The Canuck Way Mailbag: Playoff chances, Olympics, Ennis, more

This particular offseason for the Vancouver Canucks has felt longer than most, and I believe it has a lot to do with the excitement surrounding this new-look team.

General Manager Jim Benning followed through with a home run swing on what he promised would be an aggressive offseason for the Canucks, and fans are eager to see what that new product will look like on the ice.

To help round out a hungry yet frustrated core, Benning moved out a heavy amount of money in the bottom-six, flipping Loui Eriksson ($6M), Jay Beagle ($3M), and Antoine Roussel ($3M) for a competitive top-six forward and a proven top-pairing blueliner in Conor Garland and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Now Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes still remain to be signed, but when they do eventually put pen to paper on new deals, they’ll be returning to a team that’s — on paper — ready to make a real push to be competitive.

With that being said, training camp is just weeks away and The Canuck Way is here with another edition of the mailbag to help you get through the week. The summer days are dwindling, and that means players are beginning to flock back to Vancouver in preparation for the new season. Let’s get into it!

After a long two-year wait, Vasily Podkolzin has finally touched down in Vancouver.

The Canucks’ top prospect has been very hyped upon his arrival to the NHL, and because of a little teaser video dropped by the Canucks’ media team earlier this week, fans are very much buying in to the hype. Even Bo Horvat seems to be thrilled with what he sees so far.

“He looks big and strong, like his maturity out there. You know, he looks like a man, he doesn’t look like a junior player or somebody who can’t step into the league right away, so I’m looking forward to seeing him in a game or a high-paced practice at camp.”

Judging from what the captain is saying, this kid seems to be the real deal, which should be music to the ears of Canucks’ coaching staff, management and, of course, the fans.

Podkolzin is a player who is defensively responsible first, but can bring a matured net-front presence that will hopefully complement the team’s middle-six group early on.

With players making the transition from overseas, there’s always the question of how a smaller and more compact ice surface will affect a player’s overall production. Pettersson and Nils Höglander made quick progress in recent past, but not the same can be said for every player.

Whether there is an adjustment period or not, Podkolzin has the potential to become a game-changer for the Canucks. If he hits — and he should — Vancouver’s got a very good chance of icing the best top-nine forward group in their division, making a playoff berth that much more in reach.

The answer to this question is of personal opinion, but for me, I’m excited to see what Ekman-Larsson is capable of.

He’s been heavily criticized over the past few seasons, but I’m of the belief that a change of scenery, along with the support of a young and competitive core, can ultimately re-energize the Swedish defender and help him return to top tier status.

Being competitors who were often pitted against OEL, the Sedins fully backed the idea of Ekman-Larsson playing in Vancouver, and their words goes a long way for me. They share the highest of respect for him as both a player and a person, and if they believe in him that highly, then so do I.

Defensively, OEL has dropped off a bit in terms of being elite. But with that being said, he had also been playing for one of the worst teams in the NHL, in addition to the well-know tension between him and management for quite some time. A feeling of not being wanted can have a big impact on one’s ability to play, and the Canucks are banking on a change of scenery to rediscover Ekman-Larsson’s defensive capabilities.

Offensively speaking, though, he’s managed to keep his points per game above .500 (0.509PPG) over the past four seasons, meaning that, even at the age of 30, he’s still a very capable point producer.

With him now being on a more productive squad, I’m betting on an uptick in point production, and if he can sort out his wrongdoings in the defensive end, OEL could be the difference between a first-round exit and a run to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Regardless, he’s a big addition to the blue line.

Admittedly, I don’t know too much about Jason Dickinson, but he is saying all the right things right now.

The Canucks recently released an interview with him that appeared to take place after some sort of summer skate in the Vancouver area, and all signs are pointing to Dickinson as being a well-spoken player who is really sinking his teeth into his role on the team.

“It’s the entire core of my game (defence). It was something that was instilled in me in Dallas. Every team was like ‘you’re so hard to play against, you don’t give up anything’. I want to bring that to this team. I want to be that guy that brings that kind of mentality and that kind of motivation to play hard in your own end and be just as hard in the offensive end.”

The Canucks have been lacking a competitive defensive centre at the third line position since Manny Malhotra. Brandon Sutter gave it a good go, but unfortunately, never became the player he was paid to be.

The Canucks have that player now in Dickinson, and he’s going to do everything in his power to give Vancouver a pesky third line that can move the needle. Whether he’s playing centre or he’s shifted to the wing, Dickinson is confident he’ll be the guy nobody wants to match up against.

In a perfect world, Dickinson will be awarded the leading role in Connor McDavid’s nightmares, being the perfect shutdown centre who carries the team in getting past the best player in the NHL.