2-1 at Crypto.com Arena, so the schedule works in their favour down the stretch. There are four really good teams in the Central Division meaning one will be a Wild Card team and keeping pace with WC1 will likely be difficult although as those teams play each other down the stretch some points will fall by the wayside.
With just two wins in 11 games prior to Saturday’s victory in Toronto, the Canucks had invited trouble from the chase pack. In fact after their loss to Calgary on New Year’s Eve, they dipped below the playoff bar altogether. So the Canucks haven’t secured any kind of playoff position yet and have flushed whatever cushion they had earlier in the season.
The bottom line is the Canucks need to be better in the second half than they were in the first, and so much of that can be achieved if this team can find ways to win on home ice.
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