Here is a summary:
To lead off, Allvin was asked if he agrees with Thatcher Demko's assessment of the team so far in that they are playing very hard, and the Canucks General Manager said that he does believe the players are playing hard despite the depleted lineup, and he is pleased with how they are digging in citing “good pockets” of hockey.
When asked if he believes if the team as it is currently constructed can contend when the lineup is full, Allvin said that he “believes in the group” and that the ultimate plan was to get some of the younger players up getting more reps and that they will only continue to grow and that the team will get better. He says he believes the team is “definitely built to contend” and that the team could find some extra pieces and additions as time goes on.
When asked about a rebuild, which many of the questions sourced by After Hours from twitter were about, Allvin talked about the difficulty of dealing with the J.T. Miller situation the prior season, but then began to discuss the importance of having young players in the pipeline and developing in Abbotsford like Elias Nils Pettersson, Tom Willander and Jonathan Lekkerimäki among others, and how the Canucks are transitioning to being a younger team and how they are currently one of the youngest teams in the NHL, but also underscored this by saying that “the plan changed a year ago when the team parted ways with J.T. Miller for different reasons."
Host Scott Oake got more to the point with his next question, saying “surely Patrik, you are aware of the sentiment around town that says you should tear it down and start again, are you not?” Allvin responded by saying that you cannot do that when you have good players like “Quinn Hughes, Demko, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and the next wave of young players like Willander, Pettersson, Mancini and Lekkerimäki,” and expressed excitement about Braeden Cootes and goaltender Alexei Medvedev on the London Knights, and that he believes the team is well prepared going forward and that he sees a lot of growth with the players within the Canucks organization.
Oake went on to compare the situation of the Canucks versus the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks, as both organizations did complete rebuilds and are both ahead of the Canucks in the standings, to which Allvin cited the Canucks best players Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson and Demko and how there is no guarantee the team will be able to find players like that again.
The subject of Quinn Hughes came up next, as the Canucks Captain only has one more season under contract after this current season. Allvin praised Hughes’ leadership and on-ice abilities, and how the growth of the team’s young players and the team playing .500 hockey despite the injuries is something that “excites Quinn,” but that the organization will also do “everything” they can to keep him. He went on to say that he is “not worried” about Hughes and that his start defenceman is playing really good hockey.
Kiefer Sherwood was the next player to come up, and when Allvin was asked if he felt comfortable beginning the impending free agent's contract talks on After Hours, followed by if the forward could potentially be trade bait if there is no extension, Allvin chucked and said “it is still early” but that “Kiefer has been really good for us,” and that he “plays his role really well for us,” but that he would see due to the team's cap constraints.
When asked about Canucks highest paid player Elias Pettersson, Allvin said that he believes Elias is handling the pressure “really well” and that he “is very proud of Elias’ two-way game,” saying that he came into camp in great shape and built a great relationship with new Head Coach Adam Foote. Allvin continued to sing the praise of Petterssons defensive game, and stated that he does not believe Pettersson needs to score 100 points for the team to be successful, but that he could be shooting the puck more than he has so far.
Finally, on the Canucks pursuit of a top centre, Allvin said the pursuit “absolutely” continues, but without explicitly stating it lead hosts Scott Oake and Iain MacIntyre to believe that the cost to acquire one will be a Tom Willander, Elias Nils Pettersson or Jonathan Lekkerimäki, among other Canucks top young players.
Full video below.