The Canuck Way Mailbag: Pearson, expansion, next season, more
There is still no Vancouver Canucks hockey being played, but that’s okay! There is plenty of hot topics to discuss as Canucks Twitter went wild this week. Let’s get right into this week’s edition of The Canuck Way mailbag.
What's up with the Pearson signing? Thoughts?
— PP1 PODCAST (@ThePP1Podcast) April 9, 2021
This week, Tanner Pearson inked a contract extension to stay a part of the Canucks organization for the next three seasons — and although I’m excited for Pearson as a player — fans are not particularly happy about the signing.
At the age of 29, and with a drop in production this year (11 points through 33 games), it was thought by some that general manager Jim Benning would opt to move the 2014 Stanley Cup winner at this year’s trade deadline.
He’s a two-way forward who can play tough minutes against the best players the opposition has to offer, and he’d make out to be an excellent depth rental for a Cup contending team. Instead, Benning doubled down on a player he called a “good pro”.
The price of the deal itself is not one to lose your marbles over ($3.25m AAV), but it’s the term and overall situation that has people pulling their hair out. Why would Benning decide to lock up a player who is about to enter the back-nine of his career when he’s previously stated that the Canucks are two years away from being serious contenders?
Another note that has people ready to throw fists is the fact that Benning put pen to paper with a secondary player before talking numbers with pending RFA superstars Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. The Canucks’ cap situation is tight heading into the offseason, and the duo is guaranteed to demand a pretty penny, potentially north of $8 million apiece.
Clearly, Benning believes in Pearson and he’s got a few good reasons to stick to his guns. He’s an all situations kind of player in Vancouver. He can contribute at five-on-five, lead the Canucks’ second power play unit, and be one of the team’s best penalty killers.
He had a career-high 45 points (21 goals, 24 assists) through 69 games last season, and he’s taken a $500,000 pay cut to remain a Canuck. My opinion: It’s a good deal for both sides, but Benning needs to get his priorities straight.
Mailbag part 2
https://twitter.com/Macusian12345/status/1380639343967006721
Free agent signings are most likely not in the cards for the Canucks this offseason. After signing Pearson and Thatcher Demko to new deals recently, Vancouver’s cap space has shrunk and they still have two elite players to sign.
As mentioned above, Pettersson and Hughes are going to earn north of 16 million combined, and that comes before locking up other roster spots. There are multiple holes in the bottom-six that need filling, and the Canucks don’t have a single NHL defender signed beyond Tyler Myers and Nate Schmidt.
Fingers crossed that Benning has some inside knowledge going into the offseason that the people are unaware of at this point. Micheal Ferland could remain on the LTIR, and the same thing could be said for Jay Beagle. It’s all speculation, but maybe Loui Eriksson decides to call it quits, freeing up another $6 million.
I don’t know anything more than that, but I would say the Canucks will have enough difficulty re-signing all of their own players let alone dipping their toes into the free agent market. If I was to put my money on it, I’d say Vancouver does very little in free agency this year.
Do you agree that the Nux should roll a top 9 with centres Petey, Bo, Miller?
— DSto (@DSto2) April 9, 2021
This is something I started throwing around on The PP1 Podcast this season. Putting Pettersson, Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller down the middle would make Vancouver one of the deepest teams at the centre position.
And now that the Canucks locked up Pearson, I believe Vancouver will have the depth going into next season to make it work. Nils Hoglander exceeded expectations in his rookie campaign. Vasili Podkolzin is expected to make an impact at the NHL level next year, and keeping Pearson gives the Canucks three solid scoring lines.
For me, yes. It’s something I would love to see the Canucks try out, but I would probably wait until next year to make it a long-term thing. Playoff teams with depth at centre go a long way and they often win Stanley Cups, so I’m all for moving Miller to centre full-time. Just wait until next year.
What do you think next year's opening night roster will look like??
— Mark Anthony (@MarkAnt93179735) April 10, 2021
Leading off of the last question above, I could see the 2021-22 opening night roster looking something like this (Seattle Expansion Draft not taken into consideration):
Vasili Podkolzin – Elias Pettersson – Brock Boeser
Tanner Pearson – Bo Horvat (C) – Nils Hoglander
Adam Gaudette – J.T. Miller (A) – Jake Virtanen
Tyler Motte – J. Beagle/K. Lind – Zack MacEwen
Quinn Hughes – Nate Schmidt
Alexander Edler – Tyler Myers
Olli Juolevi – _________
Thatcher Demko
Braden Holtby
Splitting up the ‘Lotto Line’ and moving Miller to centre gives the Canucks the best scoring top nine possible and it’s something that should be highly considered by the coaching staff in my opinion.
Of course, the Canucks would be expecting Podkolzin to hit at a similar pace to what Hoglander did this year, but it’s definitely a possibility. First-line minutes are likely a stretch for the young Russian, but he can be swapped into any of the four lines if needed.
Mailbag part 3
Who do you think are the three most likely candidates to be picked up in the Seattle expansion draft?
— Adam Dane (@AdamDane7) April 10, 2021
Off the top, Braden Holtby is a no-brainer as each team can only protect one goalie. And let’s face it, in no world do the Canucks decided to protect Holtby over Demko. It’s clear Demko has stolen the net in Vancouver, and with his new five-year contract taking effect next season, he’s here to stay.
The question is whether or not Seattle wants to spend north of $5 million on a goaltender with a save percentage below 0.900. Although, he would bring Stanley Cup-winning experience along with a Vezina Trophy to boot. Not a terrible thing to have in your lineup when you’re trying to kickstart a franchise. Experience goes a long way in guiding a new team.
Jake Virtanen could be in danger of being exposed by the Canucks, but I still consider him to be a bit of a darkhorse candidate. But there are three reasons why I think he may find himself on the shortlist:
He’s struggled to be an impact player this year (4 goals, 0 assists). His RFA negotiations after next season start at $3.4 million. That’s more money than Pearson just re-signed for, and he’s nowhere near the kind of player Pearson has been. And it’s a chance for the Canucks to free up cap space. Why wouldn’t the Kraken take a crack at a 24-year-old Virtanen?
Thirdly, I could see the Canucks losing out on Kole Lind. He’s yet to make his NHL debut, but the 33rd overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft has made some serious strides in the AHL. Plus, he’s made the transition to centre look easy and he appears near ready for a chance to prove himself in the NHL.
What is your 3 best memories of the Sedin twins?
— Adam Dane (@AdamDane7) April 10, 2021
This week marked three years since the Sedin twins played their final game at Rogers Arena and the poetic ending to their reign in Vancouver has to be a top-three moment of their careers. The stars aligned that night, and nobody will ever forget the incredible third-period comeback that ended with Daniel Sedin scoring the overtime winner off a pass from his brother Henrik.
Another classic Sedin moment happened on the night that Daniel locked up the Art Ross Trophy. He scored an absolute jaw-dropping goal when he went through his legs with the puck and lifted it past Calgary Flames goalie Miikka Kiprusoff. An insane goal after an incredible tip-pass through the legs of Henrik from Alex Edler at the point that perfectly found Daniel along the goal line down low. A thing of beauty, and a goal that could only be possible with an identical twin connection.
The third and final Sedin moment that hits home for me is when Henrik scored his 1,000th point against non-other than former teammate, Roberto Luongo. Henrik beat the Florida netminder through the legs out front. Luongo being the gentleman that he is, couldn’t help but skate over to Henrik and congratulate him. It was a beautiful moment and one that I will never forget.
Final thoughts…
That just about does it for this week’s edition for The Canuck Way mailbag. If you want to get involved, make sure to follow our Twitter account and watch out for the mailbag tweet that goes out every Friday!
Next. Canucks: Love it or hate it, Pearson is here to stay. dark
Stay COVID-19 safe out there everyone, and go Canucks go! See you again next week!