Canucks: 3 dark horses that could make opening night roster
The Vancouver Canucks will have some decisions to make when the time comes to fill out the opening night roster. Here are three dark horse candidates.
The official start date for the next NHL season hasn’t been announced yet, but it’s never too early to start wondering which players will shape out the roster for the Vancouver Canucks.
You have to imagine that Travis Green already has the top half of his roster pencilled in. However, this time around there will be a vacancy or two open for the proper dark horse candidate if he is strong enough to fight for it.
Green knows changes have to be made if this roster wants to take the next step. But with Jim Benning unable to sign big names in free agency this year or move out any deadweight contracts, he knows he will have to great creative with restructuring his lineup.
The thing is, Green needs a darkhorse or two to come along and demand a spot through a good performance in training camp. If nobody can do that for him, Vancouver will be forced to stick with the players that failed last season.
Vancouver needs to add scoring power with a defensive edge to the bottom-six. They also need defenders who can transition the puck out of the defensive end and help generate offence in the other direction. Let’s take a look at three underdogs who could earn a roster spot in 2021.
Sven Baertschi
Say what you want about him, but Sven Baertschi is still a player who is good enough to play in the National Hockey League. Although it does seem unlikely the relationship between him and Canucks’ management is salvageable, if Baertschi wishes to play in the NHL next year, he’ll have to suit up in Vancouver blue.
As Benning said it on TSN radio, it’ll be up to Baertschi to decide if he wants to play if he does in fact get an invitation to be a part of the opening night roster next year.
“Sven will come to camp. We’ll see where he’s at, where he fits and if he deserves to be on the team, he’ll be on the team. If not, he will be depth for us. But that will be up to Sven.
Baertschi has enjoyed successful years on the wing of Bo Horvat and last year he showed good chemistry with Adam Gaudette in training camp. He spent all of last year working on the defensive side of his game and he did his part not to shy away from getting physical and being an all-around better two-way player.
In 43 games with the Utica Comets of the AHL, Baertschi was a player producing at over a point per game. He finished the 2019-20 season with 45 points (13 goals, 33 assists). He was invited to be a part of the Canucks bubble during the summer months but he decided not to participate. The question now is, will he be a “no show” when training camp rolls around in 2021?
Jack Rathbone
Drafted in the fourth round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, blueliner Jack Rathbone could be the biggest dark horse heading into 2021 training camp. At the same time, Rathbone is widely considered to be the Canucks best defensive prospect, in certain aspects, even ahead of Olli Juolevi.
His confidence with the puck isn’t on the same level as Quinn Hughes, but he’s the closest thing the Canucks have to another offensive-minded defender. And even though Vancouver needs to get better defensively, the Canucks need that offensive upside as well. He can drive play with the puck on his stick and he has a cannon of a slapshot when he gets it off.
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Rathbone has the potential to crack the roster no doubt, but he’s up against several defenders who will be eyeing the same position. He’ll have to find a way to bring more to the table than Juolevi, Brogan Rafferty and Jalen Chatfield.
Playing for the University of Harvard he was over a point per game in 2019-20 (31 points in 28 games). If can continue to build on his successful year and somehow translate his game to the NHL, he has a shot at surprising the right people and being a dark horse candidate to make the team.
Brogan Rafferty
It’s crazy to think that after the tremendous season Rafferty had last year in the AHL he’s still on the outside looking in. Okay, he might be on the right track to getting an NHL opportunity, but him being next in line is still very much in question.
Rafferty was a late signing in 2018-19 and played just two games for the Canucks. He was designated to Utica the following year despite having himself a very impressive training camp. He continued to pad his stats in the AHL where he exceeded all expectations by finishing the year as a defender with the third-most points in the league. His offensive punch was enough to tally seven goals and add 38 assists.
When Rafferty became a black ace for the Canucks bubble squad this summer, his performance soured and he was exposed as just another AHL star who didn’t appear to have what to took to keep up with the big dogs. Juolevi jumped him on the depth chart and Rafferty never got a chance to help the Canucks during the playoffs.
For whatever reason, Rafferty was skipped on by coach Green and he’ll have to wait his turn to try again. Lucky for him, beyond Tyler Myers, the Canucks don’t have another right-shot defender. That’ll be his biggest betting chip going into training camp. Green is not a big fan of playing his defenders on the opposite side of their shooting hand, so if he can perform admirably in camp, he has a shot to get noticed.
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What do you think Canucks Nation? Who is the biggest dark horse candidate that could steal a job from an NHL player next season? Let us know in the comments below.