Sutter well-suited for shutdown role
While centre may anchor fourth line, Canucks plan to roll 12-deep up front
Travis Green is loath to label his lines.
His second alignment is expected to be as prominent as his first, and the third and fourth lines are easily interchangeable for the Vancouver Canucks, depending on game flow, indifferent play and preferred matchups.
So what does that make Brandon Sutter, who was in a fourth-line shutdown role against the phenomenal Connor McDavid in the pre-season finale Saturday?
“A good player,” Green said Monday. “He has a lot of intangibles that maybe aren’t on the highlight reel at the end of the night. But from the beginning of camp, I’ve matched him up against top lines as much as I could to see where it’s at. “It’s nice as a coach to have a guy you can put out against topend guys who are very dangerous.” In theory, it makes sense. Sutter won 13 of 19 draws against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday and was a key part of holding the NHL’s offensive juggernaut to one power-play goal. His new deployment will also take pressure off Bo Horvat, who has previously functioned in that capacity. Now Horvat can concentrate on building offensive chemistry with Sven Baertschi and Brock Boeser. It will also balance out minutes and workloads. Allowing Henrik and Daniel Sedin to log a more manageable 15 to 16 minutes a night and not mix it up with top lines will help. So will giving Green another offensive push from the bottom-six mix — Sutter did have 17 goals last season with a right hand and wrist that weren’t right down the stretch.
Run all this competitiveness-by-committee stuff by Sutter and you get a nod of acceptance.
Labelled a “foundational player” by general manager Jim Benning when acquired two years ago from the Pittsburgh Penguins, the 28-year-old centre is at the point in his career where winning trumps everything, even the security of four years left on his five-year, US$21.875-million contract extension.
Playing meaningful games in March and being in contention for a wild-card playoff position would be considered a victory for a team in transition. And knowing nothing weighs on the psyche like constant losing — the Canucks came within a setback last November of matching a franchise futility mark of 10 straight losses — Sutter is open to anything and everything.
“You hit March 1, you want to be right in the mix of it (playoffs),” Sutter said. “You get to a point in your career when you’re established where you just want to win — you don’t care about anything
else. There are a lot of the guys in the room who feel like that.”
That’s great. But can this club really exceed predictions that have them earning around 75 points?
“With the balance we have in our lines, we can make people think twice about it (low expectations),” Sutter said.
Against the Oilers on Saturday, Sutter centred Darren Archibald and Jayson Megna. Archibald, who is on an AHL contract, will either sign an NHL deal and make the 23man roster before the Tuesday, 2 p.m. deadline or be reassigned to the Utica Comets. That’s where the waived Megna is already.
For the season opener this Saturday against the Oilers at Rogers Arena, Sutter’s wingers are to be determined.
He has a lot of intangibles that maybe aren’t on the highlight reel at the end of the night.
“If you have the right mix of guys who understand what our job is, we can be pretty good defensively, and if you are against top-line guys, you’re going to get offensive chances, too,” Sutter said. “Top guys want to spend time in the offensive zone and if you can hem them in (in their own zone), they can get frustrated.
“We’ve got four pretty good lines, no matter how they shape up. We’re going to see even minutes across the board and we have that depth. We have 12 forwards who can play 12 to 18 minutes a night.”
The big question for the seasonopener is whether Thomas Vanek is the right fit for the Sedins. Green had Markus Granlund, a proven and productive winger for the twins last season, between Loui Eriksson and Jake Virtanen at practice Monday. Who he has with Sutter in the opener will depend on the roster deadline and who’s going to sit.
It could be Sutter between Archibald and Derek Dorsett. It could be Sutter between Sam Gagner and Virtanen. And if Archibald makes the roster, a veteran is going to be exposed on waivers.
“Everybody is on the bubble, we have to cut one more player,” Green said. “The young guys have played well, but we’re down to 24 (players) and we have to let one more go.”
OVERTIME: Henrik Sedin had a maintenance day Monday. Alexander Burmistrov wasn’t in regular line rotations Monday and Green referred to the centre/winger as a possible “rover” this season. Andrey Pedan was placed on waivers Monday and if he clears Tuesday, the defenceman will join goalie Richard Bachman and forwards Megna and Michael Chaput, who cleared Monday. PTO candidate Ryan White (concussion) is still following NHL protocol.