Canucks: 3 players who need to overcome the critics
The Vancouver Canucks are banking on a few of their young players to step up to the plate next season and overcome some of the critics.
When it comes to the Vancouver Canucks, there are a few pairs of big skates that need to be filled.
Several key veteran pieces to this hockey club have up and left. Jacob Markstrom — a back-to-back MVP in Vancouver — and Chris Tanev — Vancouver’s best stay at home defender — have jumped ship and signed long-term deals with the Calgary Flames. Former Stanley Cup champion Tyler Toffoli got a four-year contract to play for the Montreal Canadiens, and Troy Stecher packed his bags and took his talents to Detroit to lace up his skates for the Red Wings.
That’s a lot of good NHL-quality talent that has simply vanished for the Canucks ahead of next year and now Vancouver’s NHL team will need to rely on younger up and coming prospects to fill the roles left behind by these players. General manager Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green will now be forced to look into the eyes of some of their questioned young guns and give them a fair shake at stepping up and becoming legit contributors. Let’s take a look at three players who have been criticized in the past for not being good enough.
Jake Virtanen
It’s been a long road for Jake Virtanen. The 6th overall pick in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft hasn’t lived up to the expectations of a top-six power forward, but he’s in line to get a real shot at proving the doubters wrong next season.
And let’s be honest. It hasn’t been all doom and gloom for the 24-year-old local kid. Even though it was an up and down season, Virtanen enjoyed a career-high in both goals (18) and points (36). He didn’t have the best playoff performance to follow it up, but it has his first at the NHL-level and he showed glimpses of being a rough and tough playoff performer.
He’s just locked himself up for two more years in Vancouver and many critics expect this to be his last chance to prove himself worthy of being a top-10 selection. He’ll need to come to camp in the best shape of his life. If he can do that, he’ll be awarded two things he never had last season. A permanent place inside the team’s top-six and a full-time position on the second unit power play.
Olli Juolevi
Faith was lost by a lot of people when Olli Juolevi was seriously injured on back-to-back years. Not only was he badly hurt both times, but he also needed surgery on each occasion. First, it was his back. It was a case of offseason training gone wrong that eventually forced him to go under the knife. The rehab has long and difficult and put him behind schedule for the following 2018-19 season.
Despite the critics, Juolevi shot out of a cannon and had himself a tremendous offensive start to that year. He posted 13 points in his first 18 games and looked better than ever. Unfortunately, he got injured yet again and it required him to get yet another serious surgery. This time, Juolevi’s promising season was ended with an operation to repair his knee.
After that, Juolevi did everything in his power to get back on track, but many people doubted his ability to actually be able to pull it off. One major surgery can be enough to end someone’s career in sports, how could be possibly survive having two? However, the determined Juolevi did his time in rehab and fought through additional hip soreness in order to keep pushing the needle forward.
He played 45 games for the Utica Comets in the AHL last year and he performed well above expectations when he joined the Canucks inside the Edmonton bubble. Green liked what he saw from Juolevi enough to dress him for his NHL debut. Juolevi played just over six minutes, didn’t make any mistakes and helped the Canucks eliminate the Minnesota Wild and punch their ticket into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“Juolevi looks ready to play in the NHL full-time,” said Jim Benning on Sportsnet 650.
Thatcher Demko
Thatcher Demko has been considered the goaltender of the Canucks’ future for quite some time now, but as it appears, the future is now here. Yes, Demko hasn’t been criticized like Virtanen and Juolevi have in the past, in fact, Demko stood on his head during a three-game elimination stretch where he single-handedly fought off the Vegas Golden Knights by making 125 saves. Quite honestly, it was the best playoff performance by a rookie goaltender that I have ever seen.
Believe it or not, Demko put himself on the map with his 2020 NHL Playoffs performance, but he has a very big net to fill with the departure of Vancouver’s back-to-back MVP goaltender. Yes, Braden Holtby is a good fill-in for the time being, but this is Demko’s crease now and a lot of the team’s success moving forward will be decided by how well the California kid can keep the puck out of the net.
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His career regular-season numbers aren’t spectacular. He carries a 3.06 GAA over 37 games and a below-average 0.906 save percentage. Obviously, that isn’t jaw-dropping in any sense of the word, but he’s still young and very new to the NHL game. What he was able to do in the playoffs was a really good implication of his future. He’s gotten better and better the more games he’s played, and now it’s time to see what he can do as a number one starter.
dark. Next. The Canucks and Virtanen agree on 2-year contract
What do you think Canucks Nation? Can these three players step up, fill the role they need to and ultimately silence the critics? Let us know in the comment section below and remember to always keep your eyes on The Canuck Way for everything Canucks-related in news.