On Monday’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal were joined by RinkWide’s Jeff Paterson to analyze the Vancouver Canucks‘ latest round of roster cuts.
One of the surprises from the cuts was Phil Di Giuseppe being placed on waivers and sent to Abbotsford, while Arshdeep Bains remained with the team.
“[Bains] works hard,” JPat commented. “He’s won his fair share of battles and never takes no for an answer. He’s worked his way up from the Western League, through the AHL, and now to the NHL. Was I surprised? Yeah. Phil Di Giuseppe is a true pro—low-maintenance, shows up, and works hard. Tocchet said it was a tough decision, but it speaks to the organization’s depth. Bains is part of that. When Tocchet arrived, these were decisions he didn’t have to make because there weren’t guys pushing up from the farm team. This shows how far the organization has come. I don’t think Di Giuseppe will get claimed because most teams already have a player like him. But if a team needs a penalty killer or a reliable fourth-liner, he might get some looks. If Bains can tidy up a few areas, he’ll play for Vancouver. Still, I’m not convinced he’ll make it past the final hurdle when they finalize the roster.”
JPat also mentioned that AHL assignments are more complicated due to injuries, like the one sustained by defenseman Akito Hirose in the preseason game against Calgary. If a player is injured during the preseason while they’re on an NHL team, they can’t be sent down, so Hirose’s status will impact the final 23-man roster.
Among the roster cuts, Jonathan Lekkerimäki was probably the most notable name. Many hoped the young prospect would stick with the team through to the regular season, but his assignment to the AHL wasn’t unexpected. In fact, as JPat pointed out, Lekkerimäki might be further along in his development than many anticipated.
“He’s closer than I thought,” JPat said. “I figured he’d need a full season in the AHL, but after watching him in Penticton and then seeing him placed with top-line players from the start of camp, his shot is undeniable. We saw it all camp. In the preseason, he had some good moments—even last night in Edmonton, where the team was heavily undermanned. He’s a volume shooter, leading the team with four shots on goal. While he didn’t look particularly dangerous on those shots, if he’s generating four shots a night, I like his chances. I’m excited to see how he performs in Abbotsford, where I expect he’ll be a top-line and power-play guy. He has to keep pushing to the point where the team can’t ignore him and has to bring him up for a look. Right now, he didn’t make the cut—and that’s not a knock on him. Nobody should see it that way. He’s young, in his first season in North America. He just needs to take the lessons from training camp and preseason and apply them. His time will come, probably sooner than later. But there are still things to work on—like defensive zone coverage—because at the NHL level, mistakes in those areas will cost your team. Overall, it was a successful camp for him, and he checked a lot of the boxes the Canucks wanted to see. He’ll be a big part of the team’s future, just not out of training camp.”
The guys also talked about what Jeff saw at practice earlier in the day.
“J.T. Miller was flying today,” Jeff said. “When asked about it after practice, Miller admitted he’s been dealing with something, but it hasn’t kept him from skating with the non-game groups. He’s been practicing without taking days off but didn’t want to risk playing in a preseason game. He said it was just common sense not to put himself in harm’s way, especially after seeing injuries happen to players like Patrik Laine and Drew Doughty in the preseason. Miller confirmed he’ll play on Friday, and he was going full speed in practice.”
“Teddy Blueger looks ready to go as the third-line center with Hoglander and Garland,” JPat noted. “If Suter is out for an extended period, Blueger should be able to step into that role seamlessly. On defense, things lined up as expected—Hronek and Hughes are paired together, but there are still questions about the depth beneath them. In the short term, it looks like Desharnais and Forbort will be the third pair, with Soucy and Myers, who played together a fair bit last season.”
You can watch the full replay of the show below:
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