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The Canuck Way Mailbag: Pearson, expansion, next season, more

By Brayden Ursel

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 14: Tanner Pearson #70 of the Vancouver Canucks (C) celebrates a power-play goal against the St. Louis Blues at 13:01 of the second period and is joined by Elias Pettersson #40 (L) and Jake Virtanen #18 (R) in Game Two of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 14, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 14: Tanner Pearson #70 of the Vancouver Canucks (C) celebrates a power-play goal against the St. Louis Blues at 13:01 of the second period and is joined by Elias Pettersson #40 (L) and Jake Virtanen #18 (R) in Game Two of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 14, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /
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Daniel and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks. /

Mailbag part 3

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.

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!

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