The Canuck Way Mailbag: Horvat, Hughes, Pearson, more

The Vancouver Canucks have been absolute fire this week from the top of the lineup to the bottom. Here is the best from this week’s Canuck Way mailbag.

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written about the Vancouver Canucks and The Canuck Way mailbag (contributors Owen Gibbs and Joshua Rey took over the past three weeks), but I’m back in the driver’s seat and ready to answer questions from our biggest and best supporters.

So much to digest, where do I begin? What a crazy week of hockey. After being shutout by Alex Stalock and the Minnesota Wild in game 1 of the play-in series, Vancouver has marched back with complete confidence and are now riding an impressive five-game winning streak.

From a 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs darkhorse to back-to-back monster victories over the defending champions, the Canucks are shocking their audience and doing it in style. The core of this squad is on fire right now and I truly believe they are yet to unleash their true potential. Maybe Jim Benning knows what he’s doing after all? Time will tell, but for now, let’s get into the mailbag!

So far, so good for the Canucks and the way they’ve decided to take care of business. But with the St. Louis Blues down 2-0 in this series, they really have nothing to lose at this point and will fire back with aggression and intimidating physical play. The Blues are built for playoff destruction. They are one of the biggest and meanest teams across the National Hockey League and they have the skill to go along with it.

According to The Athletic (paid subscription), St. Louis ranks 5th highest in the NHL for the average weight of their players, 203.9 to be exact. Down the list at 12th are the Vancouver Canucks (200.3) but mostly within their bottom-six (not their star players). It doesn’t seem like much, but the weight is a lot more evenly distributed amongst the Blues, and that puts players like Elias Pettersson in danger. You know the Blues will up their assault on the 21-year-old Swede moving forward.

Being up 2-0 in the series gives the Canucks a 95% chance of winning, but who could forget the collapse of 2011? Much like the devasting Boston series, St. Louis won’t go away without a serious fight. The Canucks have to find a way to match that intensity and seal the deal. The power play has been unmatched, and if they can keep it running hot on PP1, the Canucks will advance. It’s about fighting back but staying disciplined. Keep up the offense and don’t collapse. Fight fire with fire.

Seven players on the Canucks roster have registered at least a point per game throughout the first six games of the play-ins/playoffs, but it’s hard to argue against the captain for being the best overall player up to this point. It took him a minute to get his legs under him, but since he’s gotten going he’s been an unstoppable force.

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• 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg

Bo “Bull” Horvat has literally taken this series by the horns (pun intended) and run with it. He’s been overshadowed by the Canucks core for too long, and he’s here to prove that this is his team. Right now, there isn’t a flaw in his repertoire. He’s been the team’s best defensive forward, the best offensive threat, and he’s becoming the complete package.

With shades of the 2011 Ryan Kesler (who went off and single-handedly dismantled the Nashville Predators with 11 points in five games) in his game, the captain is dominating this series and becoming the team’s best 200ft player since RK17 wore the blue and green. And oh boy, was he ever loved by Canucks Nation back then.

Bo’s winning faceoffs, board battles, foot races, and hockey games. With eight points (6 goals, 2 assists) through six games, you can’t deny his ability to step up and be the man when it matters. Without a doubt, No. 53 has been the all-star for this franchise up to this point. Quinn Hughes would be a close second in my opinion.

More exciting mailbag Q&A

My answer has to be Tanner Pearson. He was my choice for the unsung hero of the regular season, but if the playoffs have proved anything up to this point it’s that Pearson is a great addition to the team’s supporting cast.

Alongside the captain and Loui Eriksson of all people, Pearson hasn’t skipped a beat. After looking awful in game 1 versus the Wild (where he gave up two bad penalties), Pearson has refound his true self by shooting the puck well and playing great man-to-man coverage in the defensive end.

With already six points (3 goals, 3 assists) in just as many games, Pearson has been the perfect winger for Horvat and could honestly be leading this team altogether if it wasn’t for a couple of pucks that barely missed the target.

Could you imagine what Pearson and Horvat would be capable of with a healthy Tyler Toffoli on the opposing wing? It would be absolutely lethal. I’m very excited to see what he does moving forward. His Stanley Cup experience is really paying off right now.

At this point, turning to Jake Allen wouldn’t be the worst idea for St. Louis. I wouldn’t wait any longer and I have a couple of reasons to back that up. First off, Jordan Binnington has been a shadow of his former self. Since entering the bubble, Binnington and the Blues are winless in five straight games. He’s sporting a 4.27GAA with a 0.862SV% over that span. Simply unacceptable for a team that’s trying to defend its title.

Allen, on the other hand, has been a solid backup all season who actually carried better numbers than the team’s No. 1 goaltender. In 24 regular-season games played this year, Allen posted a career-high in both SV% (0.927) and GAA (2.15) all while earning 12 wins and 2 shutouts. Both better numbers than Binnington.

By entering Allen in game 3, St. Louis either gets a hot goaltender along with a win, or they lose the game and return to Binnington who will then have a fire lit under him from getting benched. It gives them a fresh goaltender looking to take over, and it gives Binnington a chance to refocus and reset. If they wait for another game it may be too little too late. The time to make a goaltender swap is now.

This is a good question. If Jordie Benn didn’t leave the bubble for the birth of his daughter Billie, I’d put my bank account of him slotting in for Tyler Myers. He has the experience, the grit, and can work equally from both sides. He’s the best option for the third and final RD spot, but some rust may still need shaking off.

Olli Juolevi got his big debut when the Canucks finished off the Wild, but he was sheltered to just over six minutes of ice time. In those limited minutes though, Juolevi surprised a lot of people and played a very smart, very well-positioned defensive game.

It’s a scary thought to have if Myers is in fact sidelined for the longterm, but from what I saw out of Juolevi versus the Wild, he can handle another game or two in a similar capacity while the burly Benn works himself back into game shape. If it were me making the decisions I’d go with Juolevi only until Benn is good and ready (unless Juolevi plays great).

But don’t be shocked if Travis Green decides to go with a right-handed shot for the right side spot. He’s not a big fan of doing it any other way, so I could honestly see him slotting in Brogan Rafferty or Jalen Chatfield for the time being.