NO GREEN LIGHT FOR CANUCKS
Jobs must be earned, says bench boss
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 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 Thursday. Hoping for bounce-back seasons from aging veterans could be countered by the potential of highscoring 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 defensivezone coverage at centre. It’s finding room for the sharpshooting 20-year-old 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 firstline conversation.
“That spot is wide open,” Green said. “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.”
Elevating Eriksson, who has just 21 goals in 115 games over the last two seasons, could be harder than moving the four years remaining on his six-year, $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.
“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.
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 plea 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,” Green said. “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 one-year extension. He was limited to eight goals last season 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. 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 had in 53 games.
There’s also Brandon Sutter, who had 11 goals in a shutdown capacity, and Sam Gagner who had 10.
Canucks general manager Jim Benning added another level of intrigue by repeating he’s willing to expose veterans to waivers, and demote them to the AHL affiliate Utica Comets, if younger players earn the right to play.
“That’s what training camp is for,” Benning said. “We have extra players and players who are 22 and 23 need to take the next step.”
As for Green, the next development step 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.”