The Truth About the Canucks Defence…

The Truth About the Canucks Defence…

Carson Susi with Tyler Meyers, Derek Forbert with Vincent Dehorn. This was the bottom four the Conucks rolled out last season. So it comes as no surprise that halfway through the year they acquired Marcus Pettison and Victor Mancini. This combined with the rise of DPD, Tom Willander, and Curio Kriadsv has turned the Conucks’s greatest weakness into their greatest strength. Behind the Dore is the greatest goalending tandem that this team has had since Luango and Schneider. Make no mistake about it, the D in goalending is the main reason I think the Conucks will return back to the playoffs. This is part two of my three-part season preview. Let’s just jump right into it. So, for the top four, there’s a couple of options that the Canucks have at their disposal. Number one is load up the top pairing with Hughes and Ronic. Have them feast on the opposition and rack up points while relegating Patterson and Meyers to shutdown duty. or they can split up Hughes and Ronic, get more balance in the top four. But I would pair them together for two reasons. Number one being how dominant they are when they play together. Over the past two seasons, Hughes and Ronic when they play together control something like 2/3 of scoring chances at five on five. If you can get that for 20 plus minutes a night, your odds of winning the game increase drastically. The second reason to keep Hughes and Ronic together is simple. Marcus Pison can carry his own pairing. This isn’t like last year when the Conucks lost Cole and Zadorov, which forced Susi into the top four. That led to some fans arguing that Ronic needed to be split from Hughes so he can carry the second pairing with Susi. But Person is legit. In fact, he was the best Penguins defender last season before the Conucks acquired him. He was better than Latang and he was better than Carlson. I’d love to see Person and Meers get the bulk of shutdown duty and uh defensive zone draws uh difficult matchups like against McDavid and Dryidle. That in turn should free up Hughes and Ronic for more offensive situations. That being said, don’t sleep on the top pairings defensive game either. Their strength is puck possession and if your opponent doesn’t have the puck, they can’t score. So, Conucks fans should feel fairly confident if foot and uh Kevin Dean, the new defensive coach, decide to roll out Hugh Hew and Ronic against those big matchups that we see in this division against guys like Dry Cidle, McDavid, and even Kopitar at his age. Before I break down the top four players individually, if you’re enjoying this video so far, please subscribe. I’m trying to make this the best source for positive Kucks content, and your subscription helps greatly. Thank you. Let’s look at the top four individually. Starting with Quinn Hughes. I told my ex I would die for Quinn Hughes and I stand by that. I didn’t feel the same way about her, which is probably why we’re not together anymore. Anyways, back to uh Captain Quinn. Like the title says, can he score 100 points this season? Absolutely he can. This team’s offense runs through Hughes. Even though he played hurt for most of last season, he still scored at a 92point clip. With a resurgent Elias Person and hopefully a another guy like Nils Hoglander chipping in with some goals along with an improved power play, Hughes can rack up the assists and be the first franchise or first defenseman in franchise history to score 100 points. Every summer he finds something to improve on and every season he comes in and amazes us. His shot the last couple of seasons has become lethal and it wouldn’t surprise me to see him score 25 to 30 goals this season. But there is one thing that could hold him back from getting 100 points and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of those minutes he was eating up on the left side are going to go to Marcus Patterson. When you have a guy like that who can take the pressure off of your franchise defenseman, you have to utilize him. Also, the Canucks can’t continue riding Hughes into the ground. Last season they were notorious for giving up the first goal and falling behind early. They were chasing quite a bit and Susi wasn’t the guy who was going to get you back on the board. So, it wasn’t uncommon to see Hughes play 30 minutes a night. It’s in the Conucks’s best interest to keep Hughes fresh because if you remember a couple of seasons ago, he looked pretty worn out by the time the Conucks got to the playoffs against Nashville and Edmonton. So, the key this season will be starting strong, getting early leads, and rolling three pairings. Last season, Hughes played close to 26 minutes a night. This season, it would be in the Canucks uh it would be wise for the Canucks to get him under 25 minutes a night, which theoretically should result in fewer points, but Hugh should still be good for between 85 to 90 points and hopefully another Norris nomination. Of course, it’ll be cool to see if he can put up 100 points, but longevity is more important. They need to keep him healthy, and they need to keep him fresh. You know what helps keep me healthy and fresh is a nice holiday. You have holidays in two days. I’m sorry. I just had to use that clip. Two years after acquiring Philip Ronick, I think we can all agree that this was a home run of a trade. We saw how bad this team was last year when Ronick was out with a shoulder injury. the Conucks really struggle to get the puck out of their zone and there was nobody to uh support Quinn Hughes. Hopefully, Ronic’s um shoulder issues are a thing of the past because his main weapon, his slapshot, is the best this team has had since Sammy Salow. And the Conucks are going to need that slapshot. We already know that they’re going to struggle to score goals. So, any goal from the back end is going to be a huge boost. It’s surprising that Ronic hasn’t had a 10goal season yet in his career. And that should be a realistic expectation we have for him. With Hughes teeing him up, it’s not out of the question. Along with 50 points and if he can stay healthy, that contract is going to age like fine wine. Speaking of good contracts, Marcus Patterson at 5.5 is a steal. He was going to get 6 million on the open market. So, it’s nice for a change to see someone take a discount to stay in Vancouver. What can we expect out of him in his first full season with the Canucks? Well, he reminds me of a left-handed Chris Tanv. Tall, skinny, not overly physical, but he’s very adept at moving the puck out of his zone. When you take out Carson Susi and replace him with Marcus Person, you’re looking at approximately a 10point increase in your possession metrics, which in the modern NHL is massive. The greatest luxury with Person is that you don’t have to worry anymore about who you’re going to roll out on the ice after Quinn Hughes. It’s kind of like when the Blackhawks had uh Nicholas Yolmerson coming out after Duncan Keith. Uh a solid number three defenseman. The Canucks don’t need a lot of production out of Pison. 25 to 30 points would be good. Uh mainly they need his penalty killing steady defensive play and they need someone to anchor his chaotic partner Tyler Myers. In my life, I’ve never seen a player turn around their reputation quite the way that Tyler Myers has. He went from universally regarded as overpaid and a liability to a steady veteran presence that’s important on and off the ice. There was a point early in Hughes’s career where we worried about Tyler Myers stunting his development, but now that’s legitimately become a possible top end pairing. What happened? How did this change come about? Well, Rick Tocket and Adam Foot, the D-Whisperers. It’s not just working with Meyers individually. It’s also implementing a system where if Meyers gets too chaotic, there’s a safety valve in place to cover for him. For example, a centerman tracking back and making sure that the Canucks aren’t outnumbered down low. Foot being promoted is uh probably good for Tyler Myers, but he is getting up there in age. Maybe Myers has another 30 goal season in him, but his real value is going to come in the playoffs where every inch of the ice is magnified. The Canucks are going to need his 6’8 frame to box guys out, play physical, and protect some of the smaller guys on that roster. If he was still making 6 mil, you would want more out of him. But for 3 mil, that’s quite the deal. All right, so the third pairing is where things get interesting. you have an option of rolling a young star pairing with Elias Patterson and Tom Waylander, but the Conucks brought back Derek Forbert for a reason. He’s going to be on that third pairing and he’s more than capable of playing uh that role quite effectively. Earlier in the season, we questioned whether or not he was a good signing, but that was mainly because of him being paired with Vincent de Harne. Later in the season, he really showed his value as a penalty killer and a calming presence on that third pairing. And I think that’s what he’ll bring again this season. He’s on a one-year deal and he’s there to help develop his eventual replacement, DPD. This is the most physical young defenseman that the Canucks have had since pre-backs surgery, Edler, who used to just crush guys. DPD is the type of guy that you need behind Quinn Hughes. He’s going to keep the opposition guessing every time they cross the blue line. Subscribe to the Blue Line Hockey if you’re enjoying this video. He has the potential to be one of the greatest draft day steels in franchise history. But for now, let’s focus on incremental growth. His goal this coming season should be to establish himself as an everyday NHLer. Someone who makes Adam Foot think twice before uh scratching him or potentially even sending him down to the AHL. Plus, if he can learn how to play the right side in the NHL, that provides the club with a lot of flexibility moving forward. I think the Conucks are only going to carry 22 skaters on their active roster, which leaves us with one more spot in the press box for a defenseman. Sorry, Tom Willander, but I think that spot’s going to go to Victor Mancini. Mancini is older, he’s bigger, he’s stronger, and he has pro experience unlike Willander. He’s also coming off a pretty impressive Calder Cup run, and the organization has already said they want to reward guys from Abbottzford, and that’s why I think he’s going to get the spot as the seventh defenseman. Plus, you don’t want Willander in your press box anyways. You want him down an abbey playing heavy minutes in all situations, getting ready for his eventual call up to the NHL. Plus, Mancini is already 23 years old. He’s nearing the peak of his development. And it’s probably better at this point in his career to have him practicing every day with NHL talent. Also, if you can get him into a stretch of games, that potentially increases his trade value. And as we all know, the Vancouver Conucks are still shopping for a second line center. Mancini could be the cornerstone of that package. And I’m shocked to say this, but the Conucks are dealing from a position of strength here, which would have been crazy to say a year ago. But things can change rapidly in the NHL. Things have changed pretty rapidly for star Canucks goalender Thatcher Demco. From a career season to a injuryriddled campaign, former VZNA finalist Thatcher Demco has become a bit of an enigma in these parts. What if he had a better team in front of him in the bubble? What if he never got hurt in game one against Nashville? There are so many whatifs with Demco and I really hope these injury troubles are behind him because he’s the type of goalie that can take an average team and turn them into something truly great, something truly special. He was drafted 11 years ago and we still haven’t seen how far he can take this team. The good news is that Demco headed into the offseason completely healthy and he also hired a new biomechanics expert to give him a new perspective on exercise. So, it’s time to leave all the whatifs in the past. Our curiosity as a fan base was peaked in the bubble series against Vegas. What if he can sustain that level of play over the course of a series? What if he could sustain that level of play over the course of a playoff run? Could we witness something truly special? I’m not going to get ahead of myself because he’s made out of glass. So, realistically, all we can really hope for is him to stay healthy, play in a rotation with Kevin Lankanin, and return to elite levels. It’s going to be tempting when he goes on a heater for Adam Foot to play him for consecutive games, but for the love of God, can they please just stick to a oneame Demco oneame Lankanin rotation? You don’t pay a goalie 4 and a.5 million like Lankanin to play 30 games. There are starters around the league like Sam Montbo, Steuart Skinner who don’t even make that much money. When Lankan signed his deal, a lot of people thought that the Canucks were ready to move on from Thatcher Demco, but then that Demco signed his extension. So that signals a two-headed monster in the crease. So the Conucks need to utilize both of these guys, not just because of Demco’s health, but Lankanin is no slouch. Early in the season, the Canucks had to ride Lanin pretty hard because Sheilos was very bad and Demco when he came back got hurt again. Lankin was really dominant early in the season, but towards the end of the season, his play tanked, but I don’t see that being an issue this season because the Canucks can probably go one game Demco, one game Laninan. Keep Demco healthy and keep Lankan in fresh. And come April, game one, Thatcher Demco in net against whoever the Conucks play in the playoffs. Yes, I said it. I do believe the Conucks will make the playoffs and it’s because of the guys that we talked about today, the goalending and the defense. In tomorrow’s video, I’m going to talk about my biggest concern facing the Conucks this season and it’s the only reason I’m not comfortable guaranteeing the Canucks make it back to the playoffs. That’s coaching and special teams. Subscribe and hit the bell notification icon to be notified when that video is released. And I will see you next time. Thanks for watching.

Part 2 of my Vancouver Canucks 2024–25 season preview is here, and this time we’re diving into the defence. Can Quinn Hughes actually hit the 100-point mark? Is this blue line finally a strength instead of a weakness? And will the combination of Hughes, a deeper defence core, and Thatcher Demko in net be enough to carry the Canucks into the playoffs?