Day One of the Vancouver Canucks training camp was all about the defence. And yelling - lots of yelling. Day Two showed more offence, with rush variants and board play. And they play pre-season games on Saturday.

All Shall Be Revealed!

Or not. Everyone's curious about what the team will look like in personnel and coaching strategies, but this is just training camp. Even the two upcoming games against Seattle won't reveal a whole lot. The shortened pre-season isn't helping PTO pick up Chris Driedger, that's for sure.

What will help the goalies this year is the back-to-basics box+1 defensive system they practiced on Day One. Essentially a zone defence with the centre pressuring high; it's used to limit cross-ice passes and chances in the slot. Compared to the telephone book that was Adam Foote's read-and-react setup, this is a leaflet. That's good for a team with new faces, but also a relief for the fans.

The team might not have the skill to stop all the plays, but at least they won't look bewildered while they're being outclassed.

On the offence, it looks like a straightforward 1-3-1 when they set up on entry. Possession, puck recovery, and garbage goals are the rule of the day. Again, that's fine. There's more than enough chaos during actual play to keep things interesting - including counterattack opportunities against them. Come back soon, Thatcher Demko!

What's Fun?

Trey Fix-Wolanski is plenty of fun, and I wouldn't mind if he got a few call-ups during the year. Adam Novotný looks like a frikkin' blast out there, and his going back to Peterborough feels just unfair. Bennett Schimek looks VERY interesting for a guy on an AHL contract. I know virtually nothing about him, but he put in a good showing for 13 games in Abby last season. Vancouver has six empty contract slots right now, and it wouldn't surprise for him to one up this season.

Speaking of mights, Vilmer Alriksson could get his first NHL games this year. He spent his first pro year concentrating on his defensive game, to, ah, "mixed" results. If he can stake himself in front of the net, there will be some talent around to take advantage of it. Make that his calling card, and he'll find a spot.

The goaltending in Abby looks solid this year with Ty Young and Aku Koskenvuo. In a perfect world, those two battle it out all year long, with neither getting an emergency call. Same with Braden Cootes, taking advantage of the new "One 19-year-old allowed" exemption rule.

Oh, you meant about players starting the year in Vancouver?

Canucks Capers

For the NHL squad, the vets look like vets. There were some interesting positional decisions, but all of this can be changed in the next few days. Players will be looking for any edge in the four preseason games, so they won't be easy. Who knows when final decisions will be reached, but players put on the waiver wire early are more likely to get through. So we'll see.

One notable move is Max Sasson starting at centre.* He didn't do that a whole heck of a lot last year, taking the spot when the team felt like SOMEONE had to. This was a team that played David Kämpf as their 2C for a handful of games, so that makes sense. But with his speed, he might be more successful on the wing, with Ilya Safonov or Aatu Räty taking the bottom middle slot.

New arrival Brendan Gallagher is starting off low, too. His competition for a higher slot is either Linus Karlsson or Paul Cotter, and frankly I want to see Karlsson get his chance in the top-six first.

Speaking of old veterans, seeing Luke Schenn beside Zeev Buium is interesting. I mean, we know Buium is essentially taking the Quinn Hughes spot on the team, but that's a bit much! I can see the reasoning behind not pairing the kid with Filip Hronek, as Hronek's going to get the hardest assignments. A veteran pair of Hronek with Jamie Oleksiak makes sense. But is Schenn even going to play every game? He's at a point in his career where a few healthy scratches are likely, however good he is in the room.

It also leaves a third pair of Tom Willander with Elias Pettersson. That's a bold move, there. The "extra" in that case is either Victor Mancini or Kiril Kudreyavtsev, as I don't think Sawyer Mynio has a spot yet. I expect Pettersson will have a long career as a good third-pair guy, but Willander's ceiling is higher than that. Worth watching.

For Added Tension

This is the "relaxed" year, right? No pressure to win the season, just to win games, and they won't do a whole lot of that. Enjoy the process! Except...

This is a marker season for Jonathan Lekkerimaki. Unlike upcoming prospects Cootes, Novotný, and Caleb Malhotra, Lekkerimaki needs to be in the top six to be effective. There is no defensive "B" game for him to fall back on. Yes, he needs to stay healthy, and it sucks that this is a year he's trying to come back from injuries. But he also needs a minimum of three shots a game - shooting percentage optional. I'm okay with him scoring just 15 goals this year, IF he also gets 200 shots on net in 60 games.

Then there's Räty. Man, he wants to cement his position in the NHL, and I'd love to see him do it. But you can't have a big-league career as a one-trick pony. On the plus side, maybe a change of coach also ends the ridiculous "win the faceoff and hit the bench" shifts of last season. Maybe he's an AHL scorer and an NHL penalty kill specialist. There are worse things to be.

The third point of tension for me is Filip Chytil. The entire arena is going to be holding its breath with every hit he takes out there. He's got a tonne of skill and is probably the best puck-carrier on the team right now. He's a great skater and can carry the puck into the zone as well as anyone, and boy, I don't want him to. He's getting paid a lot of money, I get it. But he's also just 27 years old, and I have bad thoughts of him adding to his concussion collection. Good luck, and eyes up, mate.

About A Brusk

I am utterly unconcerned about Jake DeBrusk this season. Everyone knows what the situation is, including him, and he's been a professional about the whole "not what I signed up for" thing. The best way to get traded to a good team is to make them trade for him. I think he'll be fine.

Okay, the first preseason game is tomorrow, 6:00 PM. DROP THE PUCK!

*Say that into a microphone three times!