Sad seems it’s all going to end with a crash.
- Quinn's Quest

Take a nap.

FREE AGENTS FOR NHL TEAMS 2024: TOP COLLEGE, CHL AND EUROPEAN PLAYERS.


Today we look at this year’s class of free agents coming out of the CHL, NCAA and major European leagues.

Every year I do my best to pump the brakes on these player types. These players are in all likelihood not going to be difference-makers in an organization, even if once in a while an Ilya Mikheyev comes around. This is about building organizational depth and getting older, physically matured players who can play real minutes for an organization, whether in the NHL or AHL. The Vegas Golden Knights, the reigning champions, got Zach Whitecloud in free agency. Colorado, the prior champion, got Logan O’Connor. They may not be the sexiest names, but they help teams win.

While I spent many hours on this article, I do not cover the free-agent world as extensively as I do the NHL Draft or drafted NHL prospects. I therefore cannot claim to have a comprehensive scope of the free-agent world. There will be numerous players who sign that I don’t have listed here, but excluding them isn’t necessarily a commentary on the players; I may simply have never gotten around to watching them.

Projected Middle of the Lineup Player

1. Collin Graf, RW, Quinnipiac-ECAC

Graf was a major part of Quinnipiac’s NCAA title run last spring and has been a top player in the country again this season. He has a ton of offensive talent and has the potential to score in the NHL. He is a very skilled puckhandler who skates well and can create on the move like a pro. He sees the ice well, can run a power play with quick decisions, and has a good shot as well. His game can lack physicality at times and stick too much to the perimeter, which is my only concern about him, but I wouldn’t call him soft or a low-compete type. He is a player a lot of NHL teams will have interest in, and he could be a legit middle-six wing in the league. Last spring, the Red Wings were rumored to have gotten close to signing Graf before he decided to go back to school.

Projected to play NHL games

2. Maxim Tsyplakov, RW, Spartak-KHL

Tsyplakov is the main European free agent out there this season. The 25-year-old winger has been one of the better forwards in the KHL this season. He’s a big, powerful wing who plays a highly physical brand of hockey. He also has strong puck skills, offensive hockey sense and shooting ability. Inside the offensive zone, he is quite dangerous and can challenge goaltenders in several ways. Tsyplakov’s main issue comes down to his skating. He has a heavy stride that lacks NHL footspeed so the question will be: Is he just like a ton of other successful KHL players whose games can’t translate to the NHL, or does he have that something extra in him? I think because of how big and physical he is, he has a good chance to be an NHL player as a bottom-six wing.

3. Oscar Eklind, LW, Lulea-SHL

Eklind has developed well this season, becoming a top scorer for Lulea. He has an athletic toolkit of an NHL forward. He’s a 6-foot-4 winger who skates quite well for his size. He has a powerful frame, plays physically, and can bully his way to the net due to his strength and speed. Eklind has good hands and can finish plays. I don’t think he sees the ice at a super high level though. He has the makings of a potential bottom-six wing in the NHL.

4. Jacob Quillan, C, Quinnipiac-ECAC

Quillan was the MVP of the NCAA tournament last spring and has been a big part of a top Quinnipiac team again this year. He’s a strong skating center with good puck skills who can create offense with pace. His hockey sense is fine, good enough, to go with a strong compete level and ability to play both ways. At 6-0 without dynamic enough puck play, whether there’s enough to his game to be a real player is debatable, but he could be a very useful depth piece for an NHL organization.

5. Cooper Black, G, Dartmouth-ECAC

Black is a 6-foot-9 goalie, so his lower half is understandably sluggish getting around the net, but when you have a 6-foot-9 goalie who has some ability it’s still very intriguing. He reads the play quite well and is efficient moving around the net. He has the potential to be a legit backup goalie in the NHL if he can keep up with the pace of the higher levels.


Ostman, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound goalie from the University of Maine, will generate a lot of NHL interest. (Richard T Gagnon / Getty Images)
6. Victor Ostman, G, Maine-Hockey East

Ostman wasn’t as impressive this season as he was as a junior. He’s still a decent-sized goalie who is quite athletic and can make a lot of difficult stops. I felt his puck tracking and decisions weren’t great this year though, and he was a bit too chaotic in his crease. He has a lot of pro traits that could translate to success and there will be significant NHL interest despite a disappointing year.

Has a chance to play games

7. Samuel Mayer, LHD, Ottawa-OHL

Mayer has played well between Peterborough and the 67’s this season. He’s an athletic defenseman who may not have the strongest first few steps but has NHL footspeed in a 6-foot-3 frame. He plays hard and projects to be able to make stops and retrieve pucks versus men. The debate on Mayer will he his puck play. He doesn’t see the ice at a high level and whether the junior offense he’s shown translates is questionable, although I do think he has a pro-level point shot.

8. Christian Fitzgerald, C, Wisconsin-Big Ten

Fitzgerald came over to the Badgers with Mike Hastings from Mankato and had a strong sophomore season. He’s an excellent skater, with the quick twitch feet of an NHL player who will be able to gain the zone with the puck at the highest levels. He competes well and has a good amount of physicality in his play. Fitzgerald shows some skill, but I wouldn’t call him a natural scorer or playmaker, but more one with a direct style of play. His feet give him a chance even if the rest of his game doesn’t overly impress.

9. Drew Bavaro, RHD, Notre Dame-Big Ten

Bavaro has looked quite impressive in the Big Ten in the last two seasons. He’s a good-sized right-shot defenseman who unlike a lot of top free agents with size also skates quite well. He has the athleticism to play versus pros. His offensive touch is also decent. He has a strong point shot, it will just be about whether he can move pucks at higher levels. I think there’s just enough puck-moving skill to have a real shot to play NHL games.

10. Riese Gaber, RW, North Dakota-NCHC

Gaber has been a free-agent candidate for several years and this will be the spring he turns pro. Gaber is an excellent skater who competes hard and has a ton of energy in his game. He attacks with his skill and doesn’t shy away from going to the net. He has an excellent shot as well. He is quite small though and while talented, he doesn’t have the kind of tremendous sense you’d like in a guy that size. The rest of his game is good enough to give him a chance though to make it.

11. Jakub Rychlovsky, LW, Bili Tygri-Czechia

Rychlovsky scored at a high clip in the top Czech league and played games with their senior national team as well. The 22-year-old winger is a strong skater with good hands, offensive hockey sense and can finish from range. There’s a reasonable debate on how dynamic he is skill-wise for a 5-11 forward but he skates well enough to give himself a real chance to play games.

12. Dylan Wendt, RW, Western Michigan-NCHC

Wendt was quite productive for Western this season, scoring a lot of goals. He’s always been a talented player whose game took off this season. He skates well and handles the puck like a pro, and on his best shifts, he looks like an NHL prospect. His hockey sense isn’t the best, but he competes well enough and shows enough skill to be intriguing as a pro prospect.

13. Carter King, C, Denver-NCHC

King has emerged this season as a top player for a top team in Denver. King is a very good skating center who, while he isn’t overly physical, competes hard and is a two-way player. He has good skill and offensive sense and has shown he can make a lot of plays at the collegiate level. Whether he’s dynamic enough for an undersized forward to play in the NHL is a whole other question, but there are pro components in his game.

14. Joshua Eernisse, RW, Michigan-Big Ten

Eernisse’s pure numbers won’t get you overly excited, and this is not a forward who gets power play time at Michigan. But he is a big, fast, and highly competitive winger. He is very physical and brings it every night. Eernisse uses his feet and good enough skill to take pucks to the net and creates enough offense in a highly translatable way to the pro game.

15. John Prokop, LHD, Union-ECAC

Prokop has led Union in scoring as a sophomore. He was always seen as a talented player in junior, but his defense was awful and he was inconsistent. His defending has improved enough to be a potential sign candidate with a chance to be a solid pro. He’s a tall defender who skates well and has enough skill to be interesting at higher levels.

16. Daniil Gutik, RW, Admiral-KHL

Gutik is a bit of a blast from the past. I rated him as a potential first-rounder in the summer of his first draft season five years ago, and then he promptly went undrafted following major skating and compete concerns. Those still exist in his game, but he’s a big winger with a very high skill level who has found some success in the KHL. There is stuff about his game that will cause you headaches but he’s probably the most purely talented player on this list.

17. Ben Kraws, G, St. Lawrence-ECAC

Kraws is on his third college team in St. Lawrence after stops in Miami and Arizona State and has found success being one of the better goalies in the country this season. Kraws is a tall, athletic goaltender. He can make a lot of difficult saves. He’s aggressive and takes away a lot of net from shooters. I question his hockey sense a bit at times and find him out of position too much.

Long shot to play games

18. Marcus Sylvegard, RW, Vaxjo-SHL

Sylvegard has been a top player in the SHL this season as a 24-year-old. He’s got a high skill level and can create a lot of chances in the offensive zone. His playmaking is good enough, but it’s his shot that makes him so dangerous. Sylvegard has a bullet of a one timer and is a legit threat to score from the faceoff dots. He’s been a great player in the SHL, but his so-so footspeed may be an issue in translating that offense to the NHL.

19. Marcus Hardegard, LHD, Lulea-SHL

Hardegard is a strong skating defenseman who is good on retrievals and defends well at the SHL level. The pure offense in his game won’t ever get you excited, but he can make a good first pass and has a strong point shot. He’s developed well of late and got a few games with the Swedish national team this season.

20. Zac Funk, LW, Prince George-WHL

Funk has been a huge part of a top offense in the WHL this season. There’s always a concern about translatability when a guy’s offense spikes as a 20-year-old in junior, but Funk does have some pro traits. In particular, he’s a good skater with strong puck skills. He has a decent wrist shot, scoring a lot of goals this season. His frame is average sized but he competes well and throws his weight around. I do question Funk’s hockey IQ for the higher levels.

21. Karsen Dorwart, C, Michigan State-Big Ten

Dorwart has been an important part of a very good Michigan State team this season. He’s got an NHL frame and is quite a strong skater. He killed penalties for the Spartans this season as well. The pure offense in his game isn’t amazing, but there’s enough skill and playmaking to go with the great athleticism to make me think he’s got a puncher’s chance to make it.

22. Jaxon Nelson, C, Minnesota-Big Ten

Nelson is a large center with good hockey sense who can play both ways at the college level. He has some offensive touch, but I don’t see a ton of natural skill and finish in his game and his skating is a notable issue for the pro game.

23. Jacob Bengtsson, LHD, Boston College-Hockey East

Bengtsson is a big defenseman who has played on both special teams for a top Boston College squad this season. He’s got good enough hockey sense to make a decent outlet pass, but it will be his so-so skating that will be the question for the pro game.

24. Justin Hryckowian, C, Northeastern-Hockey East

Hryckowian has been a productive player in Hockey East the last two seasons and was named best defensive forward last season. He is a competitive two-way center with good enough skill and hockey sense, but his skating for his size is limited and the pure offense in his game isn’t overly exciting.

25. Luke Krys, RHD, Providence-Hockey East

Krys transferred to Providence from Brown and has been a top player for them. He’s a 6-foot-2 defender who skates well and has a lot of physicality in his game. He’s shown more playmaking this season than in previous campaigns, but whether he can move pucks versus men will be the question in his game.

26. Arttu Hyry, RW, Karpat-Liiga

Hyry is a decent-sized winger who skates well and has had a good season in Finland. He’s scored quite a lot for Karpat given he’s gotten almost no power play time this season. He’s done that because Hyry is a strong skater with a direct style of play who can create offense in high-traffic areas. His pure skill/sense will be a minor question for the higher levels.

27. Dalton Bancroft, RW, Cornell-ECAC

Bancroft is a strong-skating winger with a decent-sized frame. He was a point-per-game player as a sophomore this season in college. He has some puck skills and offensive creativity, but I don’t think he’s a natural playmaker or going to be a major scorer at higher levels. The pace in his game gives him a long-shot chance to play some games, especially given that he’s quite physical too.

28. Bret Link, RW, Colorado College-NCHC

Link’s athletic tools are interesting. He’s 6-foot-3 and skates quite well. On his best shift, he looks like an NHL prospect. Those best shifts are inconsistent though, particularly when it comes to making plays with the puck. But he’s a freshman, so if he stays in school I wouldn’t be surprised if he pops in a year or two.

29. Andrei Chivilyov, C, SKA-KHL

Chivilyov has played a limited-minutes role for a top team in SKA since they acquired him midseason. He’s a strong-skating center with good hands. He competes well enough, getting to the net, showing some grit in his game and being a reliable two-way center. His pure sense and playmaking aren’t great and he’s probably not going to put up big scoring numbers as a pro.

30. T.J. Hughes, C, Michigan-Big Ten

Hughes is a highly skilled and creative center who has shown the ability to beat college defenders routinely with his puckhandling. He makes a lot of difficult plays and is dangerous inside the offensive zone. He’s a so-so skater though, which isn’t ideal with an average-sized frame.

31. Lynden Breen, C, Maine-Hockey East

Breen has been a top player in Hockey East over the last two seasons and a large part of Maine’s resurgence. Breen is an excellent skater who competes well enough and has a lot of pace in his game. He’s quite skilled and can create offense on the move. He’s quite small though and while talented he’ll need to prove he’s more than an AHLer and provide a ton of offense at the pro level.

32. Connor Punnett, RHD, Oshawa-OHL

Punnett started off on a strong offensive note this season although after being traded from Barrie to Oshawa he hasn’t been quite as productive. He’s still a good-sized defenseman who plays hard. The offense in his game is OK. He can make a decent outlet pass and has a hard point shot. He doesn’t have a ton of natural skill though, and his skating stride is heavy.

33. Simon Tassy, RW, Wisconsin-Big Ten

Tassy performed well with Wisconsin this season, coming over from Mankato with Mike Hastings. Tassy is a skilled forward. He competes hard, has some physicality in his game and can create in the interior parts of the offensive zone. His skating isn’t great, especially for an average-sized winger.

34. Joey Larson, RW, Michigan State-Big Ten

Larson was a top scorer on Michigan State this season. His shot is excellent, and on the power play, he’s a true threat to score from range with how hard and accurate his one-timer is. He has good hands and inside the offensive zone, he can create a lot of chances. His skating is just OK, and I’d like to see him stray away from the perimeter too.

35. Gleb Veremyev, LW, Colorado College-NCHC

Veremyev is a big and extremely physical winger who had a good sophomore season at Colorado College. He has some skill too, but his feet are a major issue when projecting him to the NHL especially, when the offense he brings isn’t amazing.

FREE AGENTS FOR NHL TEAMS 2024: TOP COLLEGE, CHL AND EUROPEAN PLAYERS.


Today we look at this year’s class of free agents coming out of the CHL, NCAA and major European leagues.

Every year I do my best to pump the brakes on these player types. These players are in all likelihood not going to be difference-makers in an organization, even if once in a while an Ilya Mikheyev comes around. This is about building organizational depth and getting older, physically matured players who can play real minutes for an organization, whether in the NHL or AHL. The Vegas Golden Knights, the reigning champions, got Zach Whitecloud in free agency. Colorado, the prior champion, got Logan O’Connor. They may not be the sexiest names, but they help teams win.

While I spent many hours on this article, I do not cover the free-agent world as extensively as I do the NHL Draft or drafted NHL prospects. I therefore cannot claim to have a comprehensive scope of the free-agent world. There will be numerous players who sign that I don’t have listed here, but excluding them isn’t necessarily a commentary on the players; I may simply have never gotten around to watching them.

Projected Middle of the Lineup Player

1. Collin Graf, RW, Quinnipiac-ECAC

Graf was a major part of Quinnipiac’s NCAA title run last spring and has been a top player in the country again this season. He has a ton of offensive talent and has the potential to score in the NHL. He is a very skilled puckhandler who skates well and can create on the move like a pro. He sees the ice well, can run a power play with quick decisions, and has a good shot as well. His game can lack physicality at times and stick too much to the perimeter, which is my only concern about him, but I wouldn’t call him soft or a low-compete type. He is a player a lot of NHL teams will have interest in, and he could be a legit middle-six wing in the league. Last spring, the Red Wings were rumored to have gotten close to signing Graf before he decided to go back to school.

Projected to play NHL games

2. Maxim Tsyplakov, RW, Spartak-KHL

Tsyplakov is the main European free agent out there this season. The 25-year-old winger has been one of the better forwards in the KHL this season. He’s a big, powerful wing who plays a highly physical brand of hockey. He also has strong puck skills, offensive hockey sense and shooting ability. Inside the offensive zone, he is quite dangerous and can challenge goaltenders in several ways. Tsyplakov’s main issue comes down to his skating. He has a heavy stride that lacks NHL footspeed so the question will be: Is he just like a ton of other successful KHL players whose games can’t translate to the NHL, or does he have that something extra in him? I think because of how big and physical he is, he has a good chance to be an NHL player as a bottom-six wing.

3. Oscar Eklind, LW, Lulea-SHL

Eklind has developed well this season, becoming a top scorer for Lulea. He has an athletic toolkit of an NHL forward. He’s a 6-foot-4 winger who skates quite well for his size. He has a powerful frame, plays physically, and can bully his way to the net due to his strength and speed. Eklind has good hands and can finish plays. I don’t think he sees the ice at a super high level though. He has the makings of a potential bottom-six wing in the NHL.

4. Jacob Quillan, C, Quinnipiac-ECAC

Quillan was the MVP of the NCAA tournament last spring and has been a big part of a top Quinnipiac team again this year. He’s a strong skating center with good puck skills who can create offense with pace. His hockey sense is fine, good enough, to go with a strong compete level and ability to play both ways. At 6-0 without dynamic enough puck play, whether there’s enough to his game to be a real player is debatable, but he could be a very useful depth piece for an NHL organization.

5. Cooper Black, G, Dartmouth-ECAC

Black is a 6-foot-9 goalie, so his lower half is understandably sluggish getting around the net, but when you have a 6-foot-9 goalie who has some ability it’s still very intriguing. He reads the play quite well and is efficient moving around the net. He has the potential to be a legit backup goalie in the NHL if he can keep up with the pace of the higher levels.


Ostman, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound goalie from the University of Maine, will generate a lot of NHL interest. (Richard T Gagnon / Getty Images)
6. Victor Ostman, G, Maine-Hockey East

Ostman wasn’t as impressive this season as he was as a junior. He’s still a decent-sized goalie who is quite athletic and can make a lot of difficult stops. I felt his puck tracking and decisions weren’t great this year though, and he was a bit too chaotic in his crease. He has a lot of pro traits that could translate to success and there will be significant NHL interest despite a disappointing year.

Has a chance to play games

7. Samuel Mayer, LHD, Ottawa-OHL

Mayer has played well between Peterborough and the 67’s this season. He’s an athletic defenseman who may not have the strongest first few steps but has NHL footspeed in a 6-foot-3 frame. He plays hard and projects to be able to make stops and retrieve pucks versus men. The debate on Mayer will he his puck play. He doesn’t see the ice at a high level and whether the junior offense he’s shown translates is questionable, although I do think he has a pro-level point shot.

8. Christian Fitzgerald, C, Wisconsin-Big Ten

Fitzgerald came over to the Badgers with Mike Hastings from Mankato and had a strong sophomore season. He’s an excellent skater, with the quick twitch feet of an NHL player who will be able to gain the zone with the puck at the highest levels. He competes well and has a good amount of physicality in his play. Fitzgerald shows some skill, but I wouldn’t call him a natural scorer or playmaker, but more one with a direct style of play. His feet give him a chance even if the rest of his game doesn’t overly impress.

9. Drew Bavaro, RHD, Notre Dame-Big Ten

Bavaro has looked quite impressive in the Big Ten in the last two seasons. He’s a good-sized right-shot defenseman who unlike a lot of top free agents with size also skates quite well. He has the athleticism to play versus pros. His offensive touch is also decent. He has a strong point shot, it will just be about whether he can move pucks at higher levels. I think there’s just enough puck-moving skill to have a real shot to play NHL games.

10. Riese Gaber, RW, North Dakota-NCHC

Gaber has been a free-agent candidate for several years and this will be the spring he turns pro. Gaber is an excellent skater who competes hard and has a ton of energy in his game. He attacks with his skill and doesn’t shy away from going to the net. He has an excellent shot as well. He is quite small though and while talented, he doesn’t have the kind of tremendous sense you’d like in a guy that size. The rest of his game is good enough to give him a chance though to make it.

11. Jakub Rychlovsky, LW, Bili Tygri-Czechia

Rychlovsky scored at a high clip in the top Czech league and played games with their senior national team as well. The 22-year-old winger is a strong skater with good hands, offensive hockey sense and can finish from range. There’s a reasonable debate on how dynamic he is skill-wise for a 5-11 forward but he skates well enough to give himself a real chance to play games.

12. Dylan Wendt, RW, Western Michigan-NCHC

Wendt was quite productive for Western this season, scoring a lot of goals. He’s always been a talented player whose game took off this season. He skates well and handles the puck like a pro, and on his best shifts, he looks like an NHL prospect. His hockey sense isn’t the best, but he competes well enough and shows enough skill to be intriguing as a pro prospect.

13. Carter King, C, Denver-NCHC

King has emerged this season as a top player for a top team in Denver. King is a very good skating center who, while he isn’t overly physical, competes hard and is a two-way player. He has good skill and offensive sense and has shown he can make a lot of plays at the collegiate level. Whether he’s dynamic enough for an undersized forward to play in the NHL is a whole other question, but there are pro components in his game.

14. Joshua Eernisse, RW, Michigan-Big Ten

Eernisse’s pure numbers won’t get you overly excited, and this is not a forward who gets power play time at Michigan. But he is a big, fast, and highly competitive winger. He is very physical and brings it every night. Eernisse uses his feet and good enough skill to take pucks to the net and creates enough offense in a highly translatable way to the pro game.

15. John Prokop, LHD, Union-ECAC

Prokop has led Union in scoring as a sophomore. He was always seen as a talented player in junior, but his defense was awful and he was inconsistent. His defending has improved enough to be a potential sign candidate with a chance to be a solid pro. He’s a tall defender who skates well and has enough skill to be interesting at higher levels.

16. Daniil Gutik, RW, Admiral-KHL

Gutik is a bit of a blast from the past. I rated him as a potential first-rounder in the summer of his first draft season five years ago, and then he promptly went undrafted following major skating and compete concerns. Those still exist in his game, but he’s a big winger with a very high skill level who has found some success in the KHL. There is stuff about his game that will cause you headaches but he’s probably the most purely talented player on this list.

17. Ben Kraws, G, St. Lawrence-ECAC

Kraws is on his third college team in St. Lawrence after stops in Miami and Arizona State and has found success being one of the better goalies in the country this season. Kraws is a tall, athletic goaltender. He can make a lot of difficult saves. He’s aggressive and takes away a lot of net from shooters. I question his hockey sense a bit at times and find him out of position too much.

Long shot to play games

18. Marcus Sylvegard, RW, Vaxjo-SHL

Sylvegard has been a top player in the SHL this season as a 24-year-old. He’s got a high skill level and can create a lot of chances in the offensive zone. His playmaking is good enough, but it’s his shot that makes him so dangerous. Sylvegard has a bullet of a one timer and is a legit threat to score from the faceoff dots. He’s been a great player in the SHL, but his so-so footspeed may be an issue in translating that offense to the NHL.

19. Marcus Hardegard, LHD, Lulea-SHL

Hardegard is a strong skating defenseman who is good on retrievals and defends well at the SHL level. The pure offense in his game won’t ever get you excited, but he can make a good first pass and has a strong point shot. He’s developed well of late and got a few games with the Swedish national team this season.

20. Zac Funk, LW, Prince George-WHL

Funk has been a huge part of a top offense in the WHL this season. There’s always a concern about translatability when a guy’s offense spikes as a 20-year-old in junior, but Funk does have some pro traits. In particular, he’s a good skater with strong puck skills. He has a decent wrist shot, scoring a lot of goals this season. His frame is average sized but he competes well and throws his weight around. I do question Funk’s hockey IQ for the higher levels.

21. Karsen Dorwart, C, Michigan State-Big Ten

Dorwart has been an important part of a very good Michigan State team this season. He’s got an NHL frame and is quite a strong skater. He killed penalties for the Spartans this season as well. The pure offense in his game isn’t amazing, but there’s enough skill and playmaking to go with the great athleticism to make me think he’s got a puncher’s chance to make it.

22. Jaxon Nelson, C, Minnesota-Big Ten

Nelson is a large center with good hockey sense who can play both ways at the college level. He has some offensive touch, but I don’t see a ton of natural skill and finish in his game and his skating is a notable issue for the pro game.

23. Jacob Bengtsson, LHD, Boston College-Hockey East

Bengtsson is a big defenseman who has played on both special teams for a top Boston College squad this season. He’s got good enough hockey sense to make a decent outlet pass, but it will be his so-so skating that will be the question for the pro game.

24. Justin Hryckowian, C, Northeastern-Hockey East

Hryckowian has been a productive player in Hockey East the last two seasons and was named best defensive forward last season. He is a competitive two-way center with good enough skill and hockey sense, but his skating for his size is limited and the pure offense in his game isn’t overly exciting.

25. Luke Krys, RHD, Providence-Hockey East

Krys transferred to Providence from Brown and has been a top player for them. He’s a 6-foot-2 defender who skates well and has a lot of physicality in his game. He’s shown more playmaking this season than in previous campaigns, but whether he can move pucks versus men will be the question in his game.

26. Arttu Hyry, RW, Karpat-Liiga

Hyry is a decent-sized winger who skates well and has had a good season in Finland. He’s scored quite a lot for Karpat given he’s gotten almost no power play time this season. He’s done that because Hyry is a strong skater with a direct style of play who can create offense in high-traffic areas. His pure skill/sense will be a minor question for the higher levels.

27. Dalton Bancroft, RW, Cornell-ECAC

Bancroft is a strong-skating winger with a decent-sized frame. He was a point-per-game player as a sophomore this season in college. He has some puck skills and offensive creativity, but I don’t think he’s a natural playmaker or going to be a major scorer at higher levels. The pace in his game gives him a long-shot chance to play some games, especially given that he’s quite physical too.

28. Bret Link, RW, Colorado College-NCHC

Link’s athletic tools are interesting. He’s 6-foot-3 and skates quite well. On his best shift, he looks like an NHL prospect. Those best shifts are inconsistent though, particularly when it comes to making plays with the puck. But he’s a freshman, so if he stays in school I wouldn’t be surprised if he pops in a year or two.

29. Andrei Chivilyov, C, SKA-KHL

Chivilyov has played a limited-minutes role for a top team in SKA since they acquired him midseason. He’s a strong-skating center with good hands. He competes well enough, getting to the net, showing some grit in his game and being a reliable two-way center. His pure sense and playmaking aren’t great and he’s probably not going to put up big scoring numbers as a pro.

30. T.J. Hughes, C, Michigan-Big Ten

Hughes is a highly skilled and creative center who has shown the ability to beat college defenders routinely with his puckhandling. He makes a lot of difficult plays and is dangerous inside the offensive zone. He’s a so-so skater though, which isn’t ideal with an average-sized frame.

31. Lynden Breen, C, Maine-Hockey East

Breen has been a top player in Hockey East over the last two seasons and a large part of Maine’s resurgence. Breen is an excellent skater who competes well enough and has a lot of pace in his game. He’s quite skilled and can create offense on the move. He’s quite small though and while talented he’ll need to prove he’s more than an AHLer and provide a ton of offense at the pro level.

32. Connor Punnett, RHD, Oshawa-OHL

Punnett started off on a strong offensive note this season although after being traded from Barrie to Oshawa he hasn’t been quite as productive. He’s still a good-sized defenseman who plays hard. The offense in his game is OK. He can make a decent outlet pass and has a hard point shot. He doesn’t have a ton of natural skill though, and his skating stride is heavy.

33. Simon Tassy, RW, Wisconsin-Big Ten

Tassy performed well with Wisconsin this season, coming over from Mankato with Mike Hastings. Tassy is a skilled forward. He competes hard, has some physicality in his game and can create in the interior parts of the offensive zone. His skating isn’t great, especially for an average-sized winger.

34. Joey Larson, RW, Michigan State-Big Ten

Larson was a top scorer on Michigan State this season. His shot is excellent, and on the power play, he’s a true threat to score from range with how hard and accurate his one-timer is. He has good hands and inside the offensive zone, he can create a lot of chances. His skating is just OK, and I’d like to see him stray away from the perimeter too.

35. Gleb Veremyev, LW, Colorado College-NCHC

Veremyev is a big and extremely physical winger who had a good sophomore season at Colorado College. He has some skill too, but his feet are a major issue when projecting him to the NHL especially, when the offense he brings isn’t amazing.
- Pacificgem

I don’t see much here worth a contract

NHL Draft 2024 prospects ranking: Celebrini No. 1 on Corey Pronman’s list, Silayev and Richardinson next
Corey Pronman
Mar 12, 2024
67


Today I am doing a three-quarters-of-the-season update on the 2024 NHL Draft, with my opinion on the top prospects in the class.

This has become one of the more unique drafts I’ve covered from a talent distribution standpoint. At the top, there is a projected superstar in Macklin Celebrini. The top five picks or so all look like potential impact players in the NHL. I have four players projected as potential No. 1 defensemen in the NHL, to go along with Celebrini. In that sense, this draft class looks quite strong. Usually, though, there are about 20 players you are excited about in a given draft — players you think will be a top-six forward, top-four defenseman or a No. 1 goalie. This draft has fewer than that in my view. Usually, it’s a steady drop in talent throughout the first round with more players appearing in each tier, but this year I see a very uneven amount of players bulked at the top.

Ranked players are placed into tiers and given tool grades. Tool grades are based on a scale with six separate levels, with an eye toward how this attribute would grade in the NHL (poor, below-average, average, above-average, high-end and elite). “Average” on this scale means the tool projects as NHL average, which is meant as a positive, not a criticism. Skating, puck skills, hockey sense and compete for every projected NHL player is graded. Shot grades are only included if a shot is notably good or poor.


Tier

Position

League
Search
Tier 1
Elite NHL player
1
Macklin Celebrini
C
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
DOB:
13-Jun-06
Ht:
6' 0.0"
Shoots:
L

TIER 1
C
NCAA (H-EAST)
Tier 2
NHL All-Star
2
Anton Silayev
D
NIZHNY NOVGOROD
DOB:
11-Apr-06
Ht:
6' 7.0"
Shoots:
L

TIER 2
D
RUSSIA
3
Sam Richardinson
D
LONDON
DOB:
7-Jun-06
Ht:
6' 2.5"
Shoots:
L

TIER 2
D
OHL
4
Carter Yakemchuk
D
CALGARY
DOB:
29-Sep-05
Ht:
6' 2.75"
Shoots:
R

TIER 2
D
WHL
5
Artyom Levshunov
D
MICHIGAN STATE
DOB:
28-Oct-05
Ht:
6' 2.0"
Shoots:
R

TIER 2
D
NCAA (BIG10)
Tier 3
Bubble NHL All-Star and top of the lineup player
6
Berkly Catton
C
SPOKANE
DOB:
14-Jan-06
Ht:
5' 10.0"
Shoots:
L

TIER 3
C
WHL
7
Ivan Demidov
RW
SKA ST. PETERSBURG JR.
DOB:
10-Dec-05
Ht:
5' 11.0"
Shoots:
L

TIER 3
RW
RUSSIA-JR.
8
Cayden Lindstrom
C
MEDICINE HAT
DOB:
03-Feb-06
Ht:
6' 3.25"
Shoots:
L

TIER 3
C
WHL
Tier 4
Top of the lineup player
9
Zayne Parekh
D
SAGINAW
DOB:
15-Feb-06
Ht:
6' 0.0"
Shoots:
R

TIER 4
D
OHL
10
Zeev Buium
D
DENVER
DOB:
7-Dec-05
Ht:
6' 0.0"
Shoots:
L

TIER 4
D
NCAA (NCHC)
11
Konsta Helenius
C
JUKURIT
DOB:
11-May-06
Ht:
5' 10.75"
Shoots:
R

TIER 4
C
FINLAND
12
Adam Jiricek
D
PLZEN
DOB:
28-Jun-06
Ht:
6' 2.5"
Shoots:
R

TIER 4
D
CZECHIA
13
Cole Eiserman
LW
USA U-18
DOB:
29-Aug-06
Ht:
6' 0.0"
Shoots:
L

TIER 4
LW
NTDP
Tier 5
Bubble top and middle of the lineup player
14
Igor Chernyshov
LW
DYNAMO MOSCOW
DOB:
30-Nov-05
Ht:
6' 2.0"
Shoots:
R

TIER 5
LW
RUSSIA
15
Beckett Sennecke
RW
OSHAWA
DOB:
28-Jan-06
Ht:
6' 2.25"
Shoots:
R

TIER 5
RW
OHL
16
Tij Iginla
C
KELOWNA
DOB:
4-Aug-06
Ht:
5' 11.75"
Shoots:
L

TIER 5
C
WHL
17
Michael Brandsegg-Nygard
RW
MORA
DOB:
5-Oct-05
Ht:
6' 1.0"
Shoots:
R

TIER 5
RW
SWEDEN-2
Tier 6
Middle of the lineup player
18
Liam Greentree
RW
WINDSOR
DOB:
01-Jan-06
Ht:
6' 2.25"
Shoots:
L

TIER 6
RW
OHL
19
Michael Hage
C
CHICAGO
DOB:
14-Apr-06
Ht:
6' 0.5"
Shoots:
R

TIER 6
C
USHL
20
Trevor Connelly
LW
TRI-CITY
DOB:
28-Feb-06
Ht:
6' 0.25"
Shoots:
L

TIER 6
LW
USHL
21
Egor Surin
C
YAROSLAVL JR.
DOB:
1-Aug-06
Ht:
6' 1.0"
Shoots:
L
TIER 6
C
RUSSIA-JR.
22
Charlie Elick
D
BRANDON
DOB:
17-Jan-06
Ht:
6' 3.25"
Shoots:
R

TIER 6
D
WHL
23
Sacha Boisvert
C
MUSKEGON
DOB:
17-Mar-06
Ht:
6' 2.0"
Shoots:
L

TIER 6
C
USHL
24
Julius Miettinen
C
EVERETT
DOB:
20-Jan-06
Ht:
6' 2.5"
Shoots:
L
TIER 6
C
WHL
25
Dominik Badinka
D
MALMO
DOB:
27-November-05
Ht:
6' 3.0"
Shoots:
R
TIER 6
D
SWEDEN
26
Nikita Artamonov
LW
NIZHNY NOVGOROD
DOB:
17-Nov-05
Ht:
5' 11.0"
Shoots:
L
TIER 6
LW
RUSSIA
27
Cole Beaudoin
C
BARRIE
DOB:
24-Apr-06
Ht:
6' 2.0"
Shoots:
L

TIER 6
C
OHL
28
Aron Kiviharju
D
HIFK
DOB:
25-Jan-06
Ht:
5' 9.25"
Shoots:
L

TIER 6
D
FINLAND
29
Leo Sahlin Wallenius
D
VAXJO JR.
DOB:
10-Apr-06
Ht:
5' 11.5"
Shoots:
L
TIER 6
D
SWEDEN-JR.
30
Adam Kleber
D
LINCOLN
DOB:
24-Mar-06
Ht:
6' 5.0"
Shoots:
R
TIER 6
D
USHL
31
Ryder Ritchie
RW
PRINCE ALBERT
DOB:
3-Aug-06
Ht:
5' 11.75"
Shoots:
R

TIER 6
RW
WHL
32
Marek Vanacker
LW
BRANTFORD
DOB:
12-Apr-06
Ht:
6' 0.5"
Shoots:
L

TIER 6
LW
OHL
33
Adam Jecho
C
EDMONTON
DOB:
24-Mar-06
Ht:
6' 4.75"
Shoots:
R

TIER 6
C
WHL
34
Matvei Shuravin

Pierre LeBrun
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Imagine someone had told Patrik Allvin at the NHL GM meetings 12 months ago that his Vancouver Canucks would be sitting first in the Western Conference the next time he stepped foot in these same meetings.

“Ah, I do think that we had hopes during the process that we would be going in the right direction, but I wouldn’t think we would be in first place, no, definitely not,” Allvin told The Athletic with a smile.

Twelve months ago, the Canucks were out of a playoff spot. Now, here they are. Sure, there have been some tougher moments in the second half of the season, especially in the month leading up to the trade deadline, but as of Monday morning, the Canucks are still first in the conference, albeit by just one point.
By any single measure, it’s been a fantastic turnaround year for a Canucks team that nobody picked to be at the very top.

“I think we’re still learning every day,” Allvin cautioned. “I do give the coaches and the players a lot of credit for working as a unit and having a partnership together. Everything starts with trust. That’s been the biggest thing.”

And when Allvin says he feels his team is still learning every day, he means playing these games right now in March and battling for first place is the kind of meaningful hockey a lot of his players haven’t experienced. Never mind what’s coming next in April.

“A lot of guys haven’t played in the playoffs,” said the Canucks GM.

The Canucks ended up being quiet during trade deadline week earlier this month, although that certainly doesn’t tell the whole story, as the front office made a splash on Jan. 31 with the Elias Lindholm acquisition from Calgary (more on that in a moment) and was among the busiest teams in the league from September on when most clubs don’t really touch their roster a whole lot:

• Sept. 19: Vancouver traded Tanner Pearson and a 2025 third-round pick to Montreal for Casey DeSmith

• Oct. 8: Vancouver traded a 2024 fifth-round pick to Toronto for Sam Lafferty

• Oct. 17: A minor-league deal with Pittsburgh, Jack Rathbone and Karel Plasek for Mark Friedman and Ty Glover

• Nov. 28: Vancouver traded Anthony Beauvillier to Chicago for a 2024 fifth-round pick

• Nov. 30: Vancouver traded a 2024 fifth-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick to Calgary for Nikita Zadorov

• Dec. 15: Vancouver traded Jack Studnicka to San Jose for Nick Cicek and a 2024 sixth-round pick

Then of course the big one for Lindholm, and when you consider the trade history of Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford, it’s no surprise it was a January deal. The Hockey Hall of Fame executive has always tried to get ahead of things trade-wise.
After that, as our Canucks columnist Thomas Drance pointed out and as other league sources also confirmed, Vancouver had gone after two specific rentals in Chris Tanev and Jake Guentzel but didn’t get them.

“We had prioritized a couple of players that we had interest in, and for different reasons we weren’t able to execute (those deals), but then there wasn’t a Plan B or a panic move,” Allvin said. “To your point, I think we addressed our needs even going back to the Casey DeSmith pickup in the summer. So I’ve learned from Jim, I’m always trying to stay ahead of things.

“I think having Jim around for those critical decisions, he’s very good for me,” added Allvin.

Obviously Allvin can’t name Guentzel, but it’s believed whatever the Penguins wanted was a price the Canucks didn’t feel comfortable paying given some of the future assets already spent this year and the balance of what the team needs to look like past this season, too.

“That’s where, for us, it was more where we are today and how would that impact next year and the following year?” Allvin said of some of the internal conversations before the deadline. “And obviously with the signing of Petey, that was important for us, too, so we have our core here moving forward.”

The contract extension for Elias Pettersson a few weeks ago was indeed something that mattered timing-wise to the Canucks front office. They would have liked to have had it done last summer, of course, but as everyone knows, Pettersson wanted to wait — and until 3-4 weeks ago, he still wanted to wait until after the season. But Allvin and Rutherford implored their star player to get something done before the deadline, which would help them develop a more concrete vision about the team’s core.

Through that process, rumors of trade discussions popped up, and the white noise and burden of it all became enough for Pettersson to green-light his agents to finally negotiate with the Canucks.

“This has been a process since I got here to get to know him and express how much it mattered having him in the core,” Allvin said. “Also the importance for his teammates to know where he’s going to be. It’s easy to say that you’re not going to be affected by all the rumors, but at some point you get affected. I think it started to creep up with the outside noises, and I think Petey also felt that where the team was going and the direction we’re going pleased him and got him excited.

“And also the relationship he has with Rick Tocchet meant a lot for him,” added Allvin.

So, looking back, was a Pettersson trade really an option had he not signed?

“I mean, again, my job is to try to be ahead of things, and yeah, teams are calling when there’s a player like that who potentially is walking into his last year as (an) RFA and we’ve seen other teams who have struggled signing players like that,” Allvin said without naming Matthew Tkachuk and his forced exit out of Calgary two years ago as an RFA one year away from UFA status.

“So, I don’t know … but we’re very happy to get him signed.”

Happy not to have ever had to open the other door in that equation, that’s for sure.

Looking ahead, the Canucks have a slew of pending UFAs on the roster, namely Lindholm, Zadorov, DeSmith, Dakota Joshua, Lafferty, Teddy Blueger, Tyler Myers and Ian Cole.

Let’s start with Lindholm.

“Initially when we made the deal, I talked to his camp and said our intention was to sign him,” Allvin said. “But obviously it’s got to work for both sides. We’ll see. I think it’s been a little bit of an adjustment time for him. And in fairness, the whole team hasn’t played great, we knew we were going to have a tough February schedule workload-wise, it was heavy and we got out of it with a .500 record which is the reason we’re still sitting at the top I think.

“But as I said earlier, we’ve got guys who haven’t played in important games in March.”

All part of the learning process, Allvin stressed again.

It’s been a tough go for Lindholm by any definition, with just seven points in 19 games with Vancouver.

“Part of it is that we play a different style and hopefully he can find his game more offensively,” Allvin said. “I think he’s been good defensively and solid, but I think he would agree he would like to contribute more.”

In terms of the other pending UFAs on the roster, Allvin says there are two ways to look at it: The club has potential cap space, but also players in the system ready to step in.

“Again, based on the conversations that I have had with the players’ agents and the players, it’s an environment that the players like. So we’ll have to figure out if it works for both sides.”

But at this point on the calendar, those are probably after-the-season conversations.

“At this point, we probably wait, yeah,” Allvin said. “Unless they come in and they’re begging to sign a really team-friendly deal.”

As for the latest on injured star goalie Thatcher Demko, Allvin says he’s still week to week and that it’s hard to set a specific time frame. Does Demko’s injury lead the Canucks to wonder about workload and having a second goalie who can play enough games to ensure their No. 1 has a manageable schedule? Allvin feels the coaching staff was managing that pretty well with Demko throughout the season but pointed again to a tough team schedule in February.

“It was a tough workload and a tough stretch for us in February after the break,” said Allvin. “I think this is something (a goalie plan) that we continue to manage. Will Casey come back (next season)? He’s been playing excellent for us. He’s been a great teammate. And we also have (Arturs) Silovs, who is capable as well.

“We’ll see here how things go down the stretch.”

But as far as Demko getting solid support in a tandem, Allvin feels DeSmith proved in Pittsburgh he can be that guy.

“I also think when you have a goalie like Demko, you know, I think in his mind he wants to play every game,” Allvin said.

That’s how those stud goalies are wired, to be sure.

In the meantime, what’s the plan for 2022 first-rounder Jonathan Lekkerimaki?

“Well, I think he’s got his final game (in the Swedish League) coming up, but I do think he’s in the discussion for the world championship team,” Allvin said.

So it sounds like Lekkerimaki might stay back and get ready to play for Sweden in the men’s worlds instead of joining AHL Abbotsford, although no final decision there yet. The Canucks are weighing the benefits of Lekkerimaki coming over to play some AHL games or staying home to train and recover ahead of the worlds.

“That’s something we’ll talk about,” Allvin said. “Initially our plan was to bring him over to Abbotsford. But then the Swedish (national team) coach reached out.”

A GM’s duties never end. Allvin recently signed a contract extension (his current deal was expiring after this season) and was surprised at how quickly time had flown by since being named Canucks GM in January 2022.

“I can tell you it was crazy that it’s already been two years,” smiled Allvin. “When Jim called to talk about it, I said, ‘Geez, we’re there already?’ It went quick!

“I’ve been fortunate to be one of those guys that was around good people. I would say a lot of the experienced GMs would tell me that it’s definitely different sitting in the big chair, and I was fortunate enough to experience it for a couple of weeks in Pittsburgh (as interim GM) when Jim stepped down.

“So, yeah, it’s different (sitting in the big chair).”

What has he learned most since becoming a GM?

“Good question,” Allvin said. “I think delegating and trusting your staff, so you can hold them accountable. I don’t believe in micro-managing. I believe in empowering. I think that’s the culture I came from growing up in Pittsburgh and seeing so many executives move on to different teams. The reason why is that Ray Shero and Jim Rutherford were excellent in that regard, trusting their staff and holding us accountable.

“I think that’s something I continue to do now.”

Allvin then paused before mentioning another important thing he’s learned: Building a strong relationship with the coach, which he feels he absolutely has with Tocchet.

“What I really like is his ability to communicate with people,” Allvin said of Tocchet. “The hours he puts in there, to having individual meetings with players, I think that’s paying off.

“And part of it was I felt we needed that accountability and credibility with guys who have done it, like Tocchet, Footer (Adam Foote) and (Sergei) Gonchar, they all won Cups.”

And, the Canucks GM added, the coaching staff’s influence in teaching the team’s young, core players is paramount.

“That’s the biggest thing for us to continue to raise the bar,” said Allvin.

Awesome stuff, thanks for posting Mak!!

Pierre LeBrun
PALM BEACH, Fla. — Imagine someone had told Patrik Allvin at the NHL GM meetings 12 months ago that his Vancouver Canucks would be sitting first in the Western Conference the next time he stepped foot in these same meetings.

“Ah, I do think that we had hopes during the process that we would be going in the right direction, but I wouldn’t think we would be in first place, no, definitely not,” Allvin told The Athletic with a smile.

Twelve months ago, the Canucks were out of a playoff spot. Now, here they are. Sure, there have been some tougher moments in the second half of the season, especially in the month leading up to the trade deadline, but as of Monday morning, the Canucks are still first in the conference, albeit by just one point.
By any single measure, it’s been a fantastic turnaround year for a Canucks team that nobody picked to be at the very top.

“I think we’re still learning every day,” Allvin cautioned. “I do give the coaches and the players a lot of credit for working as a unit and having a partnership together. Everything starts with trust. That’s been the biggest thing.”

And when Allvin says he feels his team is still learning every day, he means playing these games right now in March and battling for first place is the kind of meaningful hockey a lot of his players haven’t experienced. Never mind what’s coming next in April.

“A lot of guys haven’t played in the playoffs,” said the Canucks GM.

The Canucks ended up being quiet during trade deadline week earlier this month, although that certainly doesn’t tell the whole story, as the front office made a splash on Jan. 31 with the Elias Lindholm acquisition from Calgary (more on that in a moment) and was among the busiest teams in the league from September on when most clubs don’t really touch their roster a whole lot:

• Sept. 19: Vancouver traded Tanner Pearson and a 2025 third-round pick to Montreal for Casey DeSmith

• Oct. 8: Vancouver traded a 2024 fifth-round pick to Toronto for Sam Lafferty

• Oct. 17: A minor-league deal with Pittsburgh, Jack Rathbone and Karel Plasek for Mark Friedman and Ty Glover

• Nov. 28: Vancouver traded Anthony Beauvillier to Chicago for a 2024 fifth-round pick

• Nov. 30: Vancouver traded a 2024 fifth-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick to Calgary for Nikita Zadorov

• Dec. 15: Vancouver traded Jack Studnicka to San Jose for Nick Cicek and a 2024 sixth-round pick

Then of course the big one for Lindholm, and when you consider the trade history of Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford, it’s no surprise it was a January deal. The Hockey Hall of Fame executive has always tried to get ahead of things trade-wise.
After that, as our Canucks columnist Thomas Drance pointed out and as other league sources also confirmed, Vancouver had gone after two specific rentals in Chris Tanev and Jake Guentzel but didn’t get them.

“We had prioritized a couple of players that we had interest in, and for different reasons we weren’t able to execute (those deals), but then there wasn’t a Plan B or a panic move,” Allvin said. “To your point, I think we addressed our needs even going back to the Casey DeSmith pickup in the summer. So I’ve learned from Jim, I’m always trying to stay ahead of things.

“I think having Jim around for those critical decisions, he’s very good for me,” added Allvin.

Obviously Allvin can’t name Guentzel, but it’s believed whatever the Penguins wanted was a price the Canucks didn’t feel comfortable paying given some of the future assets already spent this year and the balance of what the team needs to look like past this season, too.

“That’s where, for us, it was more where we are today and how would that impact next year and the following year?” Allvin said of some of the internal conversations before the deadline. “And obviously with the signing of Petey, that was important for us, too, so we have our core here moving forward.”

The contract extension for Elias Pettersson a few weeks ago was indeed something that mattered timing-wise to the Canucks front office. They would have liked to have had it done last summer, of course, but as everyone knows, Pettersson wanted to wait — and until 3-4 weeks ago, he still wanted to wait until after the season. But Allvin and Rutherford implored their star player to get something done before the deadline, which would help them develop a more concrete vision about the team’s core.

Through that process, rumors of trade discussions popped up, and the white noise and burden of it all became enough for Pettersson to green-light his agents to finally negotiate with the Canucks.

“This has been a process since I got here to get to know him and express how much it mattered having him in the core,” Allvin said. “Also the importance for his teammates to know where he’s going to be. It’s easy to say that you’re not going to be affected by all the rumors, but at some point you get affected. I think it started to creep up with the outside noises, and I think Petey also felt that where the team was going and the direction we’re going pleased him and got him excited.

“And also the relationship he has with Rick Tocchet meant a lot for him,” added Allvin.

So, looking back, was a Pettersson trade really an option had he not signed?

“I mean, again, my job is to try to be ahead of things, and yeah, teams are calling when there’s a player like that who potentially is walking into his last year as (an) RFA and we’ve seen other teams who have struggled signing players like that,” Allvin said without naming Matthew Tkachuk and his forced exit out of Calgary two years ago as an RFA one year away from UFA status.

“So, I don’t know … but we’re very happy to get him signed.”

Happy not to have ever had to open the other door in that equation, that’s for sure.

Looking ahead, the Canucks have a slew of pending UFAs on the roster, namely Lindholm, Zadorov, DeSmith, Dakota Joshua, Lafferty, Teddy Blueger, Tyler Myers and Ian Cole.

Let’s start with Lindholm.

“Initially when we made the deal, I talked to his camp and said our intention was to sign him,” Allvin said. “But obviously it’s got to work for both sides. We’ll see. I think it’s been a little bit of an adjustment time for him. And in fairness, the whole team hasn’t played great, we knew we were going to have a tough February schedule workload-wise, it was heavy and we got out of it with a .500 record which is the reason we’re still sitting at the top I think.

“But as I said earlier, we’ve got guys who haven’t played in important games in March.”

All part of the learning process, Allvin stressed again.

It’s been a tough go for Lindholm by any definition, with just seven points in 19 games with Vancouver.

“Part of it is that we play a different style and hopefully he can find his game more offensively,” Allvin said. “I think he’s been good defensively and solid, but I think he would agree he would like to contribute more.”

In terms of the other pending UFAs on the roster, Allvin says there are two ways to look at it: The club has potential cap space, but also players in the system ready to step in.

“Again, based on the conversations that I have had with the players’ agents and the players, it’s an environment that the players like. So we’ll have to figure out if it works for both sides.”

But at this point on the calendar, those are probably after-the-season conversations.

“At this point, we probably wait, yeah,” Allvin said. “Unless they come in and they’re begging to sign a really team-friendly deal.”

As for the latest on injured star goalie Thatcher Demko, Allvin says he’s still week to week and that it’s hard to set a specific time frame. Does Demko’s injury lead the Canucks to wonder about workload and having a second goalie who can play enough games to ensure their No. 1 has a manageable schedule? Allvin feels the coaching staff was managing that pretty well with Demko throughout the season but pointed again to a tough team schedule in February.

“It was a tough workload and a tough stretch for us in February after the break,” said Allvin. “I think this is something (a goalie plan) that we continue to manage. Will Casey come back (next season)? He’s been playing excellent for us. He’s been a great teammate. And we also have (Arturs) Silovs, who is capable as well.

“We’ll see here how things go down the stretch.”

But as far as Demko getting solid support in a tandem, Allvin feels DeSmith proved in Pittsburgh he can be that guy.

“I also think when you have a goalie like Demko, you know, I think in his mind he wants to play every game,” Allvin said.

That’s how those stud goalies are wired, to be sure.

In the meantime, what’s the plan for 2022 first-rounder Jonathan Lekkerimaki?

“Well, I think he’s got his final game (in the Swedish League) coming up, but I do think he’s in the discussion for the world championship team,” Allvin said.

So it sounds like Lekkerimaki might stay back and get ready to play for Sweden in the men’s worlds instead of joining AHL Abbotsford, although no final decision there yet. The Canucks are weighing the benefits of Lekkerimaki coming over to play some AHL games or staying home to train and recover ahead of the worlds.

“That’s something we’ll talk about,” Allvin said. “Initially our plan was to bring him over to Abbotsford. But then the Swedish (national team) coach reached out.”

A GM’s duties never end. Allvin recently signed a contract extension (his current deal was expiring after this season) and was surprised at how quickly time had flown by since being named Canucks GM in January 2022.

“I can tell you it was crazy that it’s already been two years,” smiled Allvin. “When Jim called to talk about it, I said, ‘Geez, we’re there already?’ It went quick!

“I’ve been fortunate to be one of those guys that was around good people. I would say a lot of the experienced GMs would tell me that it’s definitely different sitting in the big chair, and I was fortunate enough to experience it for a couple of weeks in Pittsburgh (as interim GM) when Jim stepped down.

“So, yeah, it’s different (sitting in the big chair).”

What has he learned most since becoming a GM?

“Good question,” Allvin said. “I think delegating and trusting your staff, so you can hold them accountable. I don’t believe in micro-managing. I believe in empowering. I think that’s the culture I came from growing up in Pittsburgh and seeing so many executives move on to different teams. The reason why is that Ray Shero and Jim Rutherford were excellent in that regard, trusting their staff and holding us accountable.

“I think that’s something I continue to do now.”

Allvin then paused before mentioning another important thing he’s learned: Building a strong relationship with the coach, which he feels he absolutely has with Tocchet.

“What I really like is his ability to communicate with people,” Allvin said of Tocchet. “The hours he puts in there, to having individual meetings with players, I think that’s paying off.

“And part of it was I felt we needed that accountability and credibility with guys who have done it, like Tocchet, Footer (Adam Foote) and (Sergei) Gonchar, they all won Cups.”

And, the Canucks GM added, the coaching staff’s influence in teaching the team’s young, core players is paramount.

“That’s the biggest thing for us to continue to raise the bar,” said Allvin.
- Makita

Good article, thanks for posting it.

Why the Vancouver Canucks’ new first line is dominating right now.

By Thomas Drance 3h ago

What a difference a spirited win can make.

The Vancouver Canucks appeared listless heading into this road trip but put in one of their most impressive and complete performances of the season in remarkably difficult circumstances Saturday night in Ottawa. Suddenly this East Coast swing feels more like a real opportunity than a gauntlet they will have to weather while desperately short-handed.

As the Canucks prepare for a set of back-to-back road games in Boston and Pittsburgh this week, let’s open the notebook and discuss some key storylines that emerged from the nation’s capital in the wider context of what it all means for the balance of this season.

How Canucks overcame harsh Quinn Hughes ejection to flatten Senators: 3 takeaways

The rise of the new top line.

It would be inaccurate to suggest the Canucks stumbled into their new top line of Jake DeBrusk, Kiefer Sherwood and Elias Pettersson.

The day after they inked DeBrusk and Sherwood in unrestricted free agency, after all, we reported they envisioned the possibility of both players flanking Pettersson. That wasn’t exactly a big scoop in DeBrusk’s case — the Canucks felt a sense of obligation to bring in a credible top-six-calibre player to complement Pettersson given the quality of linemates he centred last season — but they were somewhat more reluctant to publicly set those sorts of high expectations for Sherwood at the time.

No one in the Vancouver market is questioning the notion that Sherwood can play in the top six, or on the top line, today. And even if the bounces have been significantly in his favour (including an on-ice shooting percentage north of 13 percent, which is unlikely to be sustained), the fact Sherwood leads all Canucks skaters in five-on-five points through the first six weeks of the campaign is incredible.

However they drew it up on paper, what the Canucks have rolling on the ice at the top of their forward ranks at the moment is pretty exciting. The DeBrusk-Pettersson-Sherwood trio has been fun to watch and has completely dominated play.

The numbers, frankly, are crooked and ridiculous. In just over 44 five-on-five minutes playing together as a line, DeBrusk, Pettersson and Sherwood have controlled 57 shot attempts while surrendering just 28 against (a 67.2 percent shot attempt percentage). The sample is small, but since they’ve been put together, the new-look Pettersson line is helping Vancouver control play at a super-elite rate.

Controlling play is well and good, of course, but it’s insufficient on its own — especially for a top line. There has to be a bottom line, especially for a team that’s as short-handed as the Canucks have been.

Vancouver’s new top line has been up to that task well, converting their territorial dominance into goals for (while limiting goals against) with incredible efficacy. So far Vancouver is winning the new-look Pettersson line’s minutes 6-1 on the scoreboard at five-on-five.

A 6-1 goal differential isn’t likely to remain that favourably slanted as the sample expands, but there’s no reason the way Vancouver’s new first line is playing, attacking off the rush and stacking up heavy shifts whenever they’re on the ice at even strength, can’t be sustained. With Pettersson’s two-way game and offensive creativity seemingly clicking into gear of late, DeBrusk’s shot rate rebounding after a slow start to the season and Sherwood mixing it up and using his speed to complement the attack and digging pucks out of wall battles consistently, the line is looking very legitimate.

They’re not just playing good hockey, they’re playing dominant hockey.

In fact, they’re playing at such a high level that, provided that they can maintain this level as a trio, the Canucks should strongly consider letting them cook for a spell and continue to deploy them at the top of the lineup — with a healthy dose of minutes with the Quinn Hughes–Filip Hronek pair — even as some of their star-level forwards return from their various absences over the next handful of days and weeks.

Brännström and an important development on the back end.

Erik Brännström has been something of a revelation since the Canucks acquired him before the season as a cap throw-in to complete the Tucker Poolman trade, but as well as he’s performed, his role and minutes have only increased modestly over the past month and change.

Despite the second pair’s pronounced struggles, Vancouver’s blue-line usage has been pretty static throughout this season. The signature top pair of Hughes and Hronek has started every game this season and tends to log roughly a 40 percent share of the blue-line ice time. Vancouver’s second pair of Carson Soucy and Tyler Myers has likewise been fixed all year, until this past Saturday, and has tended to hold down about a 30-35 percent share of the five-on-five ice time. That’s left a remainder in the 25 percent range for the third pair, most frequently composed of Brännström and Vincent Desharnais.

We can look at this share of ice time over a 10-game rolling average and see just how few significant changes the Canucks have implemented on the blue line so far this season. It’s also worth noting most of the apparent peaks and values in blue-line deployment are shaped by various players leaving games early — Myers because of an early-season injury scare, Hughes because of a game misconduct for a hit from behind on Senators forward Josh Norris — as opposed to being shaped by coaching decisions.

When you graph it out, it’s abundantly clear that Brännström has had a lot of difficulty breaking into a larger role on Vancouver’s blue line. As well as he’s played and as much as Vancouver’s second pair has struggled, Canucks coaches have been hesitant to upset the apple cart or tweak their defence pecking order from a usage perspective.

On Saturday night in Ottawa, however, we finally saw some movement. Brännström opened the game on a pair with Myers and skated on Myers’ left side through his first three shifts before the Hughes misconduct. Soucy, meanwhile, opened the game on the third pair with Noah Juulsen and played a small handful of shifts with Juulsen before Hughes’ absence caused the club to pivot to Plan B.

Without Hughes, Vancouver’s game plan went out the window. We didn’t get to see what Canucks coaches originally envisioned as a new evolution of the blue-line usage schemes.

What we did see, however, is still notable. Hronek led all Canucks defenders in total ice time, but the game was so loaded with special teams play and Hronek was so heavily involved in that phase of the game that Brännström ended up logging top-pair minutes (second on the time at even strength behind only Soucy). And in those minutes, the Canucks didn’t surrender a goal against and outshot the Senators by a wide margin, even though Brännström’s second most common opponent among Senators forwards was Tim Stützle.

As well as Brännström has performed, his performance comes with the caveat that his usage has been carefully prescribed in the matchup game. He’s faced top- and second-line competition at a well-below-average rate at even strength this season with his minutes concentrated toward the soft underbelly of opponent’s rosters. Brännström and Desharnais have been effective in this sheltered role, but it’s always fair to wonder how a third-pair defender, even one picking their teeth with softer competition, might fare as their role is scaled up and they spend more head-to-head ice time against top-of-the-lineup competition featuring the best attacking talent in the league.

One game isn’t sufficient for Brännström to have answered those questions definitively. But while holding down a larger role in Ottawa on Saturday night, partly by design and partly by necessity, it worked. Brännström retained his effectiveness against tougher competition while locking down a larger share of Vancouver’s blue-line minutes.

It was a very good start, one that should give the Canucks confidence to keep pushing to challenge Brännström with more ice time and more responsibility.

Rush offence and playing the ‘right way’.

We touched on this a bit in Saturday’s takeaways but wanted to elaborate further.

As the Canucks’ flat, disappointing homestand got away from them last week, you could see and feel the mounting frustration. In Rick Tocchet’s commentary, for example, his frustration was palpable, and it went well beyond the results.

Until getting back on track somewhat with strong efforts against the New York Rangers last Tuesday and Senators on Saturday, the Canucks weren’t playing the “right way” consistently enough based on their internal standards.

The NHL is a results-based business first and foremost, but this isn’t a results-based assessment.

Despite Tocchet’s supportive public commentary after the Canucks’ narrow, unconvincing win over the Chicago Blackhawks last Saturday, for example, it was clearly a lackadaisical performance on the heels of the New York Islanders debacle a few days prior. It was a performance that added to a sense of internal dissatisfaction about the team’s inconsistent focus and form.

In contrast, the Canucks rightly felt their fully engaged performance against the Rangers demonstrated the sort of structural adherence and effort level required to win, even though Vancouver dropped that contest in regulation.

That effort against the Rangers was maintained against the Senators in really tough circumstances, and that’s something the Canucks will try to tap into as they look to hold the fort on the road this week. This team spent much of this season short of its full arsenal of weapons, a situation that will persist — even with some key players nearing a return to game action — for at least the duration of this trip.

During that time, the Canucks need to play well enough and collect a sufficient number of points to remain squarely in the chase pack in the Pacific Division.

The way the Canucks view it, if they can just stay in the mix with the best teams in the division over the next few weeks, they’ll have the ability to catch up and surpass their rivals when their star players return to the lineup. It’s a long season, there’s a lot of road to run and the Canucks are confident in the overall quality of this roster when it’s fully operational.

In the meantime, they need to keep picking up points on this road swing. And that’s only going to happen, in the team’s own estimation, if the Canucks can find their game and get back to playing the “right way,” as they did in Ottawa on Saturday night.

How Kevin Lankinen, Canucks locked down Bruins in shutout win: 3 takeaways

By Thomas Drance Nov 26, 2024

Now that’s what holding the fort looks like.

In a gritty 2-0 victory over the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden on Tuesday night, the Vancouver Canucks generated very little offensively, but got the goal they needed — from an ex-Bruin no less — and an empty-netter on top of it to secure a 2-0-0 start to their East Coast swing. It wasn’t a pretty or appealing effort, but when you’re as short-handed as Vancouver is at the moment, style points don’t matter.

What matters is the Canucks held off a Bruins team that controlled play by a wide margin, but was largely held to the perimeter and generated few especially dangerous scoring chances aside from a Justin Brazeau miss from in tight in the first period, a David Pastrnak breakaway opportunity and ensuing scramble early in the second frame, and an Elias Lindholm chance at six-on-five that almost surely would’ve been called off for goaltender interference if it had found its way past Kevin Lankinen to Vancouver’s net. While Vancouver’s possession and offensive game lacked venom Tuesday night, its defensive effort was robust. Stellar. Suffocating.

It’s that solidity that has allowed Vancouver to get this crucial road trip off to a winning start. With their backs up against the wall coming off a dismal six-game homestand and absent some key contributors in the lineup, Rick Tocchet’s Canucks have found a way to grind out wins by finding their lockdown DNA again.

Lankinen was sharp when he needed to be and turned away a flurry of deeply hopeful Bruins shots from the perimeter to secure his 10th win and second shutout of the season, but make no mistake — this wasn’t one of those games where the goaltender had to steal one or in which the puck bounced Vancouver’s way. This was a vacant offensive performance, sure, but also a nearly immaculate defensive effort against a Bruins side struggling mightily to manufacture chances to get themselves back into the game.

Here are three takeaways from Vancouver’s crucial win in Boston:

DeBrusk’s triumphant Boston return

There was a “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” feel to Vancouver’s tilt with the Bruins on Tuesday night.

In one corner, Vancouver rode into Boston with a couple of evil ex-Bruins in DeBrusk and Danton Heinen in tow. The Bruins, meanwhile, answered with two ex-Canucks in Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov, both of whom played massive parts in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring.

And at the end of the night, it was DeBrusk who left town with the game-winning goal on his ledger and new linemates Elias Pettersson and Kiefer Sherwood spontaneously mobbing him on the bench as Conor Garland iced the contest with a late empty net goal.

DeBrusk, apparently, is saving his goals for the road. The Canucks forward has now scored in five consecutive road contests, and somehow all six of his goals on the season have come during that streak. His goal Tuesday night was the result of a fortunate bounce, as the puck effectively bounced into the blue paint on the rebound and right onto his stick, but to DeBrusk’s credit, he won his positional battle cleanly and showed a goal scorer’s calm in directing the puck past Jeremy Swayman on the backhand.

The new-look defence pairs

We may never actually get a proper look at Erik Brännström in a top-four role.

For a second consecutive game, Brännström opened the contest on an ostensible second pair with Tyler Myers. And for a second consecutive game, the game script was so strange that Vancouver didn’t end up deploying its defenders in a predictable or repeatable fashion.

On Saturday night in Ottawa, Vancouver’s plans on the blue line were quickly scrapped when Quinn Hughes was assessed a game misconduct. On Tuesday night in Boston, the game was so low-event, so tight-checking, and Vancouver was so intent on nursing a narrow lead that Brännström ended up playing just over 12 minutes at five-on-five — the lowest minutes of any Canucks defender.

With Vancouver prioritizing its defensive solidity, Noah Juulsen played top-four minutes and interestingly logged more minutes than Carson Soucy, even with Soucy getting a couple of even-strength shifts on a pair with Hughes.

We still haven’t really seen what Vancouver’s plans on the blue line look like in a neutral game script, but the deployment Tuesday suggests the new look may be more about getting Soucy into a groove — or protecting his minutes more scrupulously — than it is about doling out additional opportunity to Brännström.

That most Hughes stat of the season

The ice was tilted toward the Vancouver goal mouth in Boston.

Vancouver might have played a solid defensive game, blocking a ton of shots and successfully denying the Bruins entry to the hard areas of the ice, but Boston dominated the run of play. The game was played in Vancouver’s end of the rink, as the Canucks appeared to pass on even trying to generate offensive zone pressure, content to defend their narrow lead.

By the end of the night, the Bruins had registered 25 shots on 57 shot attempts at five-on-five to just 12 shots on goal for Vancouver on a measly 23 shot attempts. Those figures are as slanted as anything you’re likely to see in a Canucks game all season.

And yet somehow, despite that game environment, with its Norris Trophy-winning defender on the ice, Vancouver wasn’t outshot at even strength. In Hughes’ minutes, in a game in which the Bruins recorded two shots for every one Vancouver mustered, the shot counter read nine shots for Vancouver and nine shots for Boston.

You won’t find any stat that more neatly sums up Hughes’ impact, and his two-way mastery, than that.

Was considering reading this thread but it's got more material crammed in 5 pages than War and Peace.

Thomas Drance

What kind of fool posts his crap, oh wait, super smart hockey knowledgeable Lefty does

Jacob Trouba reacts to trade after waivers ‘threat’ from Rangers: ‘I chose my family’

By Eric Stephens Dec 6, 2024

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jacob Trouba is moving on to the Anaheim Ducks following five-plus seasons in New York, but the former Rangers captain wasn’t thrilled with how things ended.

Trouba was traded to the Ducks on Friday for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and a conditional 2025 fourth-round draft pick. Trouba said he expects to join the Ducks — which include former Rangers teammates Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano — when they begin a road trip on Monday in Montreal.

Trade speculation swirled around Trouba this summer, and the defenseman invoked his no-trade clause to stay in New York, where his wife, Kelly, is finishing her hospital residency. Rangers general manager Chris Drury ramped up his desire to move Trouba this week, and it was reported on Friday morning that he would waive Trouba if he could not work out a deal.

Trouba confirmed that the Rangers raised the possibility of putting him on waivers if he didn’t agree to a trade and called it “a threat.”

“(Thursday) morning was, ‘Accept this trade or we’re scratching you,'” Trouba said in a video conference call with reporters on Friday. “I said, ‘OK.’ Then it was, ‘Accept this trade or you’re going on waivers,’ and I said, ‘OK.’ And then it got to a point where I felt comfortable with Anaheim and that was a place I wanted to go. I guess you could say I’m thankful that they made that happen.

“Unfortunate, I think, how it all happened. It’s a rite of passage to get fired at MSG.”

Trouba said he felt he was “put in a position this summer to make a decision between my career and my family.”

“And I think I chose my family,” Trouba said. “I would choose my family 100 times over again. I don’t feel bad about that. I was happy about it. I don’t like that it was made public necessarily or how everything unfolded so publicly, but I guess that’s part of New York and what happens.

“(It) may have made it difficult to play kind of with that hanging over everything. Today was — the result is the result, and I guess I’m happy with moving forward. But I’m not overly thrilled with how it went down. I don’t know — (in) my opinion things could have been handled better. I’m not blaming anybody or anything. Just kind of how it happened I felt was kind of unfortunate I think to (end) a lot of good times in New York.”

The Rangers named Trouba as their captain prior to the 2022-23 season. Trouba said trade rumors presented additional challenges in handling that role.

“I was pretty open with players on the team, with the leadership group,” he said. “Leading was a little bit harder for me in that situation, knowing things that were public and, if they weren’t public and other guys didn’t know, I think it would have been a little bit of an easier situation for me. But things unfolded how they did.

“It was tough at times, for sure. Excited that we’re moving past it and kind of got a new start in a way and kind of put all that behind me and worry about playing hockey again.”

Trouba’s contract, with an $8 million AAV, expires after the 2025-26 season. The Ducks aren’t in the same position as the Rangers, a win-now, would-be Stanley Cup contender that is trying to turn around its recent struggles. But Trouba sees possibility, equating the Ducks to where the Rangers were when he joined them in 2019-20.

“I think they have a great opportunity the next couple years,” he said. “It’s kind of a similar situation when I came to New York with really good young players that are ready to take the next step, and if there’s something I can do to come in and help contribute to that, I think that’s my goal.”

Trouba, 30, said he and his wife discussed Anaheim as a potential destination but emphasized that her career opportunities weren’t the decisive factor in approving a trade to the Ducks. UCI Health in the nearby city of Orange has a neuroscience program that could be a fit for Dr. Kelly Tyson-Trouba’s specialized study of brain injuries. Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli have their name on the UC Irvine’s School of Engineering.

“There’s places that she can obviously work that are better than others,” he said. “I think Anaheim is a great opportunity for her as well, if we’re there longer term. It’s something that worked for both of us, so I think that was definitely part of it. Going that deep into it, not really. But, yes, it is a good opportunity for her as well.”

Reflecting on his time in New York, Trouba said: “The day I was named captain is something I’ll always remember. Two conference finals. Presidents’ Trophy. I think even more so, I felt like I had no clue what New York City was when I got here and I feel like I’ve learned and grown so much as a person. Found a love for art. Found a lot of different people that I’ve met that I’ll be lifelong friends with. It’ll always be a piece of my heart definitely in New York. Some place I’ll definitely come back to a lot.

“I’m very grateful for all those memories and (now) kind of turn the page and start something new.”

How Teddy Blueger and Canucks staged dramatic comeback win over Blue Jackets: 3 takeaways.

By Thomas Drance 7h ago

VANCOUVER — The young, upstart Columbus Blue Jackets wore down just as the wily Vancouver Canucks found their legs and spirit.

It was a correlation of forces that made for an occasionally baffling, but ultimately exciting, tilt Friday night at Rogers Arena. Outplayed by a wide margin for 30 minutes, and on balance throughout the evening, the Canucks found a way to overcome a two-goal deficit and defeated the Blue Jackets 5-2.

Did it take opportunistic finishing, stellar performances from Vancouver’s stars, another sturdy showing from Kevin Lankinen — with Thatcher Demko backing him up in his return to active duty — and one of the most baffling puckhandling decisions of the season from the Blue Jackets starter for Vancouver to earn its scheduled win over Columbus? It did.

Does any of that matter at all given the club will happily take whatever points it can bank in the continued absence of J.T. Miller, Filip Hronek and Demko? Perhaps in time, but there’s plenty of time to worry about that.

Friday night the Canucks picked up 2 points, winning for the fifth time in their past seven games. This is a team that’s finding ways to get it done at the moment. Whether it’s pretty or sustainable is sort of beside the point. It’s working.

Here are three takeaways from Vancouver’s impressive comeback victory over Columbus on Friday night.

The speed problem

This Blue Jackets aren’t the punchline Columbus sides of yore, the stand-in opponent most often used as a reference point for describing an unexciting, low-stakes tilt in November or February.

Columbus is young and exciting. It plays dynamic, high-octane attacking hockey. Kent Johnson has pace and creativity for days. Ditto Kirill Marchenko. Dmitri Voronkov is massive and has real scoring touch. Zach Werenski is authoring a dark horse bid for the Norris Trophy. Sean Monahan has looked reinvigorated and is performing at the level of a genuine top-line player.

The Blue Jackets, this season, are a lot of fun and attack with a lot of speed.

In the first period, despite playing in the second leg of back-to-back games and finishing off a slate of three games in four nights, the Blue Jackets had legs and skated circles around the Canucks. If the Blue Jackets had taken their chances with more conviction — a Johnson miss on a wide-open net on the third shift of the game, a tremendous rush opportunity Jordan Harris put well wide — Columbus might’ve put Vancouver to bed early.

Instead, the Blue Jackets were only able to put up a crooked number on the shot clock, finishing the first period with a 17-2 edge in shots on goal. The Blue Jackets were buzzing, as if a hockey personification of their incredibly random mascot Stinger, but couldn’t make their massive edge in scoring chances count on the scoreboard.

By the start of the second period, the Canucks found their fight and their legs. With a dash of cynicism, a few game-breaking plays and a far-more-mature ability to avoid game-breaking mistakes, Vancouver started to pounce on opportunities and manage the game at a superior level than this young Columbus team is capable of, especially with tired legs.

Though the Canucks deserved a fair bit of credit for the hardscrabble overachievers they’ve become under Rick Tocchet, the fact remains there is a variety of team with a hyperspeed gear and an ability to attack in waves off of the rush — teams like the Edmonton Oilers, the Carolina Hurricanes, the New Jersey Devils and, yes, to a lesser extent, this Blue Jackets side — that seems to reliably cause this version of the Canucks trouble.

We’ve seen it all season, and though the Canucks were able to bounce back from their slow start Friday night, we saw it again against the Blue Jackets.

Teddy Blueger’s killer read

In the defining moment of the game, Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins made a baffling decision.

With the puck rolling slowly toward the Blue Jackets end and Canucks forwards Teddy Blueger and Kiefer Sherwood in hot pursuit, but trailing in the race decisively behind Zach Werenski, Merzlikins decided to leave his crease and attempt to play the puck.

Given Werenski’s positioning, it was a bad read by the Blue Jackets netminder. He was going to win the race to the puck, and in any event, is the sort of defender capable of making a skilled play under pressure. In fairness to the Latvian-born goaltender, on the other hand, Werenski deferred to Merzlikins at a key moment.

When Merzlikins finally played the puck, he went to shoot it off the glass. This is where the Canucks’ veteran savvy, their institutional know-how, made the difference.

Most forwards in Blueger’s position would rush the puck, but Blueger read it perfectly. He knew Merzlikins was going to win the race and was feeling the pressure anyway. He wagered he’d try to put the puck off of the glass, and that bet paid off. Then Blueger made a calm play to set up Sherwood, and suddenly the score was level.

It looked like a gift, and it was to some extent, but it was also a massive score-tying goal engineered explicitly by Blueger’s quick thinking and sky-high hockey IQ.

The top of the lineup edge

In a lot of ways, Vancouver’s victory Friday night constituted something of a smash-and-grab.

As much as the Canucks came on strong as the game went on and the Blue Jackets faded and Vancouver’s winning know-how made the difference, all of which is true to some extent, the Blue Jackets performed like the better team Friday night and were unfortunate not to come away with the road win.

In particular, Vancouver’s depth minutes looked problematic. By roughly the 10-minute mark of the third period, with the Canucks leading by two goals and score effects about to kick into overdrive, Vancouver’s only real bright spot in terms of its five-on-five performance was that it won the minutes at the absolute apex of the lineup.

The Quinn Hughes pair and the Elias Pettersson line were self-matched by Vancouver’s coaches Friday, and in 6 1/2 even-strength minutes they spent together at five-on-five through the first 50 minutes of the game, Vancouver outshot Columbus five-to-one and outscored it one-to-nothing. In all other five-on-five minutes, however, Columbus outshot Vancouver 23 to six.

Ultimately the defensive acumen of key Canucks players like Pius Suter, Carson Soucy and Blueger helped the club save goals and outpunch the game environment on the scoreboard. If the Canucks play too many games that look like this one, however, this recent run of sterling results is unlikely to last.

How Teddy Blueger and Canucks staged dramatic comeback win over Blue Jackets: 3 takeaways.

By Thomas Drance 7h ago

VANCOUVER — The young, upstart Columbus Blue Jackets wore down just as the wily Vancouver Canucks found their legs and spirit.

It was a correlation of forces that made for an occasionally baffling, but ultimately exciting, tilt Friday night at Rogers Arena. Outplayed by a wide margin for 30 minutes, and on balance throughout the evening, the Canucks found a way to overcome a two-goal deficit and defeated the Blue Jackets 5-2.

Did it take opportunistic finishing, stellar performances from Vancouver’s stars, another sturdy showing from Kevin Lankinen — with Thatcher Demko backing him up in his return to active duty — and one of the most baffling puckhandling decisions of the season from the Blue Jackets starter for Vancouver to earn its scheduled win over Columbus? It did.

Does any of that matter at all given the club will happily take whatever points it can bank in the continued absence of J.T. Miller, Filip Hronek and Demko? Perhaps in time, but there’s plenty of time to worry about that.

Friday night the Canucks picked up 2 points, winning for the fifth time in their past seven games. This is a team that’s finding ways to get it done at the moment. Whether it’s pretty or sustainable is sort of beside the point. It’s working.

Here are three takeaways from Vancouver’s impressive comeback victory over Columbus on Friday night.

The speed problem

This Blue Jackets aren’t the punchline Columbus sides of yore, the stand-in opponent most often used as a reference point for describing an unexciting, low-stakes tilt in November or February.

Columbus is young and exciting. It plays dynamic, high-octane attacking hockey. Kent Johnson has pace and creativity for days. Ditto Kirill Marchenko. Dmitri Voronkov is massive and has real scoring touch. Zach Werenski is authoring a dark horse bid for the Norris Trophy. Sean Monahan has looked reinvigorated and is performing at the level of a genuine top-line player.

The Blue Jackets, this season, are a lot of fun and attack with a lot of speed.

In the first period, despite playing in the second leg of back-to-back games and finishing off a slate of three games in four nights, the Blue Jackets had legs and skated circles around the Canucks. If the Blue Jackets had taken their chances with more conviction — a Johnson miss on a wide-open net on the third shift of the game, a tremendous rush opportunity Jordan Harris put well wide — Columbus might’ve put Vancouver to bed early.

Instead, the Blue Jackets were only able to put up a crooked number on the shot clock, finishing the first period with a 17-2 edge in shots on goal. The Blue Jackets were buzzing, as if a hockey personification of their incredibly random mascot Stinger, but couldn’t make their massive edge in scoring chances count on the scoreboard.

By the start of the second period, the Canucks found their fight and their legs. With a dash of cynicism, a few game-breaking plays and a far-more-mature ability to avoid game-breaking mistakes, Vancouver started to pounce on opportunities and manage the game at a superior level than this young Columbus team is capable of, especially with tired legs.

Though the Canucks deserved a fair bit of credit for the hardscrabble overachievers they’ve become under Rick Tocchet, the fact remains there is a variety of team with a hyperspeed gear and an ability to attack in waves off of the rush — teams like the Edmonton Oilers, the Carolina Hurricanes, the New Jersey Devils and, yes, to a lesser extent, this Blue Jackets side — that seems to reliably cause this version of the Canucks trouble.

We’ve seen it all season, and though the Canucks were able to bounce back from their slow start Friday night, we saw it again against the Blue Jackets.

Teddy Blueger’s killer read

In the defining moment of the game, Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins made a baffling decision.

With the puck rolling slowly toward the Blue Jackets end and Canucks forwards Teddy Blueger and Kiefer Sherwood in hot pursuit, but trailing in the race decisively behind Zach Werenski, Merzlikins decided to leave his crease and attempt to play the puck.

Given Werenski’s positioning, it was a bad read by the Blue Jackets netminder. He was going to win the race to the puck, and in any event, is the sort of defender capable of making a skilled play under pressure. In fairness to the Latvian-born goaltender, on the other hand, Werenski deferred to Merzlikins at a key moment.

When Merzlikins finally played the puck, he went to shoot it off the glass. This is where the Canucks’ veteran savvy, their institutional know-how, made the difference.

Most forwards in Blueger’s position would rush the puck, but Blueger read it perfectly. He knew Merzlikins was going to win the race and was feeling the pressure anyway. He wagered he’d try to put the puck off of the glass, and that bet paid off. Then Blueger made a calm play to set up Sherwood, and suddenly the score was level.

It looked like a gift, and it was to some extent, but it was also a massive score-tying goal engineered explicitly by Blueger’s quick thinking and sky-high hockey IQ.

The top of the lineup edge

In a lot of ways, Vancouver’s victory Friday night constituted something of a smash-and-grab.

As much as the Canucks came on strong as the game went on and the Blue Jackets faded and Vancouver’s winning know-how made the difference, all of which is true to some extent, the Blue Jackets performed like the better team Friday night and were unfortunate not to come away with the road win.

In particular, Vancouver’s depth minutes looked problematic. By roughly the 10-minute mark of the third period, with the Canucks leading by two goals and score effects about to kick into overdrive, Vancouver’s only real bright spot in terms of its five-on-five performance was that it won the minutes at the absolute apex of the lineup.

The Quinn Hughes pair and the Elias Pettersson line were self-matched by Vancouver’s coaches Friday, and in 6 1/2 even-strength minutes they spent together at five-on-five through the first 50 minutes of the game, Vancouver outshot Columbus five-to-one and outscored it one-to-nothing. In all other five-on-five minutes, however, Columbus outshot Vancouver 23 to six.

Ultimately the defensive acumen of key Canucks players like Pius Suter, Carson Soucy and Blueger helped the club save goals and outpunch the game environment on the scoreboard. If the Canucks play too many games that look like this one, however, this recent run of sterling results is unlikely to last.
- Pacificgem

Not sure how that is possible, when both Hughes and Petterson were on the ice together, for the 2nd goal against. If I recall correctly, Hughes wasn't anywhere in the defensive zone by the time the puck went into the net. Don't believe it was a Pp goal.
Typical of a Drance article,

Are the Canucks contenders or pretenders? 3 thoughts on their struggles against top teams.

By Harman Dayal 7h ago

The Vancouver Canucks are in the middle of a weird, hard-to-evaluate season.

On the surface, Vancouver’s 14-8-4 record is commendable given Thatcher Demko, J.T. Miller, Filip Hronek, Brock Boeser and Dakota Joshua have all missed games this season. It’s a promising sign that the Canucks are still cruising at a comfortable 100-point pace even though many things have gone wrong. Barring an unforeseen catastrophe, we can all agree this is a good team that will make the playoffs.

The big debate, however, is what the Canucks can realistically accomplish in the postseason. Is playing through June and contending for the Stanley Cup a realistic goal or more of a pipe dream?

One interesting observation that’s relevant to this conversation is that the Canucks’ results are night and day based on the quality of their opponents. They’ve been pummelling bottom feeders but have gotten outclassed by opponents of real substance.

Vancouver has a 2-5-2 record and a minus-15 goal differential against “playoff-calibre” opponents, which I’ve defined as teams that are currently in a postseason spot and have a greater than 50 percent chance of holding onto the spot according to colleague Dom Luszczyszyn’s model. This includes Vancouver’s games against the following opponents: Tampa Bay (twice), Minnesota, the Rangers, Edmonton, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Carolina and Florida.

On the other hand, the Canucks have a dominant 11-2-2 record with a plus-19 goal differential against teams that are outside a playoff spot and have a 25 percent or lower chance of climbing back, according to Dom’s model. This includes Vancouver’s games against the following opponents: Columbus, Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh (twice), Ottawa, Nashville, Chicago (twice), Calgary (twice), Anaheim, San Jose and Philadelphia (twice).

The Canucks’ games against the Islanders (a loss) and Bruins (a win) didn’t factor into either category since those opponents are in the mushy, mediocre middle.

You’d naturally expect most teams to perform better against bottom feeders than top contenders, but the split between the Canucks’ performance based on opponent quality is so stark that it warrants a closer examination.

Here are three thoughts on the Canucks’ early issues against top teams.

How much stock should we put into the Canucks’ bad record against good teams?

Vancouver’s poor results against playoff contenders are far from ideal, but do they merit big-picture concern? Or is it just a blip in the radar, especially given the club’s injuries (more on that later)?

The goal is to figure out if the Canucks’ early struggles against good teams are a sign they’re less likely to go on a deep playoff run, so let’s reverse engineer: How do franchises that succeed in the playoffs typically perform against good teams in the regular season?

To answer this, I looked at the teams that made the conference finals over the last two years and split their regular-season records based on opponent quality. The findings surprised me: Recent Stanley Cup contenders haven’t always dominated against top teams in the regular season, especially at the start of the campaign.

Florida Panthers
21-14-4
Edmonton Oilers
18-18-3
Dallas Stars
19-14-7
New York Rangers
22-16-1
Vegas Golden Knights (2023)
23-13-5
Florida Panthers (2023)
16-21-5
Dallas Stars (2023)
17-10-12
Carolina Hurricanes (2023)
16-13-6
The average team to make the conference finals over the last two seasons had a .567 points percentage (the equivalent of a 93-point pace over 82 games) against playoff teams in the regular season. That’s a pretty good figure, but there are clear outliers and extra context to consider.

Edmonton reached Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final last season despite a mediocre 18-18-3 record against playoff teams in the regular season, with a commanding 31-10-2 record against non-playoff teams propping up their overall record last season.

The Stars had a decent record against playoff teams last season, but their start was a different story. They began 2-4-1 against playoff teams and 9-0-0 against non-playoff teams early in 2023-24.

The Florida Panthers reached the 2023 Stanley Cup Final despite a 16-21-5 record against playoff teams in the regular season.

Carolina won just three of its first 12 games against playoff teams in the 2022-23 regular season and yet it advanced to the 2023 conference finals.

It will be a red flag if the Canucks continue operating at a .333 points percentage against playoff-bound opponents for the entire season, but there’s enough evidence above to prove a slow start against the league’s top teams doesn’t automatically mean you’re a pretender.

There are probably four teams in the Western Conference that the majority of analysts and fans around the league would agree are bona fide Cup contenders: Dallas, Edmonton, Winnipeg and Vegas. Maybe you’d want to throw Minnesota or Colorado in that equation too, but let’s stick to those four teams for now. Winnipeg is the only team out of those four Western contenders that has won more games than it’s lost against “playoff-calibre” opponents so far in 2024-25.

Western contenders' records vs. top teams
WPG
8-6-0
12-3-0
EDM
3-6-2
11-4-0
DAL
5-5-0
8-3-0
VGK
6-6-2
12-1-1

“Playoff-calibre” opponents are defined as currently being in a playoff spot and having a greater than 50 percent chance of making it in according to Dom Luszczyszyn’s model

Again, this surprised me and reaffirmed that while the Canucks’ early issues against quality opponents are worth monitoring, it’s not as big of a red flag as I originally expected it to be.

The Canucks have been one of the unluckiest teams in the NHL injury-wise.

Every team goes through injuries/key player absences, but the Canucks have certainly been one of the unluckiest so far in 2024-25.

One way to quantify this is through Dom’s model, which can calculate the estimated goal differential every team has lost due to injuries/absences (excluding healthy scratches). Some below-average NHL players have a negative estimated impact on a team’s goal differential and missed time because of injury, which explains why some clubs have a value below zero.

Between Boeser, Hronek, Miller, Joshua, Derek Forbort and Vincent Desharnais, Vancouver ranks 12th in the league for goal differential lost due to games missed. Some teams have had it significantly worse when strictly looking at skater injuries.

The Islanders, for example, were missing all three of their left-side defencemen plus Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair when they played the Canucks in November. At one point, the Avalanche were missing six of their top-nine forwards at the same time — Gabriel Landeskog, Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen, Jonathan Drouin, Ross Colton and Miles Wood.

When you add goalies into the equation, however, Demko’s injury catapults the Canucks to No. 1 in the NHL for total goal differential lost due to games missed.

Which teams lost most value to injury?
Canucks
0.9
2.8
3.7
Islanders
3.5
0
3.5
Avalanche
3
0
3
Hurricanes
1.2
1.7
2.9
Kings
2.8
0
2.8
Oilers
2.4
0
2.4
Sharks
2.3
0
2.3
Golden Knights
2.1
0
2.1
Kraken
2.1
0
2.1
Wild
1.9
0
1.9
Panthers
1.7
0
1.7
Blue Jackets
1.5
0
1.5
Canadiens
0.3
0
0.3
Bruins
0.3
0
0.3
Blackhawks
0.2
0
0.2
Utah
0.2
0
0.2
Maple Leafs
0.1
0
0.1
Jets
-0.1
0
-0.1
Flames
-0.1
0
-0.1
Lightning
-0.2
0
-0.2
Flyers
-0.4
0
-0.4
Capitals
-0.5
0
-0.5
Rangers
-1.1
0
-1.1
Stars
-1.2
0
-1.2
Red Wings
-1.5
0
-1.5
Predators
-1.7
0
-1.7
Blues
-1.9
0
-1.9
Devils
-2
0
-2
Senators
-2.3
0
-2.3
Sabres
-2.5
0
-2.5
Ducks
-3.9
0
-3.9
Penguins
-4.3
0
-4.3
Most Canucks fans have baked the injury troubles into their assessment of the team’s play so far, but it should be even more reassuring for the fan base to see it laid out like this.

What needs to break right for the Canucks to become Cup contenders?

The Canucks’ lacklustre performance against top opponents isn’t overly worrying because of the reasons mentioned earlier, but that doesn’t mean they’re bona fide Cup contenders by default either. Almost everybody who regularly watches Vancouver play can tell this team needs to reach a higher level to go toe-to-toe with the best teams in the NHL.

In my mind, there are three key factors to watch.

Firstly, the Canucks need Demko healthy and performing at the level of a top-10 goaltender. There’s a reason Demko finished as a Vezina Trophy finalist last season — he was often the Canucks’ trump card in close games last year because elite goaltending is hard to find in the modern NHL. Demko’s return to game action appears to be right around the corner, but that doesn’t guarantee he’ll stay healthy or perform at a high level.

Remember that there are no previously reported cases of a goaltender or hockey player ever sustaining the reported popliteus injury Demko is recovering from. We’re in completely uncharted territory. Even if Demko manages to stay healthy for the entire regular season and playoffs, can he play like an elite puck-stopper after several months off?

Secondly, the Canucks need the best, most dominant versions of Elias Pettersson and Miller. Vancouver’s top players, besides Quinn Hughes, have been outplayed in head-to-head games against top teams this season.

Tampa Bay’s first line of Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel and Brayden Point combined for four goals on Sunday night at various game states compared to none from Pettersson’s line. Pettersson was without a point in his first five games against playoff-calibre opponents in October. He has 19 points in his last 14 games, so there’s reason for cautious optimism, but he needs to sustain this recent form for the rest of the 2024-25 campaign.

Miller had arguably his worst game of the season during the Canucks’ 7-3 blowout loss to the Oilers a month ago. He’s also been out of the lineup for their recent losses to the Rangers, Wild and Lightning.

Vancouver’s been too reliant on Hughes to drive the bus this season. Other core players will need to step up over the balance of the season and playoffs.

Thirdly, it’s no secret that the Canucks desperately need to acquire a quality top-four defenceman.

Overall, I’m still in wait-and-see mode in evaluating the Canucks. It’s going to be difficult to assess whether they have legitimate Cup-contender potential until closer to the deadline, when we have a better sense of whether Demko, Miller and Pettersson are operating at an elite level and what a healthier roster with Hronek’s return looks like.

A lot will need to break right for Vancouver to go on a deep run this spring, but it’d be premature to write those chances off solely based on the team’s early struggles against top teams.