The biggest news to come out of Thatcher Demko's Zoom call with Vancouver reporters on Wednesday wasn't actually about Demko — it was about Jacob Markstrom.
Speaking from his home in San Diego, where he's quarantining with his girlfriend, Demko expressed frustration about how long he's been off the ice since the NHL season was paused in March. But he also dropped the news that his goaltending partner, Jacob Markstrom, is getting back to action.
"I was just texting him to check in or whatever and he was like, 'Yeah, I just got my gear shipped out and I'm skating tomorrow,'” Demko said. "I was just like, oh, my God, that’s awesome. I would be in such a better mental state if I could be getting on the ice every once in a while.
"I was joking with him that I might have to fly out there and crash on his couch or something. I’m glad he’s getting on the ice for sure. That’s got to be nice."
With NBA and MLS teams starting to open up their practice facilities for players' individual workouts, the NHL has held back because there are some areas where that wouldn't be allowed by health authorities, saying that they're trying to keep the playing field as level as possible. But for sure, the opportunities that players have had to skate in Sweden while most other places are shut down could certainly give them a leg up.
I wonder if any players in North America have been able to find ice? When Kevin Bieksa guested on the 'ESPN on Ice' podcast this week, he mentioned that some private rinks are open in his area in Orange County — not that far from San Diego, really.
"There's enough private rinks around," Bieksa said. "We have a couple of rinks in California that just opened. They're private ownership, and I think they're complying with the protocols. It's very strict. Like, the kids are showing up already dressed, and there's no parents allowed in the stands and dressing rooms and all that. So there is slowly becoming more and more ice available."
That being said, Bieksa's skeptical about the prospect for an NHL restart. He feels like there are too many obstacles to actually get things going — and interestingly, he says that most of the NHL guys that he has talked to haven't been doing much, conditioning-wise, since the league shut down in March.
Clearly he isn't drinking the same Kool-Aid as B.C. Premier John Horgan, who has offered up the entire province as a potential hub for all the NHL games if and when things get going again! No harm in aiming high?
After the Return To Play committee met twice this week, the NHL Insiders seem to be in agreement that the league is working to try to make some sort of announcement next week about the next steps — and at this point, some sort of 24-team playoff seems to be the preferred structure, although it sounds like everything is still on the table.
It also seems like the momentum for a June draft has fizzled significantly — that GMs simply aren't on board with unbundling the draft from the rest of the offseason business that normally gets done at the same time.
We've talked about how an earlier draft made it easier for teams with scouts and other staff on contracts that would expire at the end of June. In this week's 31 Thoughts, Elliotte Friedman mentions a few other areas where decisions will need to be made soon about dates: big questions regarding signing bonuses, most of which are due on July 1 — and there's even more bonus money than usual set to be paid out this year, because of all the contracts that went bonus-heavy for 2021-22 to 'lockout proof' the deal in case of a work stoppage if the CBA was terminated in September — remember that old concern??
Friedman also mentions June 1 — "the deadline for unsigned draft picks from 2018 (CHL) and 2016 (elsewhere) to reach deals with the clubs that took them," and August 15, the signing deadline for NCAA players drafted in 2016, who would otherwise become free agents.
The Canucks are OK there. They signed their lone 2016 NCAA player, Will Lockwood, to his entry-level contract on March 19. It's a bit jarring, though, to see that as deep as Vancouver's prospect pool now is, not one player from that draft class has yet played an NHL game. They had just six picks that year, but the only players who are still Vancouver property are Lockwood and Olli Juolevi.
As far as the 2018 draft goes, they're good there, too. Top picks Quinn Hughes and Jett Woo are signed. Tyler Madden has been traded — and signed his entry-level deal with the Los Angeles Kings on March 30. Toni Utunen is still in Finland and Artem Manukyan is in Russia, so the Canucks don't need to sign either of them yet. And Matthew Thiessen spent last season at the University of Maine, where he got into just one game.
After talking a bit in the last blog about the Utica Comets, the Canucks' website now has an in-depth rundown from Comets Cory Hergott, who covers the AHL squad as much as anybody:
We won’t get to find out how the @UticaComets would have performed down the stretch and into @theAHL playoffs, but here’s a look back at some of the players who made it a memorable season.https://t.co/z4tIxtsnFE
One area of discussion earlier this week was the state of Brogan Rafferty's defensive game. Here's what Cory has to say:
In his own end, Rafferty improved his defensive awareness over the course of the season and started to see some time on the penalty kill before the AHL shut down. Brogan is a heady player and reads the game well, enabling him to see plays unfolding before they happen. He is very good at identifying his areas of strength and uses those to his advantage.
I was also interested to read what Cory's analysis of Olli Juolevi:
While 38 points in 63 total AHL games is nothing to sneeze at for a young AHL defender, Juolevi's defensive game saw improvement and it will be his work on that side of the puck that earns him time with the parent club. Don't get me wrong, he has some nice offensive instincts as well, as evidenced by his knack for the long stretch pass out of his own end that we saw regularly.
The 22-year-old Juolevi was an absolute workhorse on the penalty kill for Trent Cull's Comets and even though he has had his injury troubles, he was fearless in sacrificing his body to block shots when his team was a man down. There is no questioning Olli's heart and willingness to do what he has to do in order to help his team win.
I'll leave it there for now. Any special plans for the long weekend?
Nothing much going on here but I will say that my self-care week has been largely successful, so I think that will remain my main focus for the weekend.
I think we're at a particularly stressful stage of this process right now. As the world starts to open up, it moves us out of our quarantine bubble. For many people and businesses, that means a new bundle of uncertainties — with no guarantees that the road ahead is straight and smooth.
For me, it's really helping to take some time each day to make sure that I'm grounded — focused on the present and not getting overwhelmed by the uncertain future. With that extra peace of mind, I feel like I've moved past the mental paralysis that was taking hold a bit last week. I'm able to get some things done again, and am doing better in my interactions with others — more positive, more patient, more kind.
I hope you can also find some inner peace this weekend. Stay well, stay safe!
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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