In this week’s mailbag, we answer your Vancouver Canucks questions on Brian Burke, Jake Virtanen, the team to beat in an all-Canadian division, and more.
News surrounding the NHL and the Vancouver Canucks has been scarce, except for the occasional appearance by general manager Jim Benning on Sportsnet 650. We are no closer to the start of the 2020-21 season and the last noteworthy transaction came in the form of the Canucks’ acquisition of Nate Schmidt from the Vegas Golden Knights on Oct 12, which was nearly two months ago.
The last major free agent signing was Alex Galchenyuk to the Ottawa Senators on Oct 28 and we have not even seen a minor signing since Dominik Kahun went to the Edmonton Oilers on Nov 1. Basically, there has been no movement in the NHL for a very long time. As a result, new stuff to talk about has ground to a halt.
That’s why the mailbag is so great! So let’s get to some more of your questions, shall we?
In honour of Brian Burke's new book, what's your favourite Canucks' Burkie story?
— Jasmine Yen (@jasminesports) December 4, 2020
Brian Burke was probably one of the most animated GMs the Canucks ever had. He was a quote machine after press conferences and was always good for an interesting interview. My favourite was definitely the time he defended Daniel and Henrik Sedin with his famous quote,
"Sedin is not Swedish for ‘punch me, or headlock me in a scrum.’"
He never hesitated to publicly defend his players and he was always honest in every interview he did. That’s probably what I admire about him the most.
My favourite Burke story will always be the plethora of trades that he executed to acquire two of the most legendary players to ever don a Canucks uniform, the Sedin twins. There’s not a day that goes by where I am not amazed at what he was able to accomplish in the span of a few minutes. He didn’t know at the time what the Sedins would do in the future, but little did he know that he was shaping the Canucks franchise for eons to come.
We all know the culture the Sedins established in Vancouver, and Burke was a major reason why it was able to happen in the first place. Canucks fans everywhere will be forever grateful to him for that.
If Holtby is starter at the beginning of year how long of leash does green have for him?
— Randy Dhillon (@RandyDhillon) December 4, 2020
If Braden Holtby outperforms Thatcher Demko in training camp and wins the starting job for opening night, I don’t think that means he’s the de facto starter for the Canucks. Even though we don’t know what the official schedule will look like, I think it’s safe to say that it will be compressed.
If that’s the case, Travis Green will have to use both of his goaltenders equally, so in essence, there will be no starter. I think he will probably ride the hot hand whenever possible though, as most coaches do in a 1a/1b tandem.
That being said, Holtby is a veteran of 468 games with a wonderful track record of being an NHL starting goaltender. He’s won a Stanley Cup, Vezina Trophy and is still one of the best goaltenders in the league, despite the off-year he had last season. Demko on the other hand is still getting his feet wet and has only 27 regular-season games under his belt. That’s not to say that he won’t outperform Holtby in 2020-21 though, it’s just that Green might have a shorter leash for him considering his lack of experience.
Out of Juolevi, Rafferty, and Rathbone, who do you think grabs a third-pairing role this season?
— Bill Huan (@bill_huan) December 4, 2020
It definitely will be a toss-up between Olli Juolevi and Jack Rathbone. Juolevi will have the inside track after his positive performance in the playoffs, but if Rathbone blows everyone away in training camp, don’t be surprised to see him snag the spot instead.
Both of them are built for the new NHL and will be pillars on the Canucks’ blueline for seasons to come. Juolevi deserves the chance to prove himself in the NHL this season, so for the sake of his development, he should be the one to get the spot. But, he has to earn it by having a strong training camp, whenever it ultimately starts. If Rathbone is the better defenceman of the two after camp, he should be in the starting lineup over Juolevi.
If it was up to me, I would put both of them on the Canucks’ opening night roster. But we all know that Green will not open the season with two rookie defencemen, no matter how much they outperform the veterans. Nevertheless, it should be an interesting battle to follow when preparations finally get going for the 2020-21 season.