The Canucks Are Close…Here’s How They Get Good Again

The Canucks Are Close…Here’s How They Get Good Again

From the thrill of a lastminute series winner to the agony of a game seven defeat, the 2023 2024 Vancouver Canucks season was a resounding success. Heading into last season, this team had cup aspirations. Oh, what a difference a year can make. I’m going to refer to Murphy’s law here. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. And for the Conucks last season, whether it was locker room drama, whether it was injuries or underperforming superstars, everything went wrong. Some of you guys may have seen the hockey guy’s video where he’s just apathetic about the Canucks at this point in his life. He is immune to the pain and suffering that comes with being a Canucks fan. This video is in part a response to the Hockey Guy from a delusional fan who still has hope in the Vancouver Conucks turning it around next year. Here is the blue line blueprint on how the Vancouver Canucks can return to contention next season. Starting with number one, rounding out the coaching staff. First, we have to talk about Adam Foot. I was not a fan originally of the hiring and I’m still not. He lacks the experience that the Vancouver Conucks need to have a bounceback season. The only head coaching experience he has is in minor hockey when he was a coach of the Colona Rockets where he promptly missed the playoffs in a league where 75% of the teams make the playoffs. And we’re talking about the Colona Rockets, one of the bestr run franchises in the WHL. He only has 2 and 1/2 years of experience behind an NHL bench. and he’s done a good job as a defensive systems coach with the Conucks, but being a good assistant coach doesn’t necessarily translate over to being a good head coach. My choice for the next coach of the Vancouver Conucks would have been Todd Nelson. The 55-year-old has won three championships at the AHL level. But once Jim Rutherford made it clear that the Canucks were going to hire from within the organization, probably because they’re too cheap, my choice was Manny Malhotra. He has more experience behind an NHL bench, but he also has glowing reviews, not just from the players that have played under him, but the players that played with him. Kevin Bxa gave him a shout out on hockey night in Canada when he was hired as a head coach of the Absford Canucks. The Sadine said when they were playing with him, it was like having another coach sitting on the bench with them. Mhotra’s ties to the city and the organization run really deep. And I think it would have been a nice story for him to be hired as the head coach. That’s all in the past. All we can do is move forward and now it’s a Canucks job to insulate Adam Foot with some offensive-minded coaches because this team’s defense is fine. But last year they lacked a lot of offensive creativity and it was insufferable to watch. I’m going to suggest a couple of names. Jay Woodraftoft would be the dream. He’s the one who truly laid the foundation for the Oilers to reach the potential that they’re finally fulfilling. It seems like Chris Knobblock is the beneficiary of the work that Jay Woodcraftoft did before Woodcraftoft was unceremoniously fired. Woodcraftoft knows offense. He’d be perfect as an assistant coach under Adam Foot. But at this point in his career and his life, does he really want to come to a tire of a team like the Vancouver Conucks? And I also don’t think he wants to be an assistant coach. I only think he’s gunning for a head coaching job. Another option would be Dave Hackall. A couple years ago when the Seattle Kraken made the playoffs in their second year of existence, they scored the six most goals in the league. Hack Doll was the architect of that playoff birth and he could be an option. But again, just like Woodcraftoft, is he only gunning for a head coaching position? If the next assistant coach of the Vancouver Conucks is going to be an internal hire, then it makes sense to hire both Henrik and Daniel Sadine, the two greatest offensive players in the history of the Vancouver Conucks. Maybe it is time to promote them from player development consultants to assistant coaches behind the bench. But if you hire both of them, it’s probably going to push Yogi Sweepkovski up to the press box. And he’s someone who’s highly regarded in this organization, but this might be a demotion that he has to take because a the Sadines hold a lot of weight in this city. And B, Suvkovsky was supposed to be a skills coach and I didn’t see a lot of skill up and down this lineup last year. You’re allowed to have four coaches on your bench in the NHL. If the Conucks hire the Sadines as assistants, plus Adam Foot, you’re still going to need a defensive systems coach. And again, I’m going to go the route of an internal promotion. Sergey Gonchar, does he want to be the Canucks full-time defensive coach? Right now, he’s working part-time remotely from Dallas as a defensive development coach. Look, I think after the pandemic, working from home has been a net benefit for society. But if Sergey Gonchar wants to be taken seriously as an NHL coach and if the Canucks offer him the position of the full-time D coach, he should take it. But then again, he seems like he really likes living in Dallas, and he’s probably saving a lot of money on taxes as well. So convincing him to come up to Vancouver full-time might be difficult. So, I’m going to suggest an outside the box option. Ricard Gronberg. Like I said earlier, I think Matty Malhotra should have been hired as the head coach of the Vancouver Conucks, and he should have been replaced in Abbottzford with Ricard Gronberg. Gronberg’s name has been tossed around in NHL circles for years now. He’s won everywhere he’s coached in Europe, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, you name it, international level, World Juniors, he’s won it all. I think the reason he hasn’t coached in North America is because he’s waiting for an opportunity to coach at the NHL level as an assistant or a head coach. I feel like he probably has interviewed for uh some positions and been offered AHL coaching jobs, but that probably doesn’t interest him. As for how he would fit in with the Vancouver Conucks, well, his teams play a very interesting style. His play style has been described as a hybrid of European style possession with North American style intensity. His teams are always very wellprepared, which the Vancouver Conucks last season weren’t cuz they were horrible in the first period. And they play with structure, something that Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alvine love. If Grombberg has any real interest of being a head coach at the NHL level, he’s going to have to make the jump over the pawn sooner rather than later. And where else to make this jump than Vancouver in the Canucks organization, which has the richest Swedish heritage in the league. This would be an outside the box move, but I think it’s something that’s high risk, high reward, and worth looking at. Number two, the Canucks are going to need to acquire a second line center. Based off of Jim Rutherford’s comments, the second line center issue is probably something that’s going to get resolved through trade, not through free agency. So, let’s just go over a couple of names. Starting with the absolute dream, and it’s probably a pipe dream. Taage Thompson, 66, right-handed shot, two-time 40 goal scorer, $7.1 million contract. Too good to be true, right? Yeah. Even if Buffalo was interested in continuing their perpetual rebuild, the Canucks are not going to have the pieces to make this deal work. it’s going to cost them multiple picks plus almost every blue chip prospect that they have. So, we’re gonna have to look at options that are a bit more realistic. Marco Rossi is a restricted free agent this summer and Bill Garren doesn’t seem to be a big fan of his. He had 60 points this season, but he ended up on the fourth line in the playoffs primarily because of his size. He’s only 5’9. Can you imagine a center core of Person, Heedle, and Marco Rossi? All three European players, all three pretty soft and Heedle very injuryprone. That doesn’t seem like a formula for success to me. So, a hard pass on Marco Rossi. But I don’t want to lean too much into this stereotype about European players being soft because there’s plenty of North American players who are soft. Trevor Zris is one of them. Just ask Kefir Sherwood what he thinks of him. Anaheim is sick of this guy. I don’t even like looking at his face to be honest. He’s a guy who avoids contact, but he’s still injuryprone. Anaheim is looking to move on from him, but again, another hard pass. There is a teammate of his that I would love to see on the Vancouver Conucks, though, and that’s Mason McTavish. If you’re looking for a long-term JT Miller replacement, Mason McTavish is your guy. He’s young, he’s big, he’s physical, and he’s clutch. Obviously, he hasn’t played a playoff game with the Ducks yet, but what I’m referring to is his big goal in the World Juniors a couple years ago. There’s a couple of ways that the Canucks can acquire him. One would be to sign him to an offer sheet. The Conucks can sign him for up to 9.3 million and only forfeit a first, second, and a third. However, I don’t think this is a route that the Canucks should take. If the Ducks decide not to match the offer sheet, then they get the Canucks first round pick next year. And we have no idea if the Conucks are even going to be any good next year. The Conucks missed out on a chance of drafting McDavid. They missed out on a chance of drafting Bard. And the projected first overall pick next season is Gavin McKenna. So the Canucks would be smart to keep their first rounder from 2026 and not sign any offer sheets this summer because again they could very well suck next year. Losing the first round pick to an offer sheet and then winning the draft lottery the next year would be the most Conucks thing ever. So yeah, don’t sign any offer sheets this summer. Another name that’s been floating around since the end of the season is Dylan Larkin. Now, he hasn’t played a playoff game in nine years, and he’s starting to get frustrated with the Iser plan, or as I like to call it, the Iser fail. He was critical that the organization didn’t add to the roster at the trade deadline. There’s been a little bit of chatter about him being placed on the trade block, but I think it’s just noise at the end of the day. He’s played all 10 seasons in Detroit. He’s a Michigan native. I think he finishes his career out in Detroit. Okay, so let’s move on to some free agency options. But before we do that, if you’re enjoying this video, if you’re enjoying this analysis, make sure to smash that subscribe button. I’m trying to hit 25,000 in 2025, and I can do it with their help. Now, let’s get back to some regularly scheduled programming. This year’s free agent class is weak to say the least. Miko Rantin’s already off the market. Mitch Martner, no way in hell he’s coming to Vancouver. But the Canucks need a second line center. Sam Bennett is going to get paid handsomely by someone. And I hope it’s not the Vancouver Conucks because sure, he’s really good in the playoffs, but in the regular season, he’s a perpetual 50point scorer, and I can’t see him leaving Florida to come back to Western Canada. Plus, who knows if the Canucks are even going to make the playoffs next year. You’re paying a known playoff performer to not even play in the playoffs for you. Doesn’t seem like a very smart idea. Male Granland is another option. Brother of former Kuck Marcus Groundland. Again, I don’t know if you want your top three centers to all be European players. Nothing against European players, but it’s good to have a little bit of a mix. Granland could be a temporary option. He seems like he’s one of those guys that’s gotten better with age. He just had 66 points this season with the Sharks and the Dallas Stars, and he’s having a decent playoff run so far as well. But again, I only see him as a short-term fit, max 2 to threeyear contract. Another Dallas star, Matt Duchain. Now, this has buyer remorse written all over it because if the Canucks sign Matt Duchain, they don’t know if they’re going to get the Matt Duchain who just put up 82 points this year or the Matt Duchain who only had 56 points with the Nashville Predators 2 years ago. If the Canucks really think that they’re getting the 82point version, then they can go the Matsendine contract route where you pay them a lot for a shorter term deal, let’s say 8 1/2 by two and then hopefully transition into a guy like Au Ratu or someone else that you pick up through trade or the draft. But I’ll reiterate this free agency is the route that I would avoid if you’re looking to fill in your second line center position. Brock Nelson’s another option, but he’s probably looking for the last contract of his career, and he’s gonna get paid by someone. Hopefully not the Vancouver Conucks. If the Canucks don’t do what Jim Rutherford said, and that’s acquire a second line center before free agency, and they end up desperate, don’t be surprised to see them sign a guy like Jack Roselovic, who’s not a bad player, but he doesn’t exactly inspire confidence as your second line center. He would probably slide in behind Philip Heedle. Again, first time unrestricted free agent. He’s going to want to get paid. And I hope the Conucks are not the ones to overpay this guy. Finally, let’s look at some under the radar options. Now, the Canucks have a little bit of familiarity with this player, and you guys are going to pull your hair out when I say this, but maybe they look at a guy like Elias Lindholm. The Boston Bruins are retooling, and they would probably do anything to get rid of Elias Lindholm. if the Conucks can get the Bruins to withhold $2 million of Lindholm’s salary. He’s not a bad player at 5.7 million. He was pretty decent when he was here, especially in the playoffs. Regular season, he had his wrist injury, but he had pretty good chemistry with Joshua and Garland. Maybe that’s something that the Canucks look at reuniting, but it’s not my number one option. I heard Bo Horvette’s name suggested, but I think Kucks army, whoever wrote that article, maybe put down the bottle of Jack Daniels because Horvat is not waving his no trade to come back to Vancouver. The Canucks chose JT Miller over him. They chose JT Miller over their captain only to turn around two years later and trade away JT Miller. Horvat’s not coming back. Now, here are two realistic options that I really would like to see the Canucks pursue. And let’s start off with a runnerup option. In my opinion, the Columbus Blue Jackets have an abundance of centers. They’ve got Monahan, Sylinger, Fantelli, and Kent Johnson. Kent Johnson is my favorite out of the players that I just listed. He’s incredibly skilled. He’s only 22 years old, and on top of that, he’s a local kid. He’s from Port Moody, but he’s going to cost the Conucks quite a bit. If you look at the Columbus Blue Jacket situation heading into the summer, they’re probably going to lose Ivan Prover and maybe Dante Fra, they’re going to want a defenseman, a young defenseman preferably in return. Is a first and Mancini enough to land Kent Johnson? I personally I don’t think so. I think they’re going to want Willander or they’re going to want Elias Person. The price is going to be steep, but if the Canucks can find a way to make it work with Mancini in a first plus maybe Ratu H, could be worth it. If this is possible, the Canucks number one trade target for their second line center without a doubt in my mind should be Anton Landell. He’s someone whose name I’ve heard in Canucks trade rumors in the past and he would be the perfect fit for their second line next season. Let me tell you why. If the Panthers decide that they’re going to resign Sam Bennett, then Lindell isn’t going to be able to blossom as a top six center in behind Barov and Sam Bennett. He’s already won a Stanley Cup. He’s got a long-term contract for $5 million per year, which is a steal. He’s put up 45 points as a third line center. He has the second highest points per 60 at five on five for the Florida Panthers. He’s also a clutch playoff performer. He’s the perfect guy to come in and take pressure off of Elias Person. But again, it’s going to come down to whether or not the Florida Panthers resign Sam Bennett. And it will also come down to if Lindell wants to be the next JT Miller. Does he want to leave Florida where he’s scoring 40 45 points and go to Vancouver where he can score possibly 80 90 points? This guy has a lot of untapped offensive potential and he should be at the top of the list for Jim Rutherford and Patrick Alvine. Okay, now that we got that out of the way, let’s move on to number three. Pray for Elias Person. His arch nemesis is gone. He has a full season to train and heal. He makes $1.6 $.6 million and he has access to the best doctors in the world. There is no excuse left for Elias Person. The Canucks are set in goal, the set in defense. Now it’s time for Elias Patterson to start pulling his weight again. Talk just did an interview on Donnie and Deli and he seems quite confident that Elias Patterson will be able to rediscover his game. And I think to be honest, this team is only going to go as far as Elias Person will take them. A lot of the criticism of Elias Person is coming from new fans who don’t even remember how good this guy used to be. We’re not that far removed from him being considered a candidate to win the Selki Trophy. But it’s not just his defensive game. Offensively, he’s a former 100point scorer. And if you remember in 23 24 after the first month of the season, he was actually leading the league in points. He was on pace to shatter the Conucks franchise record in points in a single season. He was on pace for I believe about 120 125 points and then it all just fell apart unfortunately. I don’t want to get into what it was whether it was mental uh whether it was drama with the teammate injuries all that they have to leave it in the past because he has the potential to be more important to this team than even Quinn Hughes himself which right now may sound sacrilegious to a lot of you but this guy was really really good. He turned Kuzzeno into a 39 goal scorer. And for a while it looked like he was going to turn Sam Laughafer into a 25 goal scorer. But I don’t want to place all the pressure on his shoulders. If the Conucks want to be contenders again next year, they’re going to need bounceback seasons from multiple players. One of them is Niels Hoglander who a couple years ago scored 24. Last season he only scored eight. A lot of that was because of Rick Tin not trusting him in the top six and playing him in the fourth line for extended periods of time. And I really hope that Adam Foot gives him a bit more leeway next year because we know what he’s capable of. I’m very confident that Dakota Joshua will have a bounceback season next year. I’m just gonna leave it at that. But like I mentioned earlier, the Conucks are going to lose Besser and probably Sudter as well this off season. That’s 50 goals in their lineup that they’re going to have to replace. So they’re probably going to get some production or they’re going to need production from Jonathan Leer Mackey and Atu Ratu. It’s going to take a collective effort to replace all the goals that are exiting the lineup, but I think if you see a bounce back from the players that I mentioned, it’s possible. Number four, rotate the goalies. Make no mistake about it, Thatcher Demco is one of the best goalies to ever play for the Vancouver Conucks. He’s also the most injuryprone goalender to ever play for this franchise. He’s had at least one major injury every season since the bubble season. And it goes beyond that. He came into the NHL after getting double hip surgery in college. So when I say the Conucks need to rotate their goalies, I’m talking a 4141 split. Maybe even start Kevin Lankan in 45 games, start that Demco 37 games because he’s just that fragile. And then unleash Demco in the playoffs. Hopefully we see a return of Bubble Demco if the Conucks make it that far. The Canucks have their best goalending tandem since uh Schneider and Lango. So, it’s only good to utilize them, especially if you’re paying Lanin, who’s your backup, close to $5 million. Lankin is good. He’s he’s really solid and he gave the Conucks a chance to win most nights, except towards the end of the year, the game against Columbus and the game against New York really come to mind. But he is one of the better 1B goalies in the NHL. As for Demco, when he is on his game, there is almost no one in this league better. And there’s levels to this. Lankin good, gives you a chance to win every game. Demco single-handedly has a capability of stealing a series. The way this team is built, it looks like they’re going to build out of their crease with Demco and Lankin in you got Hughes Ronic, Peterson Meyers at your top four. That’s really the backbone of this team. So, it’s in their best interest to keep Demco fresh, rotate him with Lanin, and yep, let’s move on to point number five. Build the practice facility. Now, this isn’t something that’s going to get them back into contention next season. It’s going to be a long-term process, and it really depends on which route they decide to take. Are they going to buy an existing building and retrofit it, turn it into their practice facility, which they can probably have it ready within a couple years, or are they going to buy a parcel of land and develop it, which could take several years? The former option seems much more likely. The Canucks were in talks with Simon Fraser University, my alma matter, to build a practice facility up on Burnaby Mountain, but that never made sense from the beginning because because there’s only one road that goes in and one road that comes out. If any of you have been up on Burnaby Mountain, you know how sloppy it gets in the winters. So, I don’t think it’s an ideal location for an NHL practice facility. It would be pretty cool to see if the Canucks can develop a practice facility at the P& grounds in East Vancouver, which by the way, that’s the area that the Acrolinis are from originally, I believe. And speaking of the Acrolinis, it’s kind of embarrassing that the Vancouver Conucks are the only organization left in the league without a practice facility. I’m starting to think that the Acrolinis probably don’t have as much pull when it comes to real estate or finance as they let off. Maybe they’re overextended in their other businesses, which is why they’re afraid to pull the trigger on a new practice facility, which is probably going to require $150 to $200 million in financing. I’m not an expert on finance. Maybe someone can correct me in the comments here, but if they were to build a practice facility, they can probably use the money generated from the licensing rights to the name of the facility to pay off whatever construction or building loan. But but it is really odd that a family that is known locally for their chops in real estate development can’t find a piece of land to build on. If they are overextended, overleveraged, then sell the team. If that’s the case, then they have no business owning an NHL team and running it into the ground. They’ve already lost a coach, Rick Tocket, because of it. How many free agents are they going to lose out on because they don’t have their own practice facility? The Seattle Kraken came into the league and had their own practice facility and no one complained about real estate prices in Seattle which are comparable to Vancouver. To me, that just makes the most sense that they’re overleveraged. I don’t believe the Acrolinis are cheap because of how much they spend on the Vancouver Conucks. I truly believe they’re overleveraged in their other businesses, which is why they can’t raise the 100 to 200 million that’s required to build this facility. So, that’s the note that I’m going to end it on. sell the team or continue being the laughingtock of the league. The athletic poll of NHL agents ranked the Vancouver Conucks ownership as second to last in the league. The only team worse are the Buffalo Sabres. Year after year, ticket prices go up. The team’s revenue is increasing. And you’re telling me they can’t use that as collateral for any arena? Something just doesn’t add up. There you have it. Those are my five steps to get the Canucks back to contender status. But I want to know what you guys think. Do you agree with my assessment? Are you hopeful that the Canucks can make it back to the playoffs next year? And again, if you haven’t subscribed, smash that subscribe button and I’ll see you guys next time. Cheers.

According to Murphy’s law, anything that can go wrong will go wrong. From locker room drama, to injuries, and underperforming superstars, everything went wrong for the Vancouver Canucks last season. Despite the turmoil surrounding the club, they still finished with 90 points. It’s not inconceivable that they return to contender status next season, but a lot has to go right. In this video, I present the blueprint for the Canucks to be GOOD again.

00:00 Intro
00:51 Round Out the Coaching Staff
06:03 Acquire a 2nd Line Center
15:05 Pray for Pettersson
17:38 Rotate the Goalies
19:20 Build a New Practice Facility