It’s not quite hockey season yet, but if you squint hard you can certainly see it on the horizon now. Troy Stecher will be holding his pro camp in Richmond next week to help local NHL’ers ramp up their summer training, while Arturs Silovs and Teddy Blueger will be representing Latvia in an Olympic qualifying tournament in Riga before the month is through. So we’re getting there. In the meantime, to help you bridge the gap until the Canucks season begins, we offer up another instalment of our Monday mailbag. 
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Lots of positive around the team, but the consistent lack of progress re: a dedicated practice facility is frustrating. Year after year there are comments, yet nothing comes about. Which will come first, new seats or announcement of a practice facility? 🤷🏼‍♂️
&mdash; CanuckleBob (@CanuckleBob) <a href="https://twitter.com/CanuckleBob/status/1824515077720117485?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The seat saga at Rogers Arena has been well documented and it certainly looks now like the ‘two year project’ part of the Canucks’ announcement to replace all of the seats in the bowl is doing some heavy lifting. When the club announced its latest round of rink upgrades in March, it said work would begin immediately after the hockey season. However, reports from concert goers throughout the summer suggest the same burgundy seats are still in place at The Rog leaving many to wonder what, exactly, they’re getting for their money with ticket increases across the board. The Canucks insist the new seats are coming despite the perceived delay. 
If the work is not done until next off-season, then I’m going to hedge my bet that an announcement of a practice facility will occur before all of the seats have been replaced. The Canucks continue to claim they are making headway on a practice facility of some sort. It’s likely to be a partnership with an existing arena rather than buying land and building one of their own. Certainly, progress has been slow on both files. But it feels now like the practice rink has surged in front in this turtle derby.
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Do you think Van will be in the mix for a top 6 LW given the lack of talent on that side other than hogs?
&mdash; Mathews Hairline (@cloutzd2) <a href="https://twitter.com/cloutzd2/status/1824517363829788845?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Umm, Jake DeBrusk would like a word. While it’s true that the Canucks have a number of right-handed goal scorers in Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, and now Daniel Sprong – along with Jonathan Lekkerimaki waiting in the wings &#8212; they’ve got a few lefties that know how to put the puck in the net, too. Who knows where Nils Höglander will slot in on the depth chart to start training camp, but obviously he saw plenty of time in the top six last season. Now, it&#8217;s entirely possible that Höglander is a left shot right winger to start the season. DeBrusk was signed for the express purpose of playing alongside Elias Pettersson, so I think he fits the criteria of a top six left winger. 
There is a chance that Dakota Joshua gets a look higher in the lineup at some point. Joshua scored a career-best 18 times in 63 games last season – that’s a 23-goal pace had he stayed healthy and played in all 82 games. Danton Heinen may get the first crack on the left side with Boeser and JT Miller. He may not be a perfect fit in the team&#8217;s top six, but he has scored 17 and 18 goals in two of the last three seasons. So while the Canucks should always be on the lookout to upgrade their hockey club at all positions, I’d say depth down the middle behind Elias Pettersson and JT Miller and another defenceman with puck moving utility are higher on the wish list than another left winger at this point in time.
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Where do the Canucks finish in the Pacific Division?
&mdash; kanucked (@kanucked) <a href="https://twitter.com/kanucked/status/1824537617792209359?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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I’ve got them pegged for second spot in a flip of positions with Edmonton. There’s not a world in which the Oilers struggle out of the gate the way they did last season. Even with a short off-season, I think they learned a valuable lesson last season about just how tough it is to fall well off the pace and then have to play lights out the rest of the way. So I expect Edmonton to win the division with the Canucks breathing down their necks. While the Canucks will want to repeat as division champs, it’s far more important for them to hit the playoffs playing their best hockey. Sure, winning the division had its benefits (on paper at least). It gave the Canucks home ice for each of their two rounds in the post-season, but ultimately that didn’t mean much. They won one of three games against Nashville at Rogers Arena and two of four games at home against Edmonton. I see a scenario unfolding in which the Canucks take a small step back from their 109 point finish, but are actually a more complete team, playing better hockey over the final couple of weeks of the regular season to be on top of their game for the playoffs.
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What do you make of all the front office/hockey ops staffing changes? Why is there suddenly such a high rate of turnover?
&mdash; Big Sven (@HeavySvenB) <a href="https://twitter.com/HeavySvenB/status/1824814513964933512?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Churn seems to be a constant when it comes to Canucks staffing. It’s been that way for a while now, certainly since excessive turnover during and coming out of the pandemic. Some people leave for other opportunities, some are shown the door. I don’t think changes to the social media department or human resources will impact the on-ice product. But it’s certainly a fair question to ask. There have been no significant changes to the inner circle of the front office this offseason, so that leads to continuity at the highest level. 
But significant changes elsewhere can erode organizational stability and make it difficult to maintain a company’s culture with a revolving door of support staff. I freelanced briefly for the Canucks as a web writer many years ago but have never been on staff, so I can’t speak to life on the inside as a full-time employee. Ultimately, I think winning is what matters most to the fan base. The rest is simply offseason fodder until it becomes apparent it is having a detrimental impact on hockey operations.
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What do you think of the current trend of reporters on the Canucks,&#8230;..writing stories on the reporters on the Canucks. (Sunday seems to have been an extremely slow day at the office for some, no?)
&mdash; Fawlty53 (@jo67879080) <a href="https://twitter.com/jo67879080/status/1824705824763113534?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 17, 2024</a></blockquote>
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I have no problem with reporters reporting on other reporters. We&#8217;re all public-facing figures and as such have some degree of notoriety and our professional lives are open to scrutiny and discussion. Canucks fans are a passionate bunch and they want to know what’s going at all levels of the team they follow. If a person hired by the hockey club to be the social media face of the franchise is not returning, that is a story on some level. 
It may not matter to everyone, but it’s most definitely newsworthy – and it doesn’t matter what day of the week it is. Obviously, if the hockey club was making trades or was the target of offer sheets, those would be much bigger stories and would be given proper coverage. But in the absence of hard news in mid-August, reporters will look at other areas of the organization for story angles. Oh, and by the way, just wait for my ground-breaking expose later this week: ‘what is Quadrelli having for lunch on vacation?’ In my mind, this is the offseason news Canucks fans are clamouring for.
Editor&#8217;s note: Various deli meats
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In the salary cap era, there is no such thing as “losing a player to free agency for nothing”. Agree or disagree? And how much does this factor into Allvin’s management of Boeser’s contract situation?
&mdash; Jay (@TheHeartPlumber) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHeartPlumber/status/1824512161793855828?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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I think I can buy that line of thinking. You either commit money to Player X or you use that cap space to find a replacement – and hopefully an improvement. Now, there is certainly a way to reap assets for that player before he walks for nothing. But if we’re using Brock Boeser as an example, the Canucks are going to have a decision to make. This is a 27-year-old pending UFA who just scored 40 goals. There aren’t a lot of those in the NHL. The expectation is that Boeser will once again be a star-level scorer for a team with designs on contending next season. The Canucks basically have three moves: they can re-sign him. 
They can trade him prior to the deadline. Or they can let him help the hockey club all season and then decide whether they want to commit to him with big money over many years. Of course, the player has a say in that final option because at that point, he can choose to go to free agency. So there is some risk for the team in that regard. It’s hard to see the Canucks pushing for a Cup trading a highly-productive Boeser mid-season. I don’t know how that makes the team better in the short term. So Patrik Allvin has plenty to think about on the Boeser file. If Boeser returns and has anything close to the type of season he had last year, that seems like the kind of player this team needs and one the Canucks should want to keep in the fold long term.
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Would Yall like Tyson Barrie as a puck mover on our blue line? as the 7th d man maybe?
&mdash; De🅿️ressed Canucks fan🍁 (@43GOtNext) <a href="https://twitter.com/43GOtNext/status/1824503688259313941?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Well, first, I think we all would prefer you didn’t use Yall like that. But beyond that, I’d go with a simple no. I get the BC boy angle and even mentioned above that a puck mover should be high on the Canucks wish list. I just don’t think this is the puck mover for them at this stage. It certainly feels like Barrie is going to have to go the PTO route to extend his NHL career. He’s 33 now and was a part time player in Nashville last season. He can likely still move the puck, but there are questions about his ability to defend. 
His underlying numbers in a limited role in Nashville were sketchy at best (44% CF &amp; 46.9% GF). I’d be more inclined to look at Justin Schultz if the Canucks had an appetite to bring in a veteran defenceman on a PTO. Schultz has long been linked to the Canucks ever since leaving college. He won a pair of Cups in Pittsburgh. And he had 26 points in Seattle last season. If there is an opening for a BC guy to finish his career in his home province, I’d lean toward Schultz over Barrie at this stage.
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It’s not quite hockey season yet, but if you squint hard you can certainly see it on the horizon now. Troy Stecher will be holding his pro camp in Richmond next week to help local NHL’ers ramp up their summer training, while Arturs Silovs and Teddy Blueger will be representing Latvia in an Olympic qualifying tournament in Riga before the month is through. So we’re getting there. In the meantime, to help you bridge the gap until the Canucks season begins, we offer up another instalment of our Monday mailbag. 

https://twitter.com/CanuckleBob/status/1824515077720117485

The seat saga at Rogers Arena has been well documented and it certainly looks now like the ‘two year project’ part of the Canucks’ announcement to replace all of the seats in the bowl is doing some heavy lifting. When the club announced its latest round of rink upgrades in March, it said work would begin immediately after the hockey season. However, reports from concert goers throughout the summer suggest the same burgundy seats are still in place at The Rog leaving many to wonder what, exactly, they’re getting for their money with ticket increases across the board. The Canucks insist the new seats are coming despite the perceived delay. 

If the work is not done until next off-season, then I’m going to hedge my bet that an announcement of a practice facility will occur before all of the seats have been replaced. The Canucks continue to claim they are making headway on a practice facility of some sort. It’s likely to be a partnership with an existing arena rather than buying land and building one of their own. Certainly, progress has been slow on both files. But it feels now like the practice rink has surged in front in this turtle derby.

https://twitter.com/cloutzd2/status/1824517363829788845

Umm, Jake DeBrusk would like a word. While it’s true that the Canucks have a number of right-handed goal scorers in Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, and now Daniel Sprong – along with Jonathan Lekkerimaki waiting in the wings -- they’ve got a few lefties that know how to put the puck in the net, too. Who knows where Nils Höglander will slot in on the depth chart to start training camp, but obviously he saw plenty of time in the top six last season. Now, it's entirely possible that Höglander is a left shot right winger to start the season. DeBrusk was signed for the express purpose of playing alongside Elias Pettersson, so I think he fits the criteria of a top six left winger. 

There is a chance that Dakota Joshua gets a look higher in the lineup at some point. Joshua scored a career-best 18 times in 63 games last season – that’s a 23-goal pace had he stayed healthy and played in all 82 games. Danton Heinen may get the first crack on the left side with Boeser and JT Miller. He may not be a perfect fit in the team's top six, but he has scored 17 and 18 goals in two of the last three seasons. So while the Canucks should always be on the lookout to upgrade their hockey club at all positions, I’d say depth down the middle behind Elias Pettersson and JT Miller and another defenceman with puck moving utility are higher on the wish list than another left winger at this point in time.

https://twitter.com/kanucked/status/1824537617792209359

I’ve got them pegged for second spot in a flip of positions with Edmonton. There’s not a world in which the Oilers struggle out of the gate the way they did last season. Even with a short off-season, I think they learned a valuable lesson last season about just how tough it is to fall well off the pace and then have to play lights out the rest of the way. So I expect Edmonton to win the division with the Canucks breathing down their necks. While the Canucks will want to repeat as division champs, it’s far more important for them to hit the playoffs playing their best hockey. Sure, winning the division had its benefits (on paper at least). It gave the Canucks home ice for each of their two rounds in the post-season, but ultimately that didn’t mean much. They won one of three games against Nashville at Rogers Arena and two of four games at home against Edmonton. I see a scenario unfolding in which the Canucks take a small step back from their 109 point finish, but are actually a more complete team, playing better hockey over the final couple of weeks of the regular season to be on top of their game for the playoffs.

https://twitter.com/HeavySvenB/status/1824814513964933512

Churn seems to be a constant when it comes to Canucks staffing. It’s been that way for a while now, certainly since excessive turnover during and coming out of the pandemic. Some people leave for other opportunities, some are shown the door. I don’t think changes to the social media department or human resources will impact the on-ice product. But it’s certainly a fair question to ask. There have been no significant changes to the inner circle of the front office this offseason, so that leads to continuity at the highest level. 

But significant changes elsewhere can erode organizational stability and make it difficult to maintain a company’s culture with a revolving door of support staff. I freelanced briefly for the Canucks as a web writer many years ago but have never been on staff, so I can’t speak to life on the inside as a full-time employee. Ultimately, I think winning is what matters most to the fan base. The rest is simply offseason fodder until it becomes apparent it is having a detrimental impact on hockey operations.

https://twitter.com/jo67879080/status/1824705824763113534

I have no problem with reporters reporting on other reporters. We're all public-facing figures and as such have some degree of notoriety and our professional lives are open to scrutiny and discussion. Canucks fans are a passionate bunch and they want to know what’s going at all levels of the team they follow. If a person hired by the hockey club to be the social media face of the franchise is not returning, that is a story on some level. 

It may not matter to everyone, but it’s most definitely newsworthy – and it doesn’t matter what day of the week it is. Obviously, if the hockey club was making trades or was the target of offer sheets, those would be much bigger stories and would be given proper coverage. But in the absence of hard news in mid-August, reporters will look at other areas of the organization for story angles. Oh, and by the way, just wait for my ground-breaking expose later this week: ‘what is Quadrelli having for lunch on vacation?’ In my mind, this is the offseason news Canucks fans are clamouring for.

Editor's note: Various deli meats

https://twitter.com/TheHeartPlumber/status/1824512161793855828

I think I can buy that line of thinking. You either commit money to Player X or you use that cap space to find a replacement – and hopefully an improvement. Now, there is certainly a way to reap assets for that player before he walks for nothing. But if we’re using Brock Boeser as an example, the Canucks are going to have a decision to make. This is a 27-year-old pending UFA who just scored 40 goals. There aren’t a lot of those in the NHL. The expectation is that Boeser will once again be a star-level scorer for a team with designs on contending next season. The Canucks basically have three moves: they can re-sign him. 

They can trade him prior to the deadline. Or they can let him help the hockey club all season and then decide whether they want to commit to him with big money over many years. Of course, the player has a say in that final option because at that point, he can choose to go to free agency. So there is some risk for the team in that regard. It’s hard to see the Canucks pushing for a Cup trading a highly-productive Boeser mid-season. I don’t know how that makes the team better in the short term. So Patrik Allvin has plenty to think about on the Boeser file. If Boeser returns and has anything close to the type of season he had last year, that seems like the kind of player this team needs and one the Canucks should want to keep in the fold long term.

https://twitter.com/43GOtNext/status/1824503688259313941

Well, first, I think we all would prefer you didn’t use Yall like that. But beyond that, I’d go with a simple no. I get the BC boy angle and even mentioned above that a puck mover should be high on the Canucks wish list. I just don’t think this is the puck mover for them at this stage. It certainly feels like Barrie is going to have to go the PTO route to extend his NHL career. He’s 33 now and was a part time player in Nashville last season. He can likely still move the puck, but there are questions about his ability to defend. 

His underlying numbers in a limited role in Nashville were sketchy at best (44% CF &amp; 46.9% GF). I’d be more inclined to look at Justin Schultz if the Canucks had an appetite to bring in a veteran defenceman on a PTO. Schultz has long been linked to the Canucks ever since leaving college. He won a pair of Cups in Pittsburgh. And he had 26 points in Seattle last season. If there is an opening for a BC guy to finish his career in his home province, I’d lean toward Schultz over Barrie at this stage.

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JPat’s Monday Mailbag: Canucks staffing turnover, a Pacific division prediction, and which wing is stronger: left or right?

Forward Riley Patterson leans over the bench during the Vancouver Canucks' 2-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers at the 2024 Young Stars Classic from Penticton, BC

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