The Vancouver Canucks lost 5-3 to the Dallas Stars on Friday night, and that was the only news of consequence from the day. Yup, just another routine loss on another routine hockey night.
Oh, I guess JT Miller was traded as well. That might be a topic of discussion. But we’ll get to that in a moment.
First, the game itself, which was another case of a better team beating the Canucks. Thatcher Demko wasn’t that great. Elias Pettersson was fine, but certainly not good enough to avoid snarky “Mr 11.6” comments from social media. And Quinn Hughes looked to hurt himself late in the game, just in case you wanted a solid reason to want to never watch hockey again this season.
It’s probably not surprising the Canucks lost a game in which one of their best players was traded just before puck drop, but in a season filled with low points competing to see which one gets to appear on Beast Games, it’s hard to separate the losses as individual moments, when it all just sort of feels like one downward spiral.
And since the game itself is clearly the secondary plot to the JT Miller situation, let’s just dive right into this one.
Best it finally happened
It’s not often the game itself is the big afterthought in The Stanchies, but after months of speculation, we can finally confirm it kids: JT Miller and the Vancouver Canucks are getting a divorce.
After seemingly hitting the point of no return in December, with losses mounting and the divide between Elias Pettersson and JT Miller becoming the focal point of the team, it felt like only a matter of time until one or both of the players were dealt. The Canucks reportedly came close to trading both players back in January, so it was very clear that this management had finally had enough of hoping both players would sort their shit out. Apparently, locking them in a room with a broken pool cue was never an option, due to being “too violent” and “something that only happens in the movies,” so instead the organization traded away their problems, giving JT Miller the “Eat, Pray, Love” future he seemed in dire need of at the end of his time here.
And while Elias Pettersson’s future with the Canucks is anything but certain at this point, we at least have some closure on the JT Miller Era. The Canucks are firmly in the “please dear god, please never leave us Quinn Hughes, we will do whatever it takes to keep you” mode of their lives right now, so fixing the locker room and showing the Canucks captain a future that doesn’t involve pointed questions about why are mom and dad fighting is a high priority. Sure, you can play with your brothers in New Jersey, but have you seen Victor Mancini? He’s 6″3 and 220 pounds! Look at all the trees you get to play with! We’re so big! So big!
And while this trade was something that had to clearly happen, it will be a deal that has a significant amount of emotion surrounding it. Sadness that it had to even get to the point. Regret that two men couldn’t find a way to co-exist for the betterment of the team. Confusion as to how management tried to manage this. It is still hard to come to terms with the fact that this was a club that pushed the Oilers to seven games in the second round last year, only to fast forward to today where it became downright necessary to break up two of their top forwards.
We would also be remiss if we didn’t celebrate the career of JT Miller in Vancouver. Brought in during the Jim Benning era, he was one of the few home runs that the management team had on its record. He was a dynamic player, and one of the best offensive forwards this team has seen in its many years. Sure, he could be inconsistent at times, and the emotional edge he played on was very much a double-edged sword at times, but when JT Miller was on? He was one of the greatest this city has ever seen. JT Miller at his best was exactly the kind of guy you love to ride or die with in the playoffs because you know he’s going to leave it all out on the ice for you. He was the kind of guy as a fan that you would look to in big moments, because you felt confident he would rise to the occasion. That level of respect from the fan base is what cements players as legends in hockey towns. That swagger and confidence he brought to the rink is the reason fans would wear his jersey with an extra bit of pep in their step, almost as if some of that JT aura had been transferred to them as well.
Alas, it was the other side of that sword that seemed to take down his career in Vancouver. I have often said he’s a really good winner, the kind of guy who brings a cocky self-assuredness to your game when things are going well. But when things are bad? It just always felt like that hung too heavily on JT. Whether it showed up in his careless defensive plays, or his interactions with teammates, it always felt like JT Miller let the losing overwhelm him at times. He was the Incredible Hulk except instead of smashing cars in anger he would just stop back checking. And hey, nobody wants you to accept losing as a way of life, that’s how you spiral out forever. It just felt like he struggled to channel that frustration effectively.
And hey, we will probably never know the full story about the locker room, or know how the dynamics of it all worked. We can guess that the team losing key leaders in the locker room upset the balance enough that allowed this rift to lead us to today. Without the level-headed Horvat’s and Pearson’s of the world gone from the team, it truly felt like it became JT Miller vs. Elias Pettersson without any buffers. Nobody to pull one of them aside to talk them off the ledge. Instead, the friction just started building up until there was no way to come back from it.
Leading up to today, where it became very clear that the team could no longer function with Elias Pettersson and JT Miller on it.
Are the Canucks a better team today than they were yesterday? Skill-wise, of course not. One does not simply walk into Mordor nor does one simply replace a 100-point centre in the NHL.
But if you’re looking for silver linings, it’s that stretch of hockey Elias Pettersson played when JT Miller was out. You hang your hopes on the team figuring a way out to get their younger centre back on track. You look at JT Miller’s age and the physical style of hockey he plays, and it’s hard not to argue that the Canucks took a roll of the dice on a better situation sticking with EP40. I have no doubt that JT Miller will give the Rangers some good hockey, but I also don’t doubt his contract might not end well in New York. JT Miller is a guy who can help a team win RIGHT NOW, and I don’t think Vancouver is in that position.
As for what the Canucks got in return, they got several things.
One, they didn’t retain any salary on the JT Miller deal, which is always a win when dealing away a higher-priced contract.
Two, Rick Tocchet got another tree to play with in Victor Mancini. He was a fifth-rounder for the Rangers, and didn’t showcase much of an NHL future in his rise through the ranks, but word is he settled in nicely in Hartford and looked quite competent. If anything, it allows you to roll the dice on a defenceman with a higher ceiling than Noah Juulsen on the right-hand side.
Three, it got rid of Erik Brannstrom, so I have to assume that will lift the mood of Rick Tocchet. I assume nothing makes him happier than booting defencemen off of the team who are small and like to carry the puck, and aren’t named Quinn Hughes.
Four, Filip Chytil is a very serviceable NHL player, and a guy who if everything goes right for him, could be a very solid second-line centre for the Canucks. Being stuck behind Mika Zibanejad and Vincent Trochek didn’t give him a lot of room to prove himself in a top-six role, so the hope is in Vancouver, where there is absolutely no depth behind EP40 at centre, he will have all the chances in the world to show what he can do on the second line. There are concussion issues with Chytil, as he seems to have a very high Tua Tagovailoa vibe from the Rangers fan base around him, where they found themselves holding their breath after every hit he took. But if injuries don’t take him down, his underlying numbers actually look quite good. He is very clearly nowhere near JT Miller in terms of offensive production, but maybe in this new world away from the sad pending divorce vibes, Elias Pettersson morphs back into the top centre we all thought he was going to be.
Five, that first-rounder. While I have doubts the Canucks will hold onto it for very long, a first-rounder is a premium currency in the NHL economy, so if they plan to re-tool instead of rebuild, they now have a big new weapon in their trading arsenal. Add in the cap space they picked up in offloading the JT Miller contract, and yeah, the Canucks are in a very good spot to wheel and deal should they want to.
And finally six, the negative locker dynamic might have a chance to fix itself. Again, we’ll never know how much it directly affected each player, but I think it’s very safe to say that the Canucks were in a tough spot. I can’t imagine it was fun coming to the rink, dealing not only with the losses, but also the questions about the vibes and yeah, the actual vibes themselves. We might not know everything, but anyone could see JT Miller was not in a good headspace as of late, nor was Elias Pettersson. It was something that had to change.
So now the Canucks must forge ahead, and the weight of the world? That’s on Elias Pettersson’s shoulders now. Barring another trade, the spotlight is firmly on him, as he now has to showcase that he was the right choice. He’s the perfect shield for management in many ways, because if the team struggles? The finger-pointing will be directed at Elias, instead management team for putting together this roster. The thing is, a couple of years ago Allvin and Rutherford had a centre depth of JT Miller, Bo Horvat, and Elias Pettersson, and now we’re here. As much as I agree that Elias and JT played a big part in this, management’s handling of this situation, and their choice to go with JT over Horvat, will and should be heavily scrutinized if things keep going off the rails.
Because at the end of the day, this was the team Allvin and Rutherford built. And now they have to show that they were the right choice, as well.

Best time is a flat circle

I enjoy how thirsty the Rangers have been for JT Miller, as well as how consistent they’ve been on their trade offer.
“Best we can offer is Chytil. Chytil. This starts and ends with Chytil, and sure, toss in a large d-man, whatever floats your boat. The important thing is you understand we are only offering Chytil as the big piece coming from us.”

Best

If you want proof of the Canucks having some jump to this game, I offer you the best scoring chance of the season from Noah Juulsen:
The Canucks were out-shooting Dallas 7-0 by this point, and I have to imagine some of the Stars were feeling the heat when Juulsen was skating into the slot to unleash a wrist shot on Jake Oettinger, as Noah’s journey to outscore Kevin Lankinen continues.
I must be clear, however, the majority of shots from the Canucks weren’t very dangerous. It wasn’t like the West Coast Express era was reborn and they were tearing it up through the middle. No, it was back to their usual outside-looking in offence, but at least this time they ended the game with 28 shots? That’s better than 20, right? See? Positive vibes only, now.
Elias Pettersson ended the night with a lone assist, including this kind of shot on a pass from Brock Boeser early in the first:
Like I said earlier, I thought Elias Pettersson was fine? Defensively it felt like he was working extra hard to be diligent, and he looked like he was trying to be more determined on the power play. I know people will, and should, expect much more from him, but for a one-off game, he was whatever. He was fine.
Oh my god, now I feel like Rick Tocchet. This feels like something he would say. What have I become?

Best you’re all right

Oskar Bäck scored the first goal of the game after Filip Hronek was separated from the puck, Aatu Räty didn’t tie up the stick of Oskar, and Demko did some sort of weird shrug animation:
Dallas just sort of went “we want to score now” and Vancouver was like “ok go for it I guess” and boom, now it was 1-0 for the Stars.
Being a goaltender is a hard position for many reasons, but “not making the huge save” is probably the toughest. You’re the last line of defence and if you don’t make the big save, well, all of a sudden you can become the reason a team lost.
Demko set the bar absurdly high for himself in terms of making tremendous saves, but even with that being said, it feels like he’s rarely coming up big in huge moments. We’ve seen Kevin Lankinen rise up and steal games for Vancouver this season, but Demko’s play in net continues to be a struggle as he tries to find his form.

Best Jaws music

Conor Garland remains one of the most consistent Canucks on the season, both offensively and defensively, at angering his opponents, as well as apparently bleeding his own blood? He’s getting the full Scott Sterling experience in the last few games.
But the one thing you have to remember if you’re the opposition, is that as mad as you might get at Corolla? Don’t forget he has a low centre of gravity, which makes hitting him to the ice a lot harder than it looks:
Garland doesn’t watch shark videos because he loves them, he watches shark videos to pick up tips for hockey.

Best early returns

The Canucks started the game with some heat, and Elias Pettersson was good at 5 v 5 hockey on the night, but it never felt like he was a top-level threat. Still, making sure the other team doesn’t score is better than nothing, even though it felt like Dallas started gaining all the momentum after they went up 1-0.
So now instead of dominating the offensive zone, EP and friends were defending the GOTI:
Which, again, is better than letting in goals. Getting sticks in shooting lanes and staying on your guy is something Rick Tocchet demands out of his club. But if Elias wants the fans to quiet down, he needs to bring back to the offensive side of his game.
Because otherwise holding on for dear life and praying Roope Hintz doesn’t score when he sneaks in behind your d-men isn’t exactly going to sell many tickets:
And if you don’t sell tickets, Frankie gets angry. And when Frankie gets angry, the seats don’t get upgraded. And if the seats don’t get upgraded, we have nothing left to live for.

Best Högging the puck

Nils Höglander is like that guy from Alcatraz who supposedly escaped, but we have no proof of it, so you never quite know if it happened.
And supposedly Nils is out of Tocch Pen, playing hockey, and loving life. He’s been playing some of his best hockey of the season as of late, and on Friday night he added this delightful assist to his point total:
That’s a great pass from Nils, even if I am still unsure if the next mistake will cost him his spot in the lineup. I’m sorry, I just think once you’re in Tocch Pen, you never get out, until you’re traded.
As for Garland, that’s the mini-hockey stick finish we’ve come to expect from him in the blue paint. Just vintage Corolla work there.
Also, yes, your eyes have not deceived you, that was a goal off of the rush, with the puck fully in control when entering the zone. Not a single puck was dumped in the making of this goal.

Best go for broke

I have such an issue with players going top shelf when they are very much the type of player who shouldn’t even be thinking about that.
It just brings to mind Mason Raymond, flying down the wing, going wide, and wiring a wrist shot high and wide, leading to an odd-man rush the other way.
Which is why when Derek Forbort steps up, skates down the ice, and tries to go top corner, I immediately give out the loudest of sighs:
I sigh like your partner does when you tell them you’ll be done gaming in 5 more minutes.
It’s just such a high-risk play for me. The only D-men I trust to try that shot are Quinn Hughes, and Nikita Zadorov in the playoffs. That’s it, that’s the list.
If your name isn’t on there, please resist the urge to wheel down the ice and go bar down on a goalie, I beg of you.
Love the confidence, don’t get me wrong. But just, you know. Don’t do it.

Best drawing interest

Nearly Nils wasn’t just about apples on the night, he was also out there drawing penalties, too:
This is a far better situation than him taking penalties, leading to Rick Tocchet sending absolute daggers with his eyes from the bench.
Sadly the Canucks power play was just as inefficient without JT Miller as it was with him, as the best looks they got were a Brock Boeser shot that Jake Oettinger did his best to make look dangerous:
And Elias Pettersson walking into the slot to unleash a wrist shot:
I liked this shot from EP40, because as sad as it is, we haven’t seen a lot of that from him in a while? He just seems scared to shoot, so any time you see him actually willingly skate with the puck to unleash a shot, that’s the kind of thing you want to encourage.
That and dropping hot at Control on Rebirth Island. Go for all the glory Petey.

Best the Canucks just traded for Marcus Pettersson

As I was writing this article I was alerted to a trade. Still not sure what the details are, but you’re getting my live reaction to it. Obviously what Pittsburgh got for Marcus Pettersson will be interesting, but I am immediately delighted by the fact the Canucks are collecting all of the Pettersson’s in the world. Part of me secretly wishes this is to lessen the impact on Elias for “Pettersson has to be better” tweets, because you have to ask yourself, which one? Which one has to be better?
OK, I have now been alerted that Danton Heinen is now gone as well?
I think I need a moment here.
Where was I? Oh right. The Canucks power play. Yeah, ok, let’s check out the footage:
Hey, look, a Brock Boeser shot. Cool stuff. Ok. Too bad he didn’t score. Nice save. OK. Cool. Cool cool cool.

Best mini-trade updates

I mean, I had Marcus Pettersson on the Canucks radar for a while now. It just seemed like a natural fit. I also knew Rutherford wasn’t going to do a rebuild, it was going to be a re-tool, so this move tracks under that. I knew the odds of him holding onto that first-rounder were slim to none, I just didn’t expect it to be traded within a couple of hours of getting it?
Drew O’Connor is interesting in that “maybe he can be a top level third line guy” which seems a far better ceiling than Danton Heinen’s “What would you say it is you do around here, exactly?” vibes? But we also saw Jason Dickinson be serviceable before Vancouver, then he joined the Canucks and tanked, then turned into an all-star with Chicago so I just assume Heinen is about to go off now. Either way, I am actually quite intrigued by O’Connor and what he might do here.
Moving off from Vincent Desharnais is also firmly in the “this is best for everyone involved” category, so chalk that up as a win.
At the very least, management is addressing the major issues this team was facing; Locker room drama, and not enough puck movers on the back end.
If they can find a way to bolster that right side of the defence, maybe you re-create that world in which Ian Cole and Nikita Zadorov allowed you to lessen the burden on Soucy and Myers to keep everything running after Quinn Hughes.
I think this is a very smart trade if you’re a team wanting to make the playoffs, assuming you start playing Kevin Lankinen more.
Whether you agree with that direction or not, that’s a different story.
But I think we all kind of knew the end-game was to show Quinn Hughes that they could build a winning team around him now, versus telling him to be patient for five more years.

Best summary

Somewhere Cliff Ronning, Geoff Courtnall, Robert Dirk, and Sergio Momesso are smiling.

Best back to the game

Right, we still have a game to talk about.
OK, Derek Forbort, remember him? Well, he decided to sweep the leg, and got a penalty:
It wasn’t a good strategy at the All Valley Karate Tournament, and it wasn’t a good strategy here, as it sent Dallas to the power play where they got their second goal of the game:
It’s weird that the Canucks haven’t managed to get a bumper play back into rotation ever since Bo left. It’s not like Bo Horvat was the only guy who could pull that off, you have to think the Canucks could recreate that. Don’t get me wrong, Bo Horvat was very good at it, it just feels weird the Canucks haven’t found a way to get someone to do it at any level for them since he left.
Instead, they have to watch Dallas move the puck around with aplomb, ending with the perfect finish from Jason Robertson.

Best bro do your dekes

I have to imagine that Tyler Myers watches Quinn Hughes create magic on the ice and the Chaos Giraffe is all “hey I won a Calder trophy, I can do that too!” so he’s out here dekeing around people dangling to the net:
The chaos in Myer’s game has been reduced under Tocchet, which means we see less of the insanity in his own zone. But I won’t lie, I miss the random end-to-end dangles he would pull out when he was fully embracing the chaotic lifestyle.

Best too soon

While Jeff bums you out with nostalgia, here is Matt Duchesne ending the period with a nice shot from the GOTI:
Yay hockey!

Best good but bad?

Quinn Hughes usually shuts you down with slick skating and quick edge work, but today, today he chose violence:
Now the good news is, what a hit. The bad news is that Hughes appeared to be hurt at some point after this. And since there were no obvious “oh he clearly hurt himself there” moments, a lot of people wonder if this hit caused an injury.
But hey, what a hit.
But also, if Hughes is injured they need to forfeit the season.

Best not good enough

Noah Juulsen continues to struggle this season, as he got burned on the Dallas Stars’ third goal of the game:
Roope Hintz doesn’t do anything magical on this play, he simply turns around and starts skating. The problem arises when Noah Juulsen takes the world’s largest turn to skate back, making love to the puck by staring it down the entire time, before ending up in the middle of the ice, completely blowing his coverage on the right point.
With Juulsen firmly in chase mode, he then ends up kind of shoving in the general area of Roope, which allows Hintz to open up the legs of Demko just enough to slide the puck in five-hole. A man known for chasing hits, and he offers up that light shove, I don’t get it.
So two things are true here:
One, Noah Juulsen cannot be in your lineup full-time. He just can’t. Getting Marcus Pettersson is fine, but if Mancini isn’t ready to play for you, there is still a large problem on the back end. We’re at the point where it feels like a scene out of Money Ball, and you have to take away Rick Tocchet’s ability to even dress Noah Juulsen.
Two, Thatcher Demko just doesn’t have that big save in him consistently enough. If ever there was a time they needed him to step up, this would have been it.
Now, here for no reason whatsoever, is Noah Juulsen falling to the ice for no reason while skating:
It just feels like he should be a 7 or 8 guy for you, who you bring in when you want some thundering hits thrown. You can’t keep chasing the playoffs and dressing Juulsen, I don’t care how much Rick loves his shot blocking and penalty killing.

Best camera work

Quinn Hughes would return to the game later in the third period after the Canucks got a power play, and tell me that isn’t some WWE-level hype:
The Canucks might have lost, but we will have this gif forever.

Best closing out the game

Dallas got their fourth goal of the night on an empty netter after the Canucks fumbled the faceoff:
I have to tell you, I am already tired of “Miller would have won that draw” so if the team does trade Elias Pettersson, at least I will be free from those tweets.

Best why do they keep scoring

The Canucks made it 4-2 when Jake DeBrusk scored on the power play:
The game weirdly ended 5-3, so we have a couple more goals to go. There is absolutely nothing worth talking about on these goals as they are all scored in garbage time, I am merely including them so I get paid for the gifs.

Best what are we even doing here

I know hockey players will fight through everything, but after the first quick shift in which Hughes changed off because he was in too much pain, I feel like that is enough for the coach to be like “nah bro, you good, sit this one out.”
Instead, we had Quinn Hughes out there trying to win a game by making himself look incredibly sad on the bench:
Quinn Hughes is your most prized asset, if he’s hurt, in a regular season game of all things, you protect him. Take him off the ice. Cover him in ice packs. Tell him he’s a good boy. Give him a snack. Then make sure he never goes on the ice again until you know if he’s broken or not.

Best more goals

Here is the fifth goal from Dallas:
Yes, that is certainly a goal.

Best finish it off

And finally, Carson Soucy of all people got the Canucks their third goal of the night:
Lost in this game will be the fact that Phil Di Giuseppe made a pass so slick that Jake Oettinger had no idea it happened, leaving Soucy the widest net possible to hammer home his goal.
And that was the game. The Canucks lost, but got some garbage goals, and then everyone got traded.
I am actually worried someone else will get traded before this gets published.
Everything is happening.

Best jersey Botch