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What the Canucks have and what they need for 2024-25
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Published May 29, 2024 • Last updated 41 minutes ago • 6 minute read
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Vancouver Canucks’ Brock Boeser and Elias Pettersson, listen during the NHL hockey team’s end of season news conference, in Vancouver, B.C., Thursday, May 23, 2024. Photo by DARRYL DYCK Darryl Dyck /THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Patrik Allvin confirmed publicly last week what we’d long known was a behind-the-scenes talking point, not to mention a note obvious to every outsider with a lick of sense: the Vancouver Canucks need to add a top-six winger.
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But before we get to that, let’s take stock of where Allvin’s squad stands, a month before the reopening of the NHL free agency window.
In the first of a three-part series, we look at the Canucks’ forwards, who is in the fold, who might be on the way out and who is up in the air.
Under contract and going nowhere
Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, Pius Suter, Nils Aman, Phil Di Giuseppe
Obviously, like last season, Allvin has a mostly solid group of players to work with. He’s got Pettersson, who needs to bounce back from a slow second half and so-so playoff, and Miller, who just had the finest season of his career, locked up long-term.
Fixing Pettersson will be a big-time priority for Tocchet. He’s used some public tough love but there’s little doubt it’s because the coach believes in the player. He found a way to connect with Miller and Boeser last year, helping both find a new level of focus and physical commitment that neither knew they had in them.
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But Pettersson still has more to give, it’s clear the coach believes. He’s been great. Tocchet sees a player who can be even greater.
Why else would he be talking about Sidney Crosby as much as he does? Be like Sid, he’s said to his players more than once. You have to think he’s now saying that to one player in particular.
Boeser is heading into a contract year, coming off the best season of his career. He proved he can be more than just an injury-prone streaky goal scorer. Obviously the Canucks need him to do it again.
Of course another strong season will mean he may be unaffordable next summer, when he’s set to be an unrestricted free agent.
There’s Conor Garland, coming off a very fine season, where he found a role and won the hearts of many. His role is clear: he’s a guy who will drag his team into the fight, night in, night out.
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There’s Pius Suter, who was Swiss Army knife the Canucks hoped he would be. In an ideal lineup, he’s probably centring the third line, which is where he started the season before suffering a groin pull in November. When he returned, he found a home with Miller and Boeser and the trio became one of the NHL’s best puck-possession lines.
And there’s Nils Aman and Phil Di Giuseppe, two certified good dudes, who are cost-effective and bring reasonable, though eminently replaceable, talents to the fourth line.
Vancouver Canucks’ Conor Garland (8) during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers Monday, Jan. 8, 2024, in New York. Photo by Frank Franklin II /AP
Under contract, but where?
Ilya Mikheyev, Nils Höglander, Vasily Podkolzin
Mikheyev’s second season started well enough, but in the second half and into the playoffs he was an overpaid mess. He scored just once in his final 61 games. And it’s not like he didn’t have any chances. He played a ton with Pettersson and sometimes Miller in the playoffs. We all recall his glorious chance in Game 7 vs. the Oilers, where he deked out Edmonton goalie Stuart Skinner, but couldn’t bury his backhand shot.
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He’s got a big cap hit. It’s hard to imagine the Canucks being able to move his deal. Allvin’s comments at last week’s end of season press conference don’t suggest there’s any thought of a buyout — but then again at the 2023 end of season presser, Allvin gave no indication he was thinking of buying out Oliver Ekman-Larsson. And then he did.
Most likely Mikheyev is back next season. At least he’s a useful defensive player, even if he’s got a cap hit that demands production.
Then there’s Höglander, who during the regular season showed off the hands around the net he was drafted for. But he disappeared in the playoffs, a worrying development. His underlying number in the playoffs were actually quite good, but he didn’t show any of the finish that he’d managed in the regular season.
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Given his cheap cap hit, there’s lots of reasons to keep him on the roster.
But if you’re looking to juggle around your defence, might Höglander be a trade chip in that endeavour?
And what to make of Vasily Podkolzin? He did show glimpses of his potential this season, but still didn’t score a goal in the regular season. Despite encouragement from the coaches to let himself play to instincts, too often he looked like a “systems player” — a player who avoids risk and just sticks to the smart thing. That’s not going to keep him in the NHL.
He’s like Höglander: lots of reasons to keep him around because of the efficiency of his cap hit and his youthful potential — but that’s also a reason why he might be a trade chip.
Los Angeles Kings defenceman Brandt Clarke (92) controls the puck away from Vancouver Canucks right wing Vasily Podkolzin (92) during the first period on Tuesday night in Los Angeles Photo by Kyusung Gong /AP
The free agents
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Teddy Blueger, Dakota Joshua, Sam Lafferty, Elias Lindholm
Let’s get the easiest of the four out of the way: Sam Lafferty was a hustling fourth-liner who got a lot of opportunities in the lineup. But he’s a very replaceable player. And there are younger players, like Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson, who are under contract and can surely fill his role just as well.
The other three are interesting questions: Blueger had an as-advertised solid season as a checker and is a reasonable player to bring back — as long as you don’t overpay — while Joshua had a huge breakout season and deserves a raise and of course Lindholm is well known to be after a big payday.
Could Joshua help solve the top-six dilemma? Allvin has been open about finding another winger, but just looking at the Canucks’ depth chart tells us there’s probably two spots open in the top six. Joshua took a big leap forward this season, showing himself to be an impactful power forward on the third line, but can he sustain that impact in tougher minutes?
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Joshua’s surely the priority at this point. Right behind him is the Lindholm question. In the playoffs the veteran Swede made an impact, scoring the third-most points on the team. But when you dig into the numbers, both the Predators and the Oilers got a lot of shots off when he was on the ice, not exactly a good sign for a forward that is supposed to be a strong two-way player.
With Miller already in his 30s and signed-long term, is it really that smart to commit to Lindholm long term as he heads into his 30s?
Dakota Joshua #81 of the Vancouver Canucks and Corey Perry #90 of the Edmonton Oilers get into an altercation during the second period in Game Three of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on May 12, 2024 in Edmonton, Alberta. Photo by Codie McLachlan /Getty Images
The winger
Adding that top-six winger won’t be easy. It’s next to impossible to do if you’re going to re-sign Lindholm — and the needs on the blue-line bleed into this as well. Filip Hronek is after a raise. So is Nikita Zadorov.
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The Canucks currently have about $26 million in cap space to work with, but once they’ve signed a defenceman and a forward to big tickets — whether’s that’s Lindholm or a free agent, or a player picked up in a trade, like Martin Necas — that number will start shrinking fast.
Assuming he gets Joshua re-signed as well, Allvin won’t have much space to work with. The GM has some creative thinking to do.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin Photo by Jason Payne /PNG
pjohnston@postmedia.com
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Fitnessnacks – #Canucks #topsix #winger #forwards
Courtesy : https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/canucks-need-top-six-winger-look-2024-25-forwards