Canucks: The good, the bad, and the ugly from training camp

There’s been no shortage of intriguing storylines for the Vancouver Canucks in training camp. Here’s a look at the good, the bad and the ugly so far.

The Vancouver Canucks players, coaches and management are finally back together after four long months of no hockey.

The team is in the midst of training camp at Rogers Arena, which began Monday. They’re taking part in several scrimmages and drills in preparation for the qualifying round against the Minnesota Wild. Game 1 is scheduled to take place on Aug. 2 in the hub city of Edmonton, Alberta.

Needless to say, it’s been an eventful first week of training camp so far. Here is a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly from Canucks training camp.

The good

The best thing to come out of training camp so far? The news that Vancouver signed defence prospect Jack Rathbone to an entry-level contract. The 21-year-old scored seven goals and 24 assists for 31 points in 28 games with Harvard. Canucks fans were quite happy and relieved about Rathbone signing, to say the least.

Although Rathbone is coming to Vancouver, per Rick Dhaliwal of TSN 1040 and The Athletic, he won’t be going to Edmonton with the team.

Some scouts believe that Rathbone — drafted 95th overall in 2017 — has top-four potential. He is a very smart player who can transition up the ice very well and can be a quarterback on the power play.

Rathbone’s relationships with player development director Ryan Johnson and player development assistant Chris Higgins played a factor in his decision to sign with Vancouver, as noted by Sportsnet’s Iain McIntyre.

The bad

Micheal Ferland was signed to a four-year contract by the Canucks last summer, but injuries have plagued him all season. Ferland did not skate on the first day of training camp and was deemed “unfit to play,”  bringing more worry from fans. General manager Jim Benning hopes to have Ferland back soon, but that remains to be seen.

He finally skated on the third day of training camp but with the second group. The next day, he continued to skate with the same group.

Ferland also did not participate in the scrimmages on Thursday night. He was seen doing battle drills with the second group over the last few days.

The Canucks also did not see Brandon Sutter and Josh Leivo; the latter was deemed unfit to play, and Leivo continues to recover from a fractured kneecap.

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The ugly

A few days before training camp, Matt Sekeres of TSN 1040 dropped a bomb on air. He said that Vancouver was exploring the idea of trading away Brock Boeser (h/t Dhaliwal).

This sent Canucks fans (particularly on Twitter) into a frenzy, which led to criticism towards management for not handling the cap well.

There were fights between fans, bloggers and members of the media alike.

Fans and pundits were arguing over the Canucks cap and Tyler Toffoli, whom they rate higher than Boeser, according to Thomas Drance of The Athletic (subscription required).

On Day 1 of training camp, Benning denied the rumours:

“We’ve been happy with him since we drafted him,” Benning said, via TSN. “I don’t know where this stuff comes from. I have no intention of trading Brock Boeser.”

Boeser himself spoke to Benning about the rumours, per TSN’s Farhan Lalji:

The rumours of Boeser being traded have sent fans into a frenzy during training camp. Hopefully, Benning is true to his word. Even some of Boeser’s teammates were joking about it. At any rate, the next few months will be very interesting for the Canucks and the 23-year-old.