Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
Nucks Fan Rebuild & Retool Center - Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
The Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres crossed swords last night. The Sabres weren't quite on their 10-game win streak, losing once before facing Vancouver, but were still riding high. The Canucks, on the other hand, hadn't been doing so well, with just one win in six games since a brief winning streak post-Quinn Hughes.
What happened next probably won't surprise you.
Vancouver was on the road, which, in theory, is a tougher game. But the Canucks have triple the wins on the road as at home, so "grain of salt" that thought. It still didn't go well for them, as the post-game column here can attest. They outshot the Sabres 35-20, but some of that is score effects and some poor shot choice. Or maybe it's frikkin' genies, as the Canucks are 3-11-2 when they outshoot their opponents* this season.
It was a fairly lethargic game from Vancouver through two periods. They had 14 shots in the first, sure, but only a few were dangerous. A short-handed goal against, and, well, it wasn't their night. Until approximately ten minutes into the third, when Buffalo took a double minor. The team found new life, getting to within one before an empty-netter finished them off for good.
And if that game was played at home, the fans would probably have gone home happy. Or if not happy, then happy-ish. Because that, ladies and gentlemen, is where we are.
Ask Team Canada at the World Juniors if they would rather have the Bronze medal or fourth place. It's a quick and easy reply to what should be an obvious question.
That being said, there is the matter of scale. A team in a tournament that happens once a year over the course of two weeks isn't the same as a team in an ongoing league. An Olympic or World team might plan a year ahead, maybe two, to consider the logistics. An ongoing team can change that to years.
Right now, the Vancouver Canucks have no plan. They had a plan, and one that involved a core of Elias Pettersson the Forward, J.T. Miller, Thatcher Demko, and, of course, Quinn Hughes. Anchors at all the important positions, and a coach who can bring them together with proper discipline and solid technique, Rick Tocchet. Add some reliable side pieces, like Brock Boeser, Kevin Lankinen, and Filip Hronek, and we're set to build a challenger!
Let's not go into details about how that went.
Suffice it to say, that plan didn't last. Three times, that plan didn't last, as Miller, Tocchet, and Hughes all fell away. Now they have a plane that didn't fly and are trying to decide what bits to sell off for parts.
The NHL does help the worst teams in the league by giving them the opportunity to select draft-age talent before the better teams. This controls where said talent goes and for how long, with a few notable exceptions. Teams are reluctant to trade their highest picks because, over the years, we've seen that it is far and away where most of the talent is available.
You want a star? Bad news, buddy, they're tough to find! You're probably going to have to draft one.
So, yes, in the NHL, losing can be a good thing. In fact, it could be said that losing is an essential part of being good. So, shouldn't the Canucks be one of the best teams in the league by now? After all, they have been quite a bad team for most of the past dozen years! Well, that's the thing: you have to PLAN for when you are going to be a bad team. If you are an accidentally bad team, and the plan you have is to be a good team, then you're walking around London with a Paris street map. Interesting, but mostly useless.
Right now, the Vancouver Canucks are in Surrey with a topographical map of the Moon. A fine idea, but it ain't helping.
Are... Are you a shareholder in the Vancouver Canucks? Seriously? Uh, h-hey! How you doin' there, Francesco? Uh, don't read any other part of this website, okay? Not for a bit, anyway. It's dull. Really. Mostly about flowers and stuff. We're talking about maps now, so... anyway. Good of you to drop by. Maybe we'll talk later, eh?
(Is he gone? That was crazy, guys! WTF, right!?!)
We, as fans, are just going to have to decide what it is we like about the team. If what you like is winning, well, that might not be for a good long while. Not consistently, anyway. Know, though, that a win can come on any given night, and it's pretty fun to be there when the home team scores an upset. Granted, that's not been a common thing this season, but it's still fun when it happens.
But that's not going to be the majority of nights. So you have to pick what you like from what is given us. Watching a young player like Tom Willander get through his growing pains to become a solid, middle-pair contributor is fun, even in losses. Heck, my favourite Canuck during the Sedin Era was Jannik Hansen. Those years got pretty frikkin' barren, but he was still a good watch.
Or pick a vet whose job has suddenly become guiding the kids as they come into the fold. There's always a risk of them getting traded away, but you can look for moments where they're giving advice on the bench or guiding traffic on the ice. And you never know how they'll react to a new world. The amount of ramping up Hronek has done since Hughes left is night and day. He was happy to be in a supporting role here, but he's loaded that defence onto his shoulders since becoming The Man on the blueline.
It's even fun watching the farm crew finding their way, like Linus Karlsson or Max Sasson, earning new deals. They aren't going to be stars, but becoming NHL regulars is already a huge task. Enjoy them for the work they put in. It doesn't always work out - I'm a big Jett Woo fan, and still waiting for his arrival. Might never come, but if it does, I'll be there for it. I'm a sucker for a throwback player, what can I say?
If you want to be really oblique, you can watch the coaching. See what styles they use in different configurations, consult a Jack Han manual or two. But if you thought watching your favourite veteran could be short-lived, the coach of a losing team has the lifespan of a mayfly. Watch it while you can. Remember: it's a game, and games are supposed to be fun. Find your joy in it now, and hope for a big payoff in the future.
Just not too far into the future, okay, Francisco?
*13-9-3 when they get outshot, just for the record.
Players are starting to return from injury, with both Thatcher Demko and Elias Pettersson the Forward returning against the Sharks. Nils Höglander is back, if currently in the press box, and Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger are skating with the team. Derek Forbort remains the World's Greatest Mystery with no return date listed, but he's not moving any needles.
Arguably, the worst part of having so many injuries right now is that the classic "this guy's getting traded" veterans aren't available. Blueger and Forbort are the mid-to-late draft pick returns that teams out of contention move. But they've each played just two games this season, and no one wants to bring in insurance players who need insurance.
Of all the players who are likely to be traded, will possibly be traded, or are just interesting to think about getting traded, one stands out.
Hockey is a game of mistakes. There is a baseline of talent that any team has, but different tactics will help push the needle one way or another. A champion ECHL team is going to be hard-pressed to beat the worst NHL team, and for good reason. But when talent is generally of a level, how the team approaches a game will make a difference.
Make fewer mistakes than your opponents, decrease your chance of losing. But take more risks, increase your chance of forcing your opponents into mistakes. They make more mistakes, you increase your team's chance of winning. However, there is one position that can change everything, and it's the one that's on the ice for the entire game.
It's not like Vancouver hasn't been here before. When Roberto Luongo left after the 2013-14 season, responsibility for the team fell to Eddie Lack and new arrival Ryan Miller. Miller did what he could for three seasons, but mostly what he did was provide false hope. No one is interested in reliving the Canucks' accidental rebuild years, thanks.
But in that, there is some hope for the folks pitching a rebuild. As good as Miller was, the team only reached the playoffs in his first year. Now, we all love us some Brock Boeser, but maybe they could have had Mathew Barzal, or Kyle Connor, or Mikko Rantanen instead of a first-round exit against the Flames.
But that was just one year, and one in which Henrik and Daniel Sedin were 70+ point players. The other two? Both fifth place in the draft, but only because the lottery put them there, dropping them from second and third in consecutive years. The team was still as bad as it could be.
Demko has negotiated a new deal, as we all know. While the amount is high, the term is quite low. Exactly the opposite of what you would hope to get with a high-talent, high-injury-risk player, but it's what we have. His $8.5 million per for three seasons includes a full no move clause, but doesn't start until 2026-27. The opportunity to move him to any destination is now. Should they?
Even the best skaters in the league rarely cross the 30-minute mark. This season, the desperate Canucks dressed Quinn Hughes for everything, resulting him him being the league's minutes played leader. Even then, he still averages just* 27:30 per game.
No, the one who can really screw up as high a draft pick as Vancouver can get is Thatcher Demko. Even in his game after the break against the San Jose Sharks, shaky though the team was, he made some excellent stops. He's the guy on the team who can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat - and he doesn't even have to do it that often. If he pulls in, say, three wins that Vancouver doesn't deserve, that's six points.
You know what six points is right now? Moving up nine places in the standings. NINE! That's battling with Utah and San Jose for the final wild card spot, and it's hard to say Vancouver's better than either of them. Some typical Canuck luck in the lottery, and the team drops out of a top-ten spot in the entry draft.
Add to that the possibility of saving $8.5 million. Kevin Lankinen is a solid goaltender with a decent floor, even if his ceiling isn't at Demko's heights. He has a five-year deal at $4.5 million, and his no-move clause has already kicked in. Behind him, the Canucks look like they favour Nikita Tolopilo rather than veteran Jiri Patera, and that's fine. The team won't rely on either to lead them to the playoffs when the time comes, unless a miracle happens.
More likely they hope one of Ty Young, Aku Koskenvuo, or Alexei Medvedev with take the ring in four or five years. Or it may be none of them, but a player nowhere in the system. A goalie's progress is a mysterious thing.
Which should make Demko a very tempting target. Yes, his health is unpredictable. But when he's on, there are very few in the world who can match him.
On the other hand, it's not like Demko will play every game from here on in. With 45 games to go - including tonight against Seattle - he might play 30? As many as 35, tops, unless the coach has been told this is his last year. And who would be crazy enough to do that in December?
Say he collects 40 points out of those 30 games. That's a pretty good record, and well within the realm of possibility. If Lankinen has the other 15 games and gets 15 points from them, that's 45 points total, leaving the team at 78 points by season's end. And those projections are well above the pace for both goaltenders. If they both continue current trands, then we're talking mid-60s.
Heck, just look at what's happening in Winnipeg. The Jets, a team with a very good top line and America's starter for the Olympics in net, is one point ahead of Vancouver. A goalie can steal games, sure, but only so many. So, hey! What does it matter? Why NOT move Demko, save some money, and get some upward mobility in the prospect pool?
The short answer is because he's Thatcher Demko.
The long answer is that if the team wants to challenge in two or three years - and it sounds like they do - they aren't going to find another Thatcher Demko by then. Goalies age weirdly, and Demko in his early 30s is probably going to be close to the same Demko we have today. Maybe, maybe one of the kids catches fire early and forces his way onto the team.
If so, is it Demko or Lankinen who should be here to greet them?
*"Just" - as if this amount of exercise wouldn't kill me dead.
Four wins in a row, all on the road, where they outscored their opponents 13-6. Not what most fans would consider a tragedy, for most teams. But these are the Vancouver Canucks, and the Vancouver Canucks fans come with them. And there's a difference of opinion on which direction they should go.
First comes a definition of "tanking" that everyone will accept. I've always hated the term because it implies sabotage or deliberately throwing a fight, and that's not something the folks in the game are going to do. Likewise, the definition of management making the team worse isn't actually sabotage - it's strategy. So I don't like that being called "tanking" either, but, for now, it will do.
The Quinn Hughes trade is a big deal. The Canucks received a solid return, bolstering their weakest position, acquiring a potential star, and securing a little something for the future. I was generally optimistic about how well the new arrivals would fit, but they surprised me with how quickly they have done so. Marco Rossi being the last to score a point with Vancouver wasn't in my expectations, certainly.
And it's been fun! Watching your favourite team win four in a row sure beats watching them win twice in the previous ten. But there is a wasp in the beer can right now, and that's Gavin McKenna. Or, more to the point, what Gavin McKenna represents: that really, really high draft pick that can set a team up with their Star of the Future(tm). And to get that, the Canucks need to lose.
While the Canucks have been better of late, it's still a bit of a stretch to call them good. Vancouver's goalies have had 30 more shots directed against them than their opponents. They've taken advantage of depleted lineups, odd schedules, and apparently an absence of home cooking. Seriously, why the "Road Warrior" thing? FOUR wins at home, but ELEVEN on the road?
In any case, the team isn't going to win every remaining game on the schedule. But the danger many fans feel is that they'll improve just enough to convince everyone who matters that the [rebuild/retool/remake/reincarnation] is done and they can stop working now. And while it's reassuring to know the team isn't exactly good, they will get better unless something is done to stop them.
The upcoming schedule doesn't look good. If you're interested in a team tanking, that is. They face the Flyers, who are eleventh in the league right now, but have just 17 wins in 34 games, twice. Detroit is actually playing well, and they're coming up. Otherwise, the next dozen games look decidedly unintimidating.
Now, Vancouver has the (lack of) ability to lose any one of these games, of course. But it wouldn't surprise to see either eight losses or eight wins coming out of them. The Sword of Damocles has been removed, and everyone is playing a more relaxed game. They're having fun while still working their tails off, and that can do a lot for a team. If they get a bit lucky, the Canucks are in real danger of being in a playoff spot a month from now. Or at least within shooting distance of one.
That is why it is absolutely vital that management not lose sight of the goal. The Canucks have two eight-game home stands coming, one of which happens before the Olympic break. They cannot afford to fall in love with their players during that home stretch. They have to move folks out as soon as they possibly can.
If that happens to be Thatcher Demko, then it's Thatcher Demko. If it's Elias Pettersson the Forward, then it's Elias Pettersson the Forward. If it's Conor Garland, then, well, it's probably a mistake, but so be it, it's Conor Garland. We've been over the names, and they haven't changed.
And while they're at it, throw the old "no trades within the conference" maxim out the window. Hint to Winnipeg that they're in too deep to rebuild now, so they better get another scorer. Suggest to San Jose that they owe their fans to make the playoffs this year, not just get close, and need to shore up that defence with a veteran. Ask Edmonton if they ever want a REAL goaltender before McDavid leaves.
Make room for some of the younger players we have now, and get a few more back. The Canucks don't need every draft pick to be from this year, surely? Future picks have current value, if an opportunity to pick up a disgruntled star happens to arise in the future.
In the meantime, encourage the old, 1980s "lovable loser" mentality. All that led to was loveably losing, but this time, do it deliberately. Acknowledge that "the kids" may not all hit, but by gum, they're gonna try! And maybe a few of the better ones can, ah, "learn to dominate" in the AHL this season. Go for another championship there, maybe get some rings before the 2025 champions do.
Because the truth of the matter is that, as good as Zeev Buium looks, he's still just a rookie. Liam Öhgren may be finding his legs, but a good bottom-six winger isn't going to change the world. And Marco Rossi will help, not save, the team.
Sure, move the unrestricted free agents for something. But don't forget the underlying problems on the team aren't cosmetic. No, you don't win Stanley Cups with a team of 20-year-olds, but everyone on a Cup-winning team was 20 years old sometime.
The Canucks managed to get a win in their first game without their former captain, earned or otherwise. Zeev Buium made the biggest wave, but Marco Rossi and Liam Öhgren were both fine in their debuts as well. No word on when [insert future player here] is getting into the lineup, but we should probably wait until he's drafted before forming an opinion on him.
So what did we learn?
Moving the best player in team history is going to have an effect. But it's not like Vancouver hasn't done it before, trading away both Pavel Bure and Roberto Luongo mid-career. This time, their hand was forced by Quinn Hughes' disinterest in staying with a team that seems uninterested in a long-term vision. Go figure.
We've already talked about the trade itself, looking at the return. Now, one game and a few days later, we can a bit more clearly think about the rest of the team. Because if there is one thing we need to see after this move, it's more moves.
Don't worry about the tank. Seriously. Vancouver wasn't as bad as their record said - but they might be now.
That isn't a slight against the new arrivals, either. But one of them is 20 years old and hasn't scored a point in 19 games this season. Another is very skilled, but a rookie defenceman. The third is a good, second-line centre. None of them is Quinn Hughes. It wouldn't surprise anyone if Öhgren went to the minors as the Canucks returned to Vancouver. We like him, we do. But he's not a needle-mover yet.
And if you doubt the commitment to getting a top-five draft position, remember, coach Adam Foote sat Aatu Räty to dress Öhgren, keeping Drew O'Connor at centre. That's commitment.
The biggest risk to their draft position is in goal. Thatcher Demko is exactly the kind of player who can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. But he's not going to be in every game, either. Ideally, that will be because Foote will stick to his limited use of Demko. We're not going to talk about the potential for future injuries, because you can't plan for them. Limiting him to 25 to 30 of the remaining 49 games makes sense.
Still, we do have a plan. And we think you'll like it.
Okay, yes, they put Lukas Reichel on waivers. That's fine, they aren't going to recover the fourth-round pick they spent to get him anyway. Abbotsford could use him, and one accidental point in 14 games isn't enough to keep your spot in the NHL. Taking a flyer on Reichel was worth trying, but it didn't work. But that bloody well better not be all the Canucks are planning to do.
A move getting made before the break took me by surprise. A lot of teams try not to trade bodies this close to Winter's start just because it's rude. No one wants to tell their kids they're getting a shiny new address for Christmas. But if Hughes can be traded, anyone can. So let's try beating Allvin and Rutherford to the punch.
We've talked Demko already. He is not likely to be moved. He has an expensive three-year deal starting next season, a lengthy injury history, and, well, the Canucks want to keep him. Vancouver's prospect depth is good, but seriously, Demko is already great. If the team wants to challenge for more three years from now, he's one hell of a place to start, even at 33 years old.
It would be a huge surprise if Kevin Lankinen were traded. He has a no-move clause attached to the first two of his five years, and unless it's to a potential champion, he won't waive. Why would he? He's behind an injury-prone starter that the team want to keep healthy: he's gonna get his starts. He's being paid like a 1-A and will be played like a 1-A.
This gets interesting. Defence is, unquestioningly, where Vancouver's depth lies. But that depth is also extremely young, and there aren't many teams willing to tolerate the growing pains of three young defencemen at once. Victor Mancini has proven himself capable in bursts, but he is still a bit rough around the edges. Sawyer Minyo and Kirill Kudryavtsev are both legitimate prospects, amazingly enough.
The players in the NHL are showing their value, too. Elias Pettersson is continuing his solid play from last year's sample, and while Buium is now Vancouver's top prospect, that shouldn't make anyone forget Tom Willander. Their respective ages are 21, 20, and 20, and that's too young for an NHL defence. Expect one to move down for some of the year, especially when Derek Forbort returns.
Not every prospect makes the league, of course. The odds of all six of these young guys not only making the league but making an impact are staggeringly remote. Doing it on the same team just ain't happening. Not only can a couple of these players get moved, but a couple probably should.
We have the usual set of much-talked-about unrestricteds and unreliable, but there aren't many names that would really signify a sea change.
If you have a bunch of young guys coming up, do you really want to trade Conor Garland? Is there anyone on the team who works harder? Yes, there's something to be said about moving who gets you the best return, but someone has to teach the kids how to drive opponents off their game. Nils Höglander hasn't gotten his game back and needs to play more to at least rebuild his reputation.
Unless someone is willing to throw the kitchen sink at them, the Canucks are better off hanging on to Elias Pettersson the Forward. He can play so much better than he has that any trade now will be undervalued. And if he does recover - or change his game to an Anze Kopitar style - then he'll be extremely valuable to a team pushing into the playoffs.
Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk are both streaky scorers who could get something on the market, but it won't be too much. Trading them with the intent to get younger could certainly work - if they're willing to go. Of the forwards who could bring any kind of return, these two are the ones that make sense to trade.
Vancouver has forwards who can take the brunt of a rebuilding year with hard work and pride, if not the most skill. Giving Max Sasson more ice time could be great for him. Linus Karlsson and Drew O'Connor are great guys to cheer for: hard-working guys who have earned their spots! Even if those spots should be a line (or two) lower!
Don't get us wrong, here. Rossi, Pettersson, Garland, and Höglander have plenty of skill. But it probably wouldn't be enough to rack up the wins with Karlsson, O'Connor, Sasson, and Räty as the secondary scoring. Not yet, anyway.
In two or three years, on the other hand, when Braeden Cootes is breaking in, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki has found a spot, and Liam Öhgren has his NHL legs going? And maybe this year's first pick, whoever it is, is in the league, à la Beckett Sennecke or Ivan Demidov. And suddenly, skill isn't as much of a problem.
When a team can be the worst in the league and still have 25-30 wins, it's not far away from competing once again. If, and only if, they plan for it.
Never publish what you want people to read on a Friday night. That maxim holds for politics, business, and apparently not for the Vancouver Canucks. Their captain and arguably the best player in team history has been traded to the Minnesota Wild for some names and a draft pick.
Let's take a look.
Leaving town:
Coming back:
Okay, one thing Vancouver didn't get was bigger. There is a pile of skill here, though, and all of them are younger than Hughes. Young enough that Öhgren is still between leagues and Buium just broke in with the Wild this season.
The biggest name returning to Vancouver is the smallest player, 5'9" centre Marco Rossi. Rossi has plenty of skill, hitting 21 and 24 goals in his first two full seasons. His numbers are running a little lower than that this season, but he has been a bit unlucky on the ice, with a PDO of 96.4 (100 is average). And while his size may stand out at first, it's not like he hasn't reached the NHL. He regularly played against adults in the second-tier Swiss League before coming to the OHL. He's not someone who plays scared.
That Rossi was the target of the Canucks in the off-season was one of the worst-kept secrets in town. The missed trade involving Aatu Räty, Arturs Silovs, and their 15th overall pick heading to Minnesota may have been enough to prevent this one from even being considered. A different - and also rejected, by Vancouver this time - package included Tom Willander. With Rossi and Minnesota in a dispute, he was their best bet to shore up the middle of the ice.
They couldn't finish the deal, famously starting 2025-26 with Filip Chytil behind Elias Pettersson. That didn't work out as hoped, and it got even worse with the loss of Teddy Blueger. But if there's one thing GM Patrik Alvin and President Jim Rutherford are known for, it's acting to correct their mistakes. Not always to their benefit, but usually quickly.
Going over his stats, it's worth remembering that Rossi needed to recover from a serious bout of COVID-19. How serious? Not many players lead off an article in Scientific American serious. It's safe to say that he's fully recovered, though given the history of this team, maybe we should whisper that.
Since his 19-game, one-assist debut in 2022-23, Rossi has scored 49 goals and 119 points in 200 NHL games. He scores from in front, finding holes in defences and passing it out of trouble and into dangerous locations when his opportunity vanishes. Vancouver fans will like what they see with him.
Rossi is signed for two more years at $5 million per, becoming an RFA in 2028.
Okay, no one is saying he's Quinn Hughes, but Zeev Buium isn't a bad choice to be the top-pair defenceman very soon. He's nowhere near the skater Hughes is, but is deceptive, making opponents miss and giving him the opportunity to move the puck up and onto the attack. He is more of an attacker than a defender, which, given Vancouver's other prospects, is what they need.
There are some growing pains in his first season, but they are livable. His three goals and 14 points in 31 games are absolutely fine. He's a smart player and will take advantage of other teams' mistakes. Expect him to be running the power play from the left side, even if he isn't the first choice on the kill.
Buium is signed for another season on his entry-level $967K deal.
Hey, you know how Linus Karlsson is showing how valuable a big, somewhat belligerent winger is? Keep that in mind when you look over Liam Öhgren's stats. Yes, his boxcars are zeroed out in 18 NHL games this year, and not a whole lot more before then. But the wrist shot is there, if he gets the opportunity to use it. With the right linemates, he will be the one challenging the defence to stop him.
It is funny to compare him to Karlsson, given Öhgren outweighs him by a good 20 pounds. But Karlsson has grown into his role, buoyed by the confidence from Abbotsford's Calder Cup run last season. Öhgren is younger by four years, and shouldn't take as long to reach Karlsson's level of contribution.
Personal admission: Öhgren was the player I was hoping the Canucks would draft in 2022 from the Swedish line of him, Noah Östlund, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Perhaps a deal with the Sabres is in the making...
Like Buium, Öhgren is in the second year of his three-season entry-level deal at $887K.
Deep breath. Okay, no one who came back is Quinn Hughes. You can't make up for that level of talent in volume, and the Vancouver Canucks are a worse team right now.
And that's fine.
It looks like there is a target time frame, given the ages of the players who came back. That there was only one draft pick in return, and it for 2026, also tells us their goal. They may not get better this season, but what they are going to do is live with the growing pains of a young team. That's promising.
Rossi and Buium are both very talented, top-end players starting their NHL careers, and Öhgren should emerge in support soon. Minnesota's draft pick isn't going to be a high one, likely somewhere in the mid-20s. But picks are the ultimate in fungible assets: everyone can use them, so they always have value in any situation. They'll get something with that fourth piece.
Of course, given recent history, who knows if that draft pick will even make it to the end of the year? But whether it burns a hole in their pocket or becomes a name in June, other names are out there. This isn't going to stop at Quinn Hughes, making Vancouver more interesting off the ice than on it once again.
It wasn't supposed to be this way - and it still might not. Quinn Hughes hasn't given any indication that he's interested in leaving, and probably never will. We're saying that now to make emphatically clear that any movement involving Hughes requires his cooperation.
So let's talk about it.
There is a lot involved in moving one of the best players in the league. What changes on the ice is the most obvious, but the effects off the ice matter, too. It's not like a team will get a second chance at a deal this big, so the pressure to get it right is massive.
One thing that Canucks fans have been worried about is that Hughes doesn't have that magnetic force he had last year. And it's true: his numbers are down this year, including his current six-game pointless streak. He's looked frustrated on the ice and sounded frustrated off it. That's not normal - and that's not good when looking at trade value. Right?
Wrong. Ignore it. The events of the past two weeks aren't going to eliminate anyone's memories of what he can do.
This management group, whether the trader is Patrik Allvin, Jim Rutherford, or both, has made two "big player" deals recently. Both Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller returned what can be called the "3P Package". That's a first-round pick, a good prospect, and an active NHL player. The active player is not just to fill a space, but often has salary cap considerations as part of the deal.
When Anthony Beauvillier came back in the Horvat trade, for instance, he was a fine middle-six player, even if he was overpaid. But he certainly wasn't the key to the deal, that being the first-round pick bringing Filip Hronek. Aatu Räty looks solid, but not spectacular. Alternatively, Filip Chytil was an important part of Miller's return, if a high-risk gamble for a second-line centre. The "lesser parts" in that deal were Victor Mancini and a first-round pick that the team, amazingly, used.
Whatever the return for Hughes, those aren't going to be nearly good enough.
Given the nature of the team, Vancouver will want players - and good ones. This is the obvious chance to bring in that centre they've needed, add some more reliable scoring than Kiefer Sherwood, and get a handful of picks and/or prospects. Depending on the quality of players returning, five solid assets is a good expectation.
"Yes" and "probably". Even if the Canucks do nothing else, moving Hughes is a rebuild. The team would change so much about themselves that there is nothing else to call it. Right now, Vancouver's attack and defence rely on him being on the ice. As good a defenceman as Hronek is, asking him to be Quinn Hughes would be ridiculous.
That being said, the team should recognize that whatever window they were aiming at before will have moved. While you don't win a Stanley Cup with nothing but 23-year-olds, it's going to be equally tough with only 35-year-olds.
Fortunately for Vancouver, they have a relatively young team. If the focus shifts to five years down the road, a few players will be self-removing. But a couple may well still be here, playing the role of savvy veterans* for the challenging group. The trick is to figure out who those are going to be now - or at least, soon - and deal the rest when a deal appears.
But what they aren't going to get back is Quinn Hughes, or anyone like him. Maybe they get lucky and end up with a prospect that blows through all expectations, ending up with a Peter Forsberg in the Eric Lindros trade. But that's something to hope for, not something to rely on.
I hear ya. I do. But bear in mind that as happy as Edmonton looks now - well, now-ish - they had four first-overall picks, two top-five picks, and a seventh-overall in seven seasons. They missed the playoffs for TEN straight seasons. Yeah, Buffalo has had it bad, in their fifteenth season of missing, but they aren't the only cautionary tale.
Chicago is slowly emerging from their disastrous stretch, but probably won't reach the second season for their second time in nine years. San Jose is fun to watch, at least, but will likely finish on the outside for their seventh year in a row. At least Anaheim finally looks like a good bet, after getting blanked for only, ah... seven years.
That is a rough ask, especially given who the owner is. We know Francisco Aqualini isn't interested in missing the playoffs even once, which partially explains why they miss them more often than not. But he has to know that what has been tried isn't working, with two postseason appearances in a decade.
Only trading a few pieces may be a better bet, though it's still not a guarantee.
For the team? Sure, it's going to take a solid plan that they stick to while being flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities. It'll also take some luck - Hughes being a seventh-overall pick was frikkin' lucky - and an owner willing to let the losses pile up. And that's going to hurt - but probably not as much as he fears.
Because here's the thing: the team will be doing something. Granted, trading Hughes seems less like "doing something" than it does "blindly panicking", but it is a huge, decisive action. Seriously, there is NO going back if that is the direction they choose. Whatever players come to Vancouver in return, they won't be as talented or effective as Quinn Hughes. They won't be able to control the game like he can, they won't have his vision, they aren't going to sell as many jerseys.
But they will be seen by the fans as the team deciding their future. It will look like a plan, even if it's one nobody wanted to make.
You can sell two things in sports: championships and hope. The first doesn't seem to be working out. Maybe it's time for Plan B.
*All veterans are savvy
Last we looked at the possibility of the Vancouver Canucks making trades, we stuck to the easy picks. Management - in the form of president of hockey ops Jim Rutherford - talked about putting up his unrestricted free agents. That doesn't really signal a blockbuster of a deal coming up, but you never know. While they are lousy at keeping coaching changes secret, their player deals have often been sudden and surprising.
So with that caveat in pocket, let's take a look at some of the bigger names, including a reason to trade them and a reason not to. Now, that's "bigger" names, not the biggest ones. That anchor three - Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson the Forward, and Thatcher Demko aren't in this list. Those guys are articles all their own, and we're not there just yet.
Vancouver fans love their players, just like every other town. We do overestimate the value of "our guys" because we've got an emotional stake in them. But there is no such thing as a free lunch, and if you want something good, you gotta pay for it. In no particular order:
I would be legitimately delighted if a deal were made this early involving Garland. And I love watching him play in a Canucks uniform.
Garland is one of the few players with Vancouver who can drive his own line. He's improved his ability to use his teammates, which is great, but the best thing about him is how he holds the puck. He's dangerous on both special teams, continuing his work from last season. He can play anywhere at any time, and that versatility is valuable.
Garland is also such a blast to watch, aggravating opponents not only with his tenacity* on the attack, but also defensively. As a fan, he has entertainment value, whatever else the rest of the team does. He'll get you 50-ish points and is a great example to point rookies at if you want to teach them how to work.
That all being said, if he's dealt quickly, then someone came up with a good price for him. He's an excellent middle-six player, though Vancouver's lack of options has him playing 20 minutes a night. That's the disparate value of a team that needs him - Vancouver - and one that wants him. Garland can get a good team 50-ish points on their third line, which is a nightmare for opponents.
His contract is a blessing and a curse. There's cost certainty for the next six seasons past this one at a pretty reasonable $6 million per. The salary cap is going up, making that cost look even better - if he wasn't 36 years old when it expires. Vancouver has the room to eat some of that salary if it gets them a much better deal, but it had better be a MUCH better deal. Consider that a blanket statement for any of the longer contracts that might get moved away.
A mystery, wrapped in an enigma, packaged in a guy who suddenly scores five goals in six games. Then none in ten, then four more in two, then none in six, then... You get the point. DeBrusk has kept Vancouver's power play afloat this season as much as anyone. As indifferent as the season has been for the team, he's still on pace for around 25 goals.
He's got good size, even if he's not particularly physical. He's also got good speed, though it doesn't often show. The funny thing is, he's always there. His goals all seem to come within two feet of the blue ice, rain or shine. I swear some come when he's behind the net, but that must be an optical illusion.
Every team needs players who shoot first, and DeBrusk is a finisher who leads the team in shots this season. If he stays healthy, he should easily pass 200 shots on the year, a number he's never reached in any previous year.
Last season, half of DeBrusk's goals came on the power play. That's not an inherently bad thing; someone has to score, and he can. This season, though, 87.5% of his goals have been with the man advantage. As mentioned, it's not like he isn't shooting the puck, and sooner or later, that dam's going to break. Is it to Vancouver's advantage when it does?
He turned 29 this season, and his deal runs to 2030-31. If the Canucks are looking to get younger, moving 29-year-olds isn't a bad place to start. And his goal totals are good enough that he can fetch a decent return.
Yes, 29-year-olds can certainly get moved. But not 28-year-olds!
Okay, I admit to having a place in my heart for Brock. The excitement he brought in his first season was lost to a series of injuries and personal tragedy, and it's hard not to feel for the guy. By all appearances, he seems like a decent, good man - who also happens to have an almost comically good shot.
Boeser's been fascinating to watch after that season. It's strange to think of someone who's hit 40 goals as being underrated, but i think he might be. He is surprisingly good at playing on the boards and taking position in front of the net. When he's not actively battling a defenceman inches in front of a goalie, then he has that mysterious Brett Hull ability to vanish until he's suddenly smashing a shot from the middle distance.
It's not like he'll get any faster in the next seven years - the length of his new contract. And while he is uncontroversial - what general manager doesn't love to hear that - he's also, well, quiet. He's not the guy to be leading a charge into battle. If Vancouver does do a rebuild, then going to be an underdog a lot in the next few years. They might need less golden labrador and more rottweiler in the lineup.
But for a team looking for additional scoring, who isn't going to bring a lick of controversy with him? Not sure there's a better get in the league right now. Goals are a valuable commodity, and he can provide. Yes, the contract's a bit long, but a team looking to add his skills wants them in the next few seasons. If he provides the winning touch, it's worth it.
"Everybody relax, I'm here."
-Jack Burton
Pettersson was brought to Vancouver for one reason: to keep things calm. Which, given the plans to have at least two defencemen with less than 100 NHL games appearing as regulars, wasn't a bad idea. Derek Forbort is also that steadying presence, but his injury history makes his availability uncertain. And to be blunt, Pettersson is a better player.
Not that he's going to light the lamp, but Marcus Pettersson is 6'5" of reliable, safe play who can play 20 minutes a night. Exactly the sort of player coaches love to run out there late in games and things are getting tense. And the young guys who could take his spot aren't ready yet, as Elias Pettersson's recent demotion shows.
That's also exactly the sort of player coaches love their general managers to go get when the playoffs draw near. He and Drew O'Connor cost the Canucks a first-round pick in the 2025 draft. The Canucks won't get that for him if they decide he's available, but something late in the second round wouldn't be unwelcome. Draft picks are the ultimate in fungible commodities in pro sports, including the NHL.
And maybe the young guys aren't quite ready yet, but maybe accepting their occasional mistakes isn't a bad thing this year.
At this point, it's hard to see Filip Hronek as anyone other than "the guy who works with Quinn Hughes". And that's not unreasonable, because the first year he arrived, the Hronek-Hughes pairing was absolutely terrifying. They repeated the next season, too. This year, they are still very good, but there has been more of an effort to use Hronek to anchor the second pair. Kind of. A bit.
It doesn't really last.
Hronek has a chippy, physical edge that pairs well with Hughes, but he also has plenty of skill to keep up with the all-star. Vancouver doesn't have anyone else who has managed to replicate those results. While Hronek did spend time in Detroit as their Number One, he's flourishing as Hughes' counterpart.
This would be a big move, and the return had better show it. Hronek can be a team's top defenceman and a fine backup plan, which is, well, kind of why he's in Vancouver. He's 28 years old and playing 24 minutes a night, and if there's a team that expects to be in the playoffs for the next few years, he'd be a massive addition. The Canucks would - and should - get a very good return for him.
Vancouver's position of strength went from centre to defence in the past few years, so losing Hronek isn't the hardest hit. A few young defencemen are coming up, though only Tom Willander really has the potential ceiling of Hronek. Still, if the return is good enough, maybe it's worth that risk.
*TM Adam Foote
Okay, not really. But it is very funny to read president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford say he doesn't care what people call this next step of, well, this isn't a plan, surely.
“Use whatever word people like, whether it’s somewhat of a rebuild, not a full blown rebuild, but a rebuild-retool, whatever. It’s the position we’ve been in since the J.T. Miller trade.”
In the same discussion, he makes clear that he wants to make Vancouver a younger team. Trading veterans and bringing back younger NHL players, draft picks, and prospects is the goal. So, you know, a rebuild. At least partially.
This is, by any reasonable accounting, a lousy time to try rebuilding your team. We're a quarter way through the season; almost every team can be described as "in the middle somewhere"; and serious injuries leaves an incomplete picture of what the team is.
But boy, fans are angry. Famously, post-Calgary Flames match, one caller was in tears when he described the shared fandom between him and his father. To him, the constant mediocrity has become a betrayal, and he talked about walking away from the team for his mental health.
Speaking personally, I have advised at least one other person in a fan forum to do the same, and for the same reason. Yes, it's "just a game" but ignoring who buys the tickets, who fuels the market, and who cheers in seats, in pubs, and at home is willful blindness.
There are plenty of fans like him making their voices heard, but the raw emotion he showed may have been enough to go viral. That might finally have gotten through the management chain to ownership. There's no evidence anything else has, after all.
I spend most of my time here thinking about what management is thinking. Not just deals they make (or don't) but why they make those deals (or don't). Whether I agree with them is irrelevant. I want to try understanding them.
This ownership group - now essentially just Francisco Aquilini - has been so blindly terrified of missing the playoffs in any year that they've ended up with a team that usually misses the playoffs every year. Plans seem half-hearted, lightly considered, and rapidly abandoned. Watching that happen repeatedly over the past decade while hearing how important it is that the team "stick to our blueprint" is both bewildering and depressing.
Willard: They told me that you had gone totally insane, and that your methods were unsound.
Kurtz: Are my methods unsound?
Willard: I don't see any method at all, sir.
This is a city populated with two million general managers, all convinced they could be in the NHL. Think they haven't seen what doesn't work?
We talked about the amazing sports weekend that was just dished up for Vancouverites, and why that impacts the Canucks. Not only are fans angry and frustrated enough to walk away, they have places to walk to. Fandom can move. Maybe, just maybe, that can frighten Aquilini enough to begin the actual rebuild. Or maybe not.
Rutherford just mentioned his veteran unrestricted free agents being up for sale. He mentioned not wanting to ship everyone out, and that "some veterans are playing very well". Bad news, Jim: that's who you'll get the best return for. Again, these aren't players who are loafing about out there, but there is no point in pretending this iteration of the team isn't outmatched.
Still, let's take him at his word for now. While his plans may need evolving, I do think he's been honest with the media in what they are. The Canucks have five players entering UFA status: Teddy Blueger, Evander Kane, David Kämpf, Kiefer Sherwood, and Derek Forbort.
Of those five, one is playing far beyond expectations, one somewhat below them, two have been injured the entire season, and one just arrived from the AHL. Both Kane and Blueger have some trade protection, but that still leaves half the league available as partners.
Sherwood might get a late first or mid second round pick from a team that thinks they can reach the playoffs. The others are the kind of player teams look for at the deadline when they are sure they're in.
I don't know what could come back in these deals that would do anything approaching help for this season. Or, frankly, much in the future. Vancouver has plenty of mid-level prospects who could help the bottom six or bottom pair in the near future. They don't really need more there.
In many cases, salary has to come back in a deal. So fine, maybe a younger guy returns, but where would they fit? Abbotsford needs help, sure, but only because Vancouver has needed so much more.
There are other options. They do get trickier, but players with no-move clauses have been moved before. All that needs is their agreement to go, and you might be surprised how many players hear "we don't want you" and decide to leave. We'll talk about them in another article, because this one is plenty long already.
No one in the bottom six has any trade protection except for Drew O'Connor. He's doing just fine, and is probably a keeper for Vancouver anyway. We like him, but he's not a hard player to find, so isn't moving the needle for another team.
Linus Karlsson and Max Sasson will be group six free agents, so easy to re-sign if the team wants. They're playing fine, but are fourth-line players in their mid-20s. Arshdeep Bains and Mackenzie MacEachern are heading back to the AHL for the season unless needed. The relatively young Lukas Reichel is a bust at centre, and might get waived to the AHL as well.
Aatu Räty is coming along nicely, and the team probably doesn't want to move him for a paltry return. And they wouldn't get much more than that because Räty is still just a bottom-six forward.
There aren't a whole lot of players left, here. There are three forwards who can draw more attention, though likely only one that can bring some sort of return.
Filip Chytil is a delight to watch on the ice, but I do hope he just retires. I don't want to hold my breath every time he's on the ice. Tucker Poolman and Micheal Ferland are recent Vancouver Canucks who tried to push themselves through concussions, and I don't want to see that repeated.
Nils Höglander has plenty to like in his game. He's a fireplug on skates, loves the boards, and has some finishing skill. He's a bit reckless out there, but if you need a player to play the hound on the forecheck, he's up for it. The down side is that he has yet to play this season because of - guess what - injury.
Then there's Conor Garland. If the Canucks move the newly-signed Garland before his no-move clause kicks in, I will be truly impressed. Shipping out one of the few play drivers the team has would show a commitment to a rebuild that I just don't expect from them. If they want to win this year, moving Garland would be a terrible mistake. But if they are looking to the future, here's a guy who can get a good return.
Sigh. Yes, all right, Quinn Hughes would be the pinnacle of bold moves from this management group. Every team should want him, few can afford him - including the New Jersey Devils. I simply cannot picture the Canucks trading Hughes at this point. There is too much to consider in a Quinn Hughes deal that it really needs its own post, so I'm bailing here. We'll talk about it again in three months.
The bad news is Quinn Hughes scored. The boxcar stats from Sunday's game against the Flames are bad enough, but the instant you look at the scoresheet, you know. Hughes rushing in to score late in a 5-1 game isn't a good sign. That he does it end-to-end with an assist from Kevin Lankinen is as bad as it gets.
I've mentioned before that one of the worst signs for the Canucks is when Hughes tries to do it all himself. He doesn't do that accidentally; he does it because he doesn't think he has a choice. And since we're talking about one of the highest hockey-IQ players in the league, that's worth paying attention to.
Beautiful goal. Terrible indicator.
Back when we did a preview of the season, we noted that the other teams in the division had shored themselves up. Vancouver's margins to succeed were smaller than ever, but certainly not impossible. The biggest danger was the thinness of talent at the top.
Vancouver has more top-end talent than enough of these teams to make the playoffs. But the game requires more than talent. The Canucks can have one or two things go wrong and still make it, so long as those things going wrong aren't one of three players. So we're ending up with Schrödinger's Playoffs, either making it or not, and we won't know which until we look.
So how did that go?
Okay, that wasn't exactly a difficult prediction. And even as easy as it was, I still got some of it wrong. The three players were, of course, Thatcher Demko, Quinn Hughes, and Elias Pettersson the Forward(tm). There have been mixed results, but that hasn't been where the most damage has been done.
Demko's injury is what it is, and no point going over that again. Hughes has missed substantial time - five complete games, parts of others - but that hasn't stopped him from leading the team in scoring again. Pettersson took a bit to get going, but he's been fine, even after being told he not only has to be a superstar scorer but also the only checking centre the Canucks have.
That third one's the indicator. Filip Chytil doesn't want to retire, but good grief, he should. We know you get paid a LOT, but there's a life after hockey, Filip. Another shock was Teddy Blueger playing in just two games, never to be seen again. The same can be said of Derek Forbort, but at least we only expected 60-ish games from him. But his absence is felt on the league's worst penalty kill.
One thing we aren't going to do is blame Pius Suter for getting paid. His two-year, $4.125 million per is an awful lot for a 40-point, middle-six centre. But boy, wouldn't that have been a better use of the money than signing winger Evander Kane?
Instead, what we get is the Jim Benning Era packed into two months, with increased desperation leading to increasingly desperate moves. Giving a younger player a shot is the kind of thing a team on the way up does, not one trying to stay afloat. Bringing in a guy who was cut from the frikkin' Maple Leafs to play as the second-line centre is pure desperation.
The pressure of keeping the best player in Vancouver Canucks history happy doesn't help, of course. But they haven't performed well under that pressure, either. Hack-comic-talking-about-airline-food levels of flopsweat, here.
Winning teams take risks, sure. But those risks are closer to betting on red at the roulette table, not praying #35 will somehow come through for you.
There was a risk in promoting Adam Foote to head coach. I think he'll be fine, but this is a team with so little margin for error that everything they did was a risk. The other option was Manny Malhotra, who is also untested at the NHL level, so it's not like they were playing it safe either way. I also don't think the fault lies with Foote, and really hope the team doesn't make him the fall guy.
This is about team construction. That goes right to Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin, with plenty of blame left over for team owner Francesco Aquilini.
Personally, I hate how this management team seems to negotiate. Obviously, I'm not in the room, and I haven't talked to either players or staff. My judgment is entirely based on what we all can see in public, and to me, that doesn't look good.
Right from the treatment of Bruce Boudreau to taking their players for granted, there has been an arrogance and recklessness at the top. I don't blame J.T. Miller for not getting along with Pettersson - nor do I blame Pettersson - but choosing him and completely ignoring Bo Horvat was alarming. Publicly insulting Brock Boeser after his 40-goal season, then leaving him to hang in negotiations, was bizarre.
When they kept Kevin Lankinen waiting, and waiting, and waiting, before finally signing him in late September to his first deal with the Canucks is typical of how they work, apparently. If you want to play in Vancouver, hey, great! We'll get back to you on that! We're going to play the field a little more before we get married, okay, sweetie?
The end result has been a team that feels like it's been forced on management instead of built by them. Rutherford seems frustrated that he can't simply offer to bury a player in the AHL if they don't sign. He and Allvin were surprised that the rising cap let teams keep their players, but forgot they could do that, too.
It was quite the weekend for Vancouver sports. The Goldeneyes kicked off their existence with an overtime win against their expansion rivals on Friday. The Whitecaps played one of the greatest games in Vancouver sports history, with an absolute rollercoaster of a game to stay alive in the MLS playoffs on Saturday.
The Canucks played a solid game against a good Dallas Stars squad, even though they lost. Then got stomped by one of the worst teams in the league, who had played in another city the night before. It, uh, it was a comedown.
The Canucks players have put in a lot of hard work. They really have. But on Sunday, they were outworked by what is now a higher-skilled team. Lankinen had an off night, and that wasn't nearly enough to cover for the mistakes made in front of him.
The return dates for Vancouver's missing players have been pushed back, with Nils Höglander looking like he'll be on the outside edge of ten weeks, Forbort being a complete mystery, and Blueger and Demko both strangely being here-then-gone. Chytil, of course, is anyone's guess, given how concussions play out.
So what's left for Vancouver? Will there be an effort to salvage the season, which in this case means asking some players to please waive their no-move clauses? Will there be a change in management or coaching? Will Aquilini - the owner who has openly defied every opportunity to rebuild - finally talk about rebuilding? At this point, who frikkin' knows?
Looking forward to the next Goldeneyes game, though. And can't wait for the MLS Conference Final!
The Vancouver Canucks and David Kämpf agreed to terms on a one-year, $1.1 million deal. Is he worth it?
There was plenty of talk before the 2025-26 season started about finding centres for the team. With Pius Suter pricing himself out of the market (despite Jim Rutherford's retroactive claims) and the VERY questionable health of Filip Chytil, more was needed. It wasn't a secret. Heck, one of the more famous quotes being replayed now is from Rutherford himself:
“It'll be expensive, but it'll also be very expensive not to get one. We're going to be open to do whatever it takes.”
Nothing like being your own self-fulfilling prophet.
Two names that came up in the idle speculation were Lukas Reichel and David Kämpf. Both were rejected for various reasons, but mostly because they weren't top-six centres. Vancouver wasn't great lower in the lineup, but the addition really needed to be at the top. They weren't going to move the needle if Chytil got injured.
Life moves fast on ya some days.
Lukas Reichel hasn't worked out, unfortunately, but was an experiment worth trying. A young guy who played some centre, even if he was used more on the wing. Even without the points yet, he does bring plenty of speed that much of the team doesn't have. In less desperate times, his lack of scoring wouldn't carry as much weight.
So in comes the next "other option" from Summer: David Kämpf. He hasn't played an NHL game this season, and only four in the AHL with a single assist to show for it. He's probably the team's *deep breath* second-line centre whenever he gets into the lineup. He was suspended on November 2nd for not reporting to the Marlies, so he may need to get up to speed before joining the club. I'll be a bit surprised if he gets ice time in Florida.
Okay. I tend towards a much more optimistic view of the Canucks than many in this market because I find pessimism boring. I freely admit there have been days this season where that has been more difficult than others. But today isn't one of those days. Here's why.
Kämpf has spent a lot of time there, both in Chicago and Toronto. He is a faceoff guy and a defensive specialist, which is very welcome on the team with the worst PK in the league. There are some small differences in coaching styles around the league, but penalty kills are pretty much about what you give up. It won't take him long to pick up the subtleties.
Seriously, anything has to be better than the results they're getting now. Are there EBUG penalty killers?
Kämpf is, fortunately, closer to Aatu Räty's size than Lukas Reichel's. He stands 6'2" and plays at around 195 pounds - it's always a grain of salt with NHL measurements, but that beats Reichel by 25 pounds. If the new guy is going to go up against the opponent's best, he's going to have a lot to stand up to. This really highlights the other side of bringing Kämpf in now: helping Elias Pettersson the Forward(tm).
Many fans have been critical of Pettersson the Forward's results so far this season, and fair enough. While he has five points in his past four games, his point totals really need to hit point-per-game levels for him to earn his team-leading contract. I've written before about what I think he will be, and I stand by it. But he needs help out there right now, and I think Kämpf can provide it.
Pettersson the Forward(tm) is taking the vast majority of Vancouver's faceoffs right now. Nearly half of those are in the defensive end of the ice. According to Hockey Reference, he's at his worst Corsi of his career - and it's still 51.8%. As sweet as his short-handed goal was against Carolina, I'd rather he play fewer minutes a man down. Let Kämpf take some of the hards off his plate.
Some of this is going to be self-interest, obviously. But plenty of other teams were interested in Kämpf's services after Toronto cut him. Not enough to lose assets for him at $2.4 million, but at less than half that, and for free? That's a sweet deal!
Why he chose Vancouver, we'll never really know. But there are a few safe guesses.
First, he can resurrect his career. Kämpf hit a low point last season, scoring just five times with 13 points in 59 games. Even a defensive specialist needs to contribute a bit more to the bottom line than that. Getting sent to the AHL when he still had two years on his contract was a wake-up call, and he didn't much like hearing it. So why is Vancouver the right choice?
The Canucks are desperately short-staffed at centre, right now and in overall depth. Players will be coming back at some point, but even when they do, Kämpf has a good chance of keeping his spot. Kudos to the work Max Sasson has put in, but both he and Reichel are more likely wingers in the NHL. That's not a bad thing at all, but if Teddy Blueger and (deo volente) Filip Chytil return, Kämpf will have spent weeks making his case.
Like so many desperate moves, this one doesn't really raise the ceiling for the team. But right now, that's okay. What we're looking at right now is probably the team's floor, and he does raise that.
While one or two players still don't seem to have gotten the memo *cough*Evander Kane*cough* the Canucks are working their asses off out there. The effort isn't missing, but the talent is. That's just what happens when the top guys on a thin team are out of the lineup. If this is a low as it gets, that's not a bad base to launch from when the talent gets back.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki will play 35 minutes a night* in Abbotsford for a few games before returning to Vancouver. Nils Höglander is out of his walking boot. Blueger is skating, though with a non-contact jersey at the last practice before this roadie. Derek Forbort, speaking of the penalty kill, is scheduled to be back in another two weeks, but "undisclosed" injuries are always a mystery.
Right now, the high-concern injuries are to Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko, but there isn't much Kämpf can do there. We'll see how Jiří Patera does, but even he is taking the place of the injured Nikita Tolopilo.
Can David Kämpf help keep the Canucks afloat until reinforcements arrive? In three words:
He can't hurt.
*Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but we'll see. They're missing a lot of players right now, too.
