The Canuck Way Mailbag: Hughes, Motte, Hawryluk, more

In this week’s mailbag, we answer your Vancouver Canucks questions on Quinn Hughes, Jayce Hawryluk and more.

As of right now, the projected start date of Jan. 1 for the NHL’s 2020-21 season is highly optimistic as COVID-19 cases continue to rise all over North America. The Vancouver Canucks continue to remain in a holding pattern with their roster, so things to talk about also remain scarce.

If it wasn’t for the prospects playing overseas and the World Juniors coming up, I’m sure all of us would go insane.

Unfortunately for hockey fans everywhere, the 2021 World Junior Championship is also being threatened as Team Canada’s selection camp had to be shut down for two weeks due to some positive tests. Everyone is hopeful that the tournament will go ahead as planned, but nothing is a certainty.

If it ultimately gets canceled, fans might not get to see hockey on their television sets for a very long time. I, for one, am optimistic that the NHL season will get going sometime in January, but if daily cases don’t start to decrease soon, my glass will quickly go from half full to half empty.

But enough of the doom and gloom. The Canucks still have an exciting group of young players and a lot of prospects with very bright futures in the NHL. As long as we have those things to hold onto, happiness should continue in Canucks Nation. So with all that said, let’s get to more of your questions as I return to the mailbag.

I have praised Tyler Motte time and time again ever since he became a full-time member of the Canucks. He’s the hardest worker on the team, has a motor that never stops, and possesses untapped offensive potential. What more could you want on a matchup line?

Motte may never be more than a 10-goal scorer, but as we saw with Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows, you should never, ever count out a player that has a never-say-die attitude. Both of them were never projected to be top-six players, but their hard work and perseverance gave them the opportunity and they ran with it.

Granted, they did have two future Hall of Famers in Henrik and Daniel Sedin to thank for their success, but if it weren’t for their hard work, Hansen and Burrows would have never got the opportunity to play with them in the first place.

Motte is a skilled player, as evidenced by his success in the NCAA with the University of Michigan when he was a top-ten finalist for the Hobey Baker Award after scoring a career-high 32 goals and 56 points in 34 games.

To put that in perspective, Brock Boeser’s career-high was 27 goals and 60 points in 42 games, and he was a first-round pick. So it shouldn’t be too far fetched to see Motte turn a corner and become a productive player in the top-six next season. After all, stranger things have happened, right?

Jayce Hawryluk is the only notable forward the Canucks have signed in free agency so far, so it would be nice to see him make a decent push for a roster spot. He’s already shown that he can play in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators and Florida Panthers, now he has to push the envelope and show that he can play a regular shift in the top-nine or even the top-six.

With Tyler Toffoli gone, there is a wide open spot on right wing with Horvat and Pearson, and Hawryluk might be the perfect person to take it. He’s a great two-way player and forechecker and has a nose for the net, not to mention he can provide a physical and agitating presence as well.

In addition to all that, he’s only finished with a Corsi For percentage (CF%) of under 50 once, and that was during his rookie season with the Panthers. Ever since then, he’s posted an average CF% of 52.9, which means he’s carried the play a little over half the time on two mediocre teams.

So to answer your question, I do believe he will win a job on the opening-night roster for the 2020-21 season, whenever it ultimately begins. Where he plays is anyone’s guess, as he could debut anywhere from the fourth line all the way up to the second line when all is said and done.

As of this moment, the least important player on the Canucks is Loui Eriksson, but I’m sure that just makes me Captain Obvious. He is rarely an offensive threat and to make matters worse, has not posted a CF% of over 50 since his first season with the club. He holds an albatross of a contract that won’t run out until 2022, and his ice time is that of a bottom-six player. Nothing against him as a person, but I don’t think the Canucks would miss him if he was never in the lineup again.