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Canucks skate into holiday break, Zlodeyev gets an 'A' at World Juniors |
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The full NHL break is here a little earlier than expected. But with any luck, the boys will get back to business a bit sooner, as well.
I'll be continuing my every-second-day posting through this downtime, so I'll save my holiday wishes until the next blog on Dec. 24.
Officially, the league is now shuttered between Wednesday, Dec. 22 and Saturday, Dec. 26. Teams are allowed to resume activities at 2 p.m. local time on Boxing Day — and the next game on the Canucks' schedule sees them hosting the Seattle Kraken on Dec. 27.
I imagine the next round of Covid testing will also take place on the 26th. The Canucks seem to be in good shape, having gotten through two full practices with no further absences beyond the five players and one coach who tested positive last week — forwards Juho Lammikko and Tyler Motte, and defensemen Tucker Poolman, Brad Hunt and Tyler Myers.
Lammikko, Poolman and Hunt should be good to go by the time things start up again. Motte and Myers won't be at 10 days yet, so their returns could take a little longer — although Luke Schenn was able to get back before 10 days had elapsed, by returning two negative tests.
The Kraken were adding new names to their Covid list as recently as Monday, when Adam Larsson went on. Sunday, it was Carson Soucy; Jamie Oleksiak was on Saturday.
Colin Blackwell, Riley Sheahan and Yanni Gourde had been added to the list earlier in December. Their 10 day isolation periods will all have been completed by the 27th.
My best guess is that if the Kraken have no more positive tests, next Monday's game should go ahead. But that's a very big 'if,' with case numbers now rising dramatically throughout the population.
As expected, Bruce Boudreau and the Canucks took full advantage of the break in their game schedule to conduct a two-day minicamp. Monday was mostly about shaking off the rust — the players' first time back on the ice since their win in San Jose last Thursday night. Tuesday, the focus was more on systems.
It feels nice to see the guys enjoying themselves together, doesn't it?
Here's a quick look at how the fortunes of three of the Canucks' highest-profile players have shifted since Boudreau took over.
• J.T. Miller: 2-7-9 in six games; previously 8-15-23 in 25 games
Miller was productive under Travis Green this season, and that productivity has kicked up another notch since Boudreau arrived — even as his ice time has dropped a bit, from 21:29 per game under Green to 20:39 under Boudreau.
Miller has also gone from minus-2 under Green to a plus-3 under Boudreau, primarily centering a line with Tanner Pearson and Brock Boeser.
• Brock Boeser: 5-2-7 in six games; previously 4-6-10 in 22 games
Probably the most noteworthy transformation so far, Boeser has found his scoring confidence again — most likely predicated on Boudreau's admonishments to shoot the puck more.
Through his first 22 games, Boeser had taken 56 shots, or 2.54 shots per game, and was connecting at a rate of 7.1%, well below his career average of 13.4%.
In the last six games, Boeser has taken 20 shots, or 3.33 shots per game. His five goals now have him connecting at rate of 25% — unsustainable, to be sure, but now dragging his shooting percentage for the season up to a more respectable 11.8%.
Boeser's resurgence is definitely welcome — whether or not he remains part of the Canucks over the long term. Jim Rutherford has said that he's well aware that he has limited flexibility to make roster changes with the Canucks' current salary-cap situation. And Boeser's just months away from becoming a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer requirement of $7.5 million. His current contract was signed in 2019, before the latest CBA extension in 2020, so the qualifying offer *is* the full value of his salary for this season.
I'm not advocating for trading Boeser. I think his scoring is an important element of what the Canucks need to be successful. But I do think his contract situation would jump off the page at Rutherford. That being said, while he might not feel the same attachment to Boeser as Jim Benning, who drafted him, Brock did have seven goals and nine points in six career games against Pittsburgh while Rutherford was in charge — significantly more than any other Canucks player. Rutherford should know first hand what Boeser can do when he's at his best.
Boeser's ice time hasn't changed much under Boudreau. He was averaging 18:30 a game under Travis Green. Now, he's at 18:57. But his other noteworthy stat is his change in plus-minus. Boeser was a team-worst minus-7 under Green, but has been plus-two since Boudreau took over.
• Tyler Myers: 0-3-3 in six games; previously 0-6-6 in 25 games
Myers' offensive production rate has doubled since Boudreau took over, but that's not really his most important stat. In Boudreau's six games, Myers has posted a team-leading plus-8, compared to a minus-2 under Green. And that's while the Canucks have been dealing with some significant holes on the blue line, missing some combination of Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Travis Hamonic, Luke Schenn, Tucker Poolman and Brad Hunt at various times.
Green leaned hard on Myers over the last two seasons, playing him an average of more than 22 minutes a night. This year, he got Myers' ice time down a bit, to 21:50. Nor surprisingly, with the injuries, Boudreau has played Myers a ton.
Quinn Hughes is the Canucks' ice-time leader under Boudreau — up from 24:19 under Green to 26:25 over the last six games, and producing offensively at about the same pace. Myers is currently second, at 25:21.
It'll be interesting to watch how that might change as the defense, presumably, gets healthier.
Finally — before I sign off today, a reminder that World Junior action begins Thursday, with a full-day slate of pre-tournament games.
Of particular interest to Canucks fans: Canada vs. Russia, at 4 p.m. PT, which will be televised on TSN along with USA/Finland at 11 a.m PT.
This year, the only Canucks prospect in the tournament is Russia's Dmitry Zlodeyev. Very cool to see that the sixth-round pick from 2020 has been given an "A."
Perhaps like Sweden's Arvid Costmar last season, Zlodeyev may turn out to be a late-round pick who plays quite a significant role in the tournament.
Another intriguing prospect is Port Moody's Kent Johnson, who was selected fifth overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2021 draft. Now a sophomore at the University of Michigan, Johnson barely squeaked into the tournament — a positive Covid test caused him to miss the selection camp, but he completed his isolation period in time to enter Canada's bubble on Dec. 15.
Canucks prospect Jacob Truscott, also from Michigan, just failed to make the cut, and Thomas Bordeleau had a positive Covid test a few days after Johnson, which came too late for him to get cleared to enter the bubble. But even without those two, Michigan will have five players in the tournament this year — three for Team USA, and Johnson and Owen Power for Canada.
Here's a story I wrote about that Fab Five:
As usual, round-robin play kicks off on Dec. 26.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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