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Canucks open camp with with many new faces, but not Pettersson or Hughes |
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The Vancouver Canucks' training camp opened on Wednesday with a preliminary roster list, team physicals, and the first in-person media availability in Rogers Arena since the pre-pandemic days.
The Canucks announced their preliminary camp roster of 54 players on Wednesday morning. The list includes unsigned RFAs Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes as well a handful of other players who won't be hitting the ice right away.
The entire availability was live-streamed on Twitter. Travis Green and Jim Benning started us off, followed by five pairs of players.
The process ran efficiently, in a re-purposed room that's part of the SportsBar in Rogers Arena. The Canucks' P.R. staff indicated that while they're taking things step by step, every effort is being made to get media access as close as possible to what it was in pre-pandemic days, which will include face-to-face interviews with the players at training camp in Abbotsford this weekend.
Tyler Myers and J.T. Miller were the first pair of players to take to the podium, and Myers was probably the most effusive about how excited he is to see things getting back to normal. And after all this time, I would say that the interplay between the media members was stronger with everyone in the same room, rather than putting up our hands on Zoom.
First off — the news. Benning didn't have any kind of significant update on Pettersson and Hughes, just that the two sides are continuing to talk. Brock Boeser said that he touches base with them every few days or so, and admitted that when his contract situation wasn't settled heading into the 2019 training camp, he didn't like seeing videos of his teammates on the ice together and getting the season started while he was still at home, and that increased his desire to get a deal done.
Here's hoping the same is true for Petey and Quinn. Hopefully they won't be in Michigan much longer.
Benning ran through a brief list of other players who also won't be on the ice when the camp sessions open in Abbotsford on Thursday:
Tyler Motte — has an upper-body injury from a game late last season, and had surgery during the summer. Sounds like he is in town, but he won't be skating with the main group at camp, and might not be ready for the beginning of the season.
Brandon Sutter — feels fatigued. They've ruled out a current Covid case but aren't sure what the problem is. He might not be available to start camp.
Justin Bailey — tested positive for Covid as he was getting ready to come into Canada. Is now quarantining in Buffalo for 10 days before he can try crossing the border again.
There was some talk that Travis Hamonic would not be in camp, but Benning denied that. Says he's here and there are no issues.
Bo Horvat was also not at the arena on Wednesday because he wasn't feeling well, but we were told that's just precautionary.
With those bodies missing, Green mentioned that the club will be thin at centre when camp opens, so he might use players in the middle who he doesn't necessarily intend to keep there all season. That sounded like a direct reference to J.T. Miller to me; maybe Jason Dickinson as well. He didn't explicitly say whether he's trying to carve out distinct groups that he'll keep when camp opens on Thursday, but he said he has some ideas in mind for pairings, and that he definitely wants to try some players together to see what clicks.
Benning made a point of saying that the entire organization will be 100% vaccinated by the beginning of the regular season: players, staff, coaches, everybody.
He also said he thought rookie camp was good overall. In addition to Vasily Podkolzin, Benning singled out Danila Klimovich as someone who impressed him, and said he was excited to see him at training camp.
When asked about the third spot on the left side of the defense, Green conceded that Brad Hunt, Olli Juolevi and Jack Rathbone are the three players who are in the mix for that spot, and whoever plays the best during camp will probably start the season there.
Among the returning players, the key theme was that they're disappointed by last season and out to prove that it was not representative of who they are as a team. Even Myers, who is a glass-half-full kind of a guy, admitted that last season was not fun.
"Relieved," he said of his thoughts about putting last season behind them. "It was quite different last year, wasn't the most fun year. To get back to fans, atmosphere, it's what makes part of playing in the NHL so amazing. To start getting back to that will be very exciting for us as players."
Miller added that the moves management made in the offseason have made him excited, that it shows the organization's commitment to winning. He believes the internal competition, not just for roster spots but for specific jobs, will bring out the best in everybody.
For Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland, they both seemed legitimately appreciative of the fresh start. OEL likes the core group of young players in their primes who are already here, and wants to have a chance to win. Garland dropped a truth bomb when he talked about how he was disappointed that the Coyotes didn't step up with a contract extension for him after he did what was asked and left it all out there for the team on the ice.
Ekman-Larsson called Garland the Coyotes' best forward last season. His competitive fire seems to burn bright.
Demko and Boeser provided probably the lightest moment of the session, when Thatcher squawked a little after Brock was asked the first five or six questions of their segment. He got his turn, too, but the main ideas around them were about taking another step in their development this season.
Next up - Jason Dickinson and Jaroslav Halak
Halak acknowledged that it was 'weird' realizing that he's the oldest player on the team. Dickinson went into some detail about his face-off prowess — acknowledging that his basic statistical performance isn't great, but that those numbers don't always align with where he thinks he's at on the ice. He also made an interesting point about how winning draws isn't everything; it's also abut what kind of defensive coverage you deliver after the puck is dropped.
Finally, the session wrapped up with Jack Rathbone and Nils Hoglander. Rathbone is so personable and well-spoken. He spoke a bit about Conor Garland, knowing him from the Boston area, and his hunger to show he can build off what he did at the end of last season. Hoglander also wants to improve, and was excited to get his old No. 21 back after Loui Eriksson was traded.
There will be lots more news to come in the next few days. I'm with Myers — it feels great to be back in a somewhat normal routine. I love the optimistic spirit of training camp, and that seems to be in full force around the Canucks this season.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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