On Monday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Patrick Johnston broke down the Vancouver Canucks’ recent victory over the San Jose Sharks, highlighted Kevin Lankinen’s impressive impact, and explored trade possibilities and roster moves as the team looks to solidify its defence.
Patrick started by acknowledging just how huge of an addition Lankinen has been for the Canucks so far: “Lankinen was such amazing good fortune for this team — the fact he was just sitting there, unsigned, and I have no idea why. Especially when teams are throwing big money at goalies like Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman — great goalies, but they’re costing millions and millions. The Canucks don’t even have to spend a million for Lankinen, and he’s been fantastic. Where would the Canucks be without him?”
“When you start thinking about that, they wouldn’t be doing very well,” Quads responded. “He’s got all their wins — I mean, he’s the winning goaltender, but we know he’s been the reason for at least a few of those wins. Maybe not the San Jose game, but even then, he played well, and you could say that win was because of Kevin Lankinen.”
Patrick acknowledged San Jose’s shortcomings but credited the Canucks’ overall performance. “San Jose isn’t very good, and the Canucks were the better team most of the night. They deserved to win; the fact that it took until the last minute isn’t great in the big picture, but they won, and that’s what matters.”
The conversation then shifted to Elias Pettersson, who had an impressive shift leading up to the game-winning goal against the Sharks — one that some believe could signal a return to form for the 25-year-old.
“That’s the most impressive shift he’s turned in all season,” said Quads. “He was instrumental in that victory, and if he can keep up that intensity, it’s a huge shift.”
“When his skating and shot velocity get above 50%, I’ll say David Quadrelli was right and that this was the turning point in his season,” Patrick countered. “Until then, I’m skeptical. He hasn’t shown enough and has been mostly difficult to watch. He did everything right on that shift, but the reason Pius Suter scores that goal is because Conor Garland knows that’s where the opening is for shooters.”
The discussion moved to the trade market, specifically whether the Canucks might consider moving a player like Nils Höglander or Daniel Sprong to improve their defence.
“We saw what the prices were for defencemen last year,” said Quads. “Unless you’re putting together a package for someone like Rasmus Andersson — where you might need to throw in a Nils Höglander — but he’s a cost-controlled player for the next three years and a valuable piece I don’t think the Canucks would want to move. Ultimately, they shouldn’t have to. The Canucks can upgrade their defence without paying that high a price.”
One of general manager Patrik Allvin’s primary goals has been to create cap space, a constant challenge given the team’s legacy of bad contracts over the last decade. The most recent example is offloading Tucker Poolman’s contract to the Avalanche, which brought back Erik Brännström — who is having a very solid start with the Canucks — but, more importantly, freed up cap space.
“It’s been a longstanding ambition of theirs,” Patrick explained. “A big reason is that when they couldn’t get Chris Tanev, they were outbid because they couldn’t take on more salary. If they’d had more cap flexibility, Tanev would’ve likely been a Canuck last spring. That need for flexibility is what really drove the push to offload Poolman and to get into the position they’re in now. It’s only going to improve from here too. Once [Dakota] Joshua is healthy, they’ll probably send [Arshdeep] Bains down, clearing more space. Once Demko returns, they can also make decisions about Silovs. The Canucks will finally have some cap space to work with, something these Canucks and Jim Benning’s Canucks never had.”
“They should have at least six million at the cap, which is not a small amount,” Quads added. “That’s enough for a top-six winger or a top-four defenceman. There are a lot of players around the league they could fit in without needing to make a money-out trade involving someone like [Andrei] Kuzmenko or [Ilya] Mikheyev. Now, they can handle it in-house, which is huge — and let’s not forget, they got Erik Brännström in the process.”
You can watch the full replay of the show below.
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