The Canuck Way Mailbag: Projected lines, Miller at centre, and more

It’s that time again!

The Canuck Way mailbag is back in action, and we are here to answer all of your questions about the Vancouver Canucks.

No doubt about it, General Manager Jim Benning and his team have been seriously active over the past couple of weeks, and these moves have given the fans more than enough to talk about and discuss as we head into the dog days of summer.

Let’s dive right into the questions of the week.

You might think I’m crazy to say it, but the big trade made between the Canucks and Coyotes could potentially turn out to have the greatest effect on the team moving into the future. For better, or for worse.

The Canucks moved veteran forwards Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, along with a first-round pick in 2021, a 2022 second-round pick and a seventh round selection the same year. In return, Vancouver brought in top-pairing defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and top-six forward Conor Garland.

There is a lot to be concerned about in the acquisition of OEL. The 30-year-old has dropped off defensively in recent years, and his remaining six-year term could turn ugly in a hurry.

On the other hand, the extension of Conor Garland could prove to be a complete slam dunk.

Listed at a generous 5’10, the 25-year-old has scratched and clawed for every minute of ice time at the NHL level. Now with 164 games under his belt, the American forward has registered a total of 96 points (47 goals, 49 assists), proving that he’s fully capable of solidifying a spot as a top-six forward, all while drawing comparisons to the rough and tough Brad Marchand.

Freshly inked to a five-year contract worth an annual value of $4.95 million, Benning and co. have a lot of confidence in their newest winger. In fact, if Garland delivers as much as most people are expecting him to, that contract could turn out to be an absolute steal in a few years.

Be excited about Garland. The fans are going to love him.

I’ve been a big supporter of plugging J.T. Miller into a centre role further down the lineup for a long time now, but the third-line minutes were where that interest dropped off. Now that the Canucks have acquired a legitimate third-line centre in Jason Dickinson, the option to slot Miller into that role isn’t very appeasing. However, it doesn’t rule out the intriguing idea of playing him on the second line, a proposal I brought up just the other day.

With the Canucks having the option to ease Bo Horvat‘s defensive zone starts, putting him between Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser could give Miller his own second line to centre. Not only that, but the wingers he’d form chemistry with, in this case Garland and Nils Höglander, could prove to be offensively deadly and defensively difficult to play against.

Just imagine the “dog on a bone” style of play between Miller, Garland and Höglander. There’s a ton of energy between the trio, and they’d be highly capable of wearing down their opposition on a nightly basis.

Personally, I’d be against splitting up the Lotto Line to start the season, mainly because the focus should be more on giving Horvat the best offensive weapons to play with, rather than to see if Miller can excel down the middle

But, with Travis Green open to keeping Miller at centre (and him also having faceoff experience there from last season), it’s a good fallback option.

And if the Canucks are chasing a game and need a spark, it’s definitely a lineup worth giving a look.

Short answer: Yes, Miller is capable of being the centre on his own line.

One of the best parts of being a hockey fan in the middle of summer is imagining what the lineup will look like next season. It’s something we speculate about year in and year out, but next season is particularly intriguing. There are a ton of new faces coming into the fold, giving Vancouver a plethora of option to explore.

Here’s how I see the forward group panning out:

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Yes, the option for Miller in a 2C or 3C role could very well be on the table for October, but let’s be real. The Lotto Line is Vancouver’s biggest offensive threat, and should start the season together. A year ago, the trio was one of the NHL’s most dangerous lines, and there is no reason they can’t return to form.

Garland comes in on the second line to give Horvat a true top-six winger to play with. Their “shoot first” playing style could create chemistry issues, but if they can find a way to make it work, the duo should give the Canucks the best top-six in the Pacific Division.

As for the third line, I have Pearson dropping down to join Dickinson and Vasily Podkolzin, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Green starts Höglander in that spot. He’s a firm believer in earning your ice time, and we can all still remember how long it took him to put Quinn Hughes on the top power play unit ahead of Alex Edler. Playing devil’s advocate, Green might steer away from playing two youthful players like Höglander and Podkolzin in such an important shutdown role.

The fourth line will consist of the speedy Tyler Motte (that’s a lock, given he’s healthy by training camp), centred by a veteran face-off man in Brandon Sutter and flanked by either Zack MacEwen or Matthew Highmore, depending on Green’s preference.

As for the defence pairings, I see it playing out like this:

Ekman-Larsson and Tyler Myers playing together could scare a lot of people given their defensive inconsistencies as of late, but I’m confident that this will be the pairing Green looks to to take care of business on a nightly basis. OEL is coming in to take some defensive responsibility away from Hughes, and Green is known for giving the ‘Big Friendly Giant’ a bunch of minutes.

It may not work out by the end, but the Canucks are banking on a bounce-back season from OEL, and they’ll give this pairing time to either work it out or burn to the ground.

The Hughes and Travis Hamonic pairing seemed to gel towards the end of the 2020-21 season, and there’s no reason to stray from that chemistry. I highly expect this pairing to enter camp as a duo, and they’ll have a lot of time to continue building off of each other. Hughes serves as the team’s offensive dynamo from the blueline, and Hamonic provides him with enough defensive stability that allows him to play to his full potential.

Finally, the third pairing consists of Jack Rathbone (who will beat Juolevi for the spot) and Tucker Poolman. Rathbone showed good offensive promise once he cracked the lineup last season, while Poolman brings size, grit and a “stay-at-home” defensive mindset. This should be a good combination but, just in case it doesn’t work out, the Canucks fortunately have depth from Juolevi, Luke Schenn and Brad Hunt.

Definitely a big if at the start of the offseason, and now an impossibility. Tomas Tatar signed with the New Jersey Devils on a two-year, $9 million deal ($4.5 million AAV).

Frankly, this was a no-go from the start. Simply not enough cap space to make it work, especially for a 30-year-old veteran like Tatar.

That about does it for The Canuck Way mailbag! Keep your eyes on Twitter for the next round of questions!

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