The Province

Nothing carved in stone for Green

Canucks coach heralds ‘different era’ as stiff competitio­n for jobs looms at training camp

- bkuzma@postmedia.com @benkuzma

Let it play out. Wait and see. Not opposed to anything.

Those pre-camp roster messages on Thursday from Travis Green were a precursor to what awaits the second-year NHL coach and his Vancouver squad this season.

The Canucks not only have to find their moral compass with the departure of the retired Henrik and Daniel Sedin, they also have to replace a combined 105 points from the twins while trying to prop up a 26th-ranked offence.

It’s why Green was peppered about line combinatio­ns and how soon he can find symmetry. Hoping for bounce-back seasons from aging veterans could be countered by the potential of high-scoring rookies such as Elias Pettersson and Jonathan Dahlen, who dominated their respective Swedish leagues, and Adam Gaudette, who captured the Hobey Baker Award as the top NCAA player.

It’s not just growing with Pettersson, 19, as he learns defensive zone coverage at centre. It’s finding room for the sharpshoot­ing 20-yearold Dahlen at wing and how the well-rounded Gaudette, 21, can crack a roster with depth down the middle.

It even extends to who’s the best fit with Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser. The possibilit­y of rejuvenati­ng a veteran has Sven Baertschi, Loui Eriksson, Brendan Leipsic and Nikolay Goldobin in the first-line conversati­on.

“That spot is wide open,” said Green. “We’re not a team where you can say this has to be a line and I’m not going to pencil in certain guys — I want to see where everyone is at.

“It’s a different era. I still have open slots in all the (pre-season) games. I haven’t put anything down.”

That’s because elevating Eriksson, who has scored only 21 goals in 115 games over the last two seasons, could be harder than moving the four years remaining on his sixyear, $36 million contract. A year ago at camp, Green experiment­ed with Horvat between Baertschi and Eriksson. The Swedish winger then suffered knee and rib injuries and was limited to 50 games.

“You’ve seen how good they are, and if I play with them, it’s definitely going to help my game,” Eriksson said of Horvat and Boeser. “I need to produce and I need to read how hard they play. Maybe we can find some chemistry, but we’ll see how it goes in camp.”

Eriksson and Baertschi might be better fits to insulate Pettersson’s transition to North America by being responsibl­e wingers. They also need to buy into Green’s demand for scoring by committee rather than placing too much of a burden on younger players.

“We need more (guys) to be better players than they were last year,” said Green. “Everyone should feel pressure because we had 73 points. At some point in your career, you have to make it and prove you can play.

“We could quite possibly have two or three true rookies in this group, and a few other young guys trying to crack the lineup. And that’s a great problem to have.”

That sounded like a shot across the bow of Markus Granlund, 25, who’s on a oneyear extension. He was limited to eight goals last season in a reduced role as a shutdown winger, after netting 19 goals the previous season with the Sedins.

Green could also take issue with Baertschi, 25, who couldn’t shake the injury bug last season with a fractured jaw and separated shoulder. He still pocketed a three-year, $10 million extension on July 1, so there must be belief there’s more than the 14 goals he produced in 53 games last season.

There’s also Brandon Sutter, who had 11 goals while paying in a shutdown capacity, and Sam Gagner, who had 10. So Granlund and Baertschi have company.

Baertschi’s connection with Green dates to Portland of the WHL. So when the Canucks lost five of six games in February, the coach purposely scratched a player who could take it, hoping it would send the right message to the room.

Baertschi sat on Feb. 15 and then scored in two of his next three games.

“That was good for me but camp is going to be tough again,” said Baertschi. “I’ve just got to stay healthy. When I was with Brock and Bo, we played well (11 combined points on Nov. 4 in a 4-2 win over Pittsburgh) and I’ve shown I can play with different guys and still perform.”

Canucks’ general manager Jim Benning added another level of intrigue by repeating his earlier statement that he’s willing to demote veterans to the AHL’s Utica Comets, if younger players earn the right to play ahead of them.

“That’s what training camp is for,” said Benning. “We have extra players and players who are 22 and 23 need to take the next step.”

As for Green, the next step in his developmen­t behind an NHL bench is about sticking to his principles and matching wits with his peers.

“I believe you have to have strong communicat­ion and talk openly and honestly and treat each player differentl­y,” he said. “Learning the league was a big thing. Little nuances. Subtle line changes. Coaches have different tactics to get a certain player on the ice.”

 ?? — THE CANADIAN PRESS ?? Canucks head coach Travis Green says players have to perform better than they did last season and ‘everyone should feel pressure’ coming into camp.
— THE CANADIAN PRESS Canucks head coach Travis Green says players have to perform better than they did last season and ‘everyone should feel pressure’ coming into camp.
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BEN KUZMA
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