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Monday Mailbag: Nils Hoglander and Vasili Podkolzin with chicken wings and pierogies
Vancouver Canucks mailbag
Photo credit: Matthew Henderson
Faber
By Faber
Aug 24, 2020, 15:00 EDTUpdated: Aug 24, 2020, 15:52 EDT
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Another week, another mailbag.
David Quadrelli is still on vacation so I will be taking over the mailbag once again.
Questions were asked for late Sunday night after the Vegas Golden Knights put five on it. Let’s see what you wonderful people asked this week.
Of course the Vancouver Canucks have a chance of winning this series. They definitely got a full serving of Vegas in game one but overall it just looked like the Canucks didn’t show up.
The Knights don’t necessarily have a line that will shut down the Canucks top stars. Obviously the trio of Max Pacioretty, William Karlsson and Mark Stone is excellent in their own zone. They are one of the best two-way lines in the NHL. Many people have dubbed The Lotto Line one of the best lines in the NHL throughout the season. This playoff series is the biggest test for them.
Elias Pettersson spent time with a variety of different forwards in game one. This seemed to work in the Blues series because the Blues had the elite defensive Ryan O’Reilly line. These lines are different, they don’t dominate puck possession like the O’Reilly line, they are simply far above average at the little defensive things. With that, I think The Lotto Line should make its return to the Canucks lineup.
Here’s Pettersson’s time on ice with different forwards in game one.
I think with this second-round series, the Canucks will have to load up their top six to be as offensive as possible. The possible additions of Tyler Toffoli and Tyler Myers will be very good for a team that needs to control the puck in the offensive zone more.
Not only controlling the puck, but being able to get to the dangerous areas after some good puck movement. That is going to be tough because though the Knights don’t have the best defence core — they do have arguably the best defensive forward group in the NHL.
There’s something that clicks between Miller and Pettersson and that same thing clicks with Pettersson and Boeser. Putting that trio back together is the move for me. That leaves the second line crying for some offence, Tanner Pearson and Bo Horvat can’t do it all. That line needs a player line Toffoli, someone who can win board battles and be a playmaker.
Some would suggest Jake Virtanen gets a shot with Pearson and Horvat. Right now that might be the Canucks best option for creating a top six that can score. There really isn’t a bona fide top-six player that Green go insert into this lineup if Toffoli isn’t healthy.
My move would be taking out Loui Eriksson for Zack MacEwen and bringing Virtanen into the top six with MacEwen sliding in with Tyler Motte and Jay Beagle. I thought the best line in game one was the mismatched line of Antoine Roussel, Adam Gaudette and Brandon Sutter. They often possessed the puck in Knights territory and aside from Boeser, I thought Gaudette was the most dangerous scoring threat. He has three individual scoring chances in only 11:28 of ice time.
There’s a lot that needs to go the Canucks way for them to get back into this series. They need to be an emotional unit and get back to that type of hockey in game two. If they go down 2-0 in this series I don’t like their chances. Markstrom will have a bounce-back game, but he can only do so much.
Mistakes will be made by this Knights team, they are just extremely good at not giving up goals when the mistakes are made. The Canucks will need to change that if they hope to advance to the Western Conference Finals.
Which is pretty wild to say, the Canucks are only four wins away from the Western Conference Final…
Great question, I love talking about Vasili Podkolzin and Nils Höglander as you’ll see later. The 2020-21 season is still very much up in air. Not for if it will be played but when it will be played and for how long. A rough estimate is that the season could begin in December or January. This type of knowledge is currently much above my coverage of the NHL but I do know a couple of things for Podkolzin and Höglander’s situations.
As for Podkolzin, his contract is up with his KHL team at the end of their season. The KHL season is set to begin in just a couple weeks even with multiple COVID cases being reported and even a COVID death just this past weekend. In Podkolzin’s last game there were a very limited number of fans in the stands and we will see how/if they make any adjustments in a response to the cases.
It seems like the KHL is just going to go on with their season through the COVID battle, similar to how I expect the NFL to believe they are too powerful for COVID — in Russia, I think the KHL will have that same feeling of invincibility.
The KHL regular season ends on February 27th, 2021. Podkolzin plays on one of the stronger teams in the league so I expect his team to get into the playoffs and potentially make a run to the finals. The playoffs will begin on March 2nd and have the potential to go all the way up to April 30th.
When Podkolzin’s run ends he will be able to sign with the Canucks and join the team. With the start time for the 2020-21 season being rumoured to be in December or January — it is safe to safe that Podkolzin could join the Canucks for a late-season playoff push.
He will fit right into a bottom-six role as that is what he will be used to playing this season. The adjustment to the smaller ice will make his game even better as well. His brutish strength and aggressive skating will have Canucks fans falling in love with him just as quickly as they did with Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.
Podz is the real deal. I can’t wait to see him in a Canucks jersey.
Now for Höglander’s situation. He had already signed with the Canucks and is currently loaned out to Rögle BK of the SHL. That loan expires on December 19th, 2020.
The reason for the two-month loan was to be able to make a decision on the 2020-21 NHL season. Höglander also has a 10 game out clause in his contract that gives him a chance to return to the SHL if things don’t workout in North America.
Obviously Höglander wants to be in the NHL and that is a real possibility at the date of arrival to North America this December. The question will be is he good enough to be an everyday player and what does the NHL season look like for him.
His loan is perfect for him being able to come to play the season for the Canucks but does it limit his time at training camp where he would be able to show coaches what he is all about.
I spoke with a three Canucks prospects who were a part of the 2019 Prospects Camp with the Canucks and all three said that Höglander was on another level at that camp. This was a camp that included players like Jett Woo, Aidan McDonough, Tyler Madden, Mikey DiPietro and Brogan Rafferty.
Höglander has had a very hot start in preseason action over in Sweden and if he continues on with this scoring rate, he will be knocking on the NHL’s door in December and could be a very nice Christmas present for Canucks fans.
I don’t think there’s any chance that the Canucks go away from Jacob Markstrom in game two.
I thought they may begin the third period with Thatcher Demko but Markstrom is Green’s guy and if Markstrom didn’t want to come out, he would not have been taken out. When the Knights scored their fifth goal it was time for Demko to get some time.
The Canucks playoff hopes live and die with Markstrom being able to play to his top potential. I’ve said it for a long time that I believe Markstrom needs to have a 0.920 save percentage for the Canucks to go on a run. I think that number jumps up to 0.930% to beat the Knights.
He will be in net for game two.
What kind of pierogies are we talking about here?
Are we looking at the ones where a two-dollar bag can feed a whole house of students or the big ones from a real pierogi restaurant?
I’m going to go with the real big ones.
For example, Cecil’s pierogies in Kelowna. A place that I checked out after having it recommended to me by Kole Lind. I’d bet that Markstrom can eat a good six to nine pierogies from Cecil’s.
Nice.
I’m going to get roasted for this but I don’t really know a good spot for wings in Vancouver yet. I’ve lived here for eight months but about seven of those months have been in COVID lockdown.
I’m going to give a strange answer but I stand by it.
I lived in Nanaimo for the entirety of my life and I’ve loved wings for all my years. The Landlubber Pub has wings four nights a week and a ton of different flavours. Flavours can only get you so far though, you need to have a good quality chicken wing as your base. Unfortunately, The Landlubber Pub’s wing quality has dropped over the past few years and with that, a new king of Nanaimo wings have emerged.
It’s at Jigger’s Lounge in South Nanaimo. They give you a pint and a pound for like $8.99. The wing quality is very good and the sauces get the job done. I didn’t believe it until I tried it but now I stand by them being the best-priced wings in Nanaimo.
Please tell me where I should go eat wings in Vancouver. I miss a good wing night.
We will finish up the mailbag with two more questions about Hog and Podz.
I think the thing that needs to improve in Podkolzin’s game is his decision making around the net. He tends to pass on good quality shots at times during odd-man breaks and he makes blind passes around the net that work at times but most of the time just go flying through the crease.
Last year, I would have said his skating could improve to be an elite prospect. He looks to have gained a step during this offseason and is a lot of fun to watch right now due to his combination of size, speed and compete level.
Höglander is rawer than Podkolzin. He has a few things he could work on. His shot looks strong early on this season but I would like to see a bit more compete level in the defensive zone. If he gets involved in a board battle he is very good at retrieving the puck. Here he is (#21 in white) winning a board battle after forechecking hard.
The problem is he has been avoiding said board battles in the defensive zone. I know he’s supposed to be covering the point in the defensive zone but when there’s a high zone battle he does fly by those looking to get an outlet pass.
Last year he talked about rounding his defensive game and working on it hard throughout the season. This year should be a big jump in his offensive production. I just hope his defensive game improvement doesn’t get left behind.
Thanks for sending in questions and Quadrelli will be back next Monday to give you the regular Monday Mailbag. Be sure to follow him on Twitter and keep an eye out for the ask for questions.

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