CANUCKS IN TRANSITION
Team should focus on youngsters
In the last meaningless game, at the end of the final meaningless month last season, Matt Bartkowski played 19 minutes and Andrey Pedan was a healthy scratch.
It’s wild to think about that now. Right to the bitter end, and nowhere near the playoffs, the Canucks played Bartkowski, a fringe National Hockey League veteran who was out of the league a few months later, over prospects such as Pedan and Jordan Subban.
There are three words that seem so obvious this time of year for a team accepting it’s not going to be in the post-season. Play. The. Kids. Often, it’s easier to write that on a sign, bring it down to Rogers Arena and pin it to the glass than to actually get it done.
Part of it is because points still matter to a coach. Could an 86-point season swing someone thinking about replacing Willie Desjardins? It’s possible. Of course, the Canucks would have to go 10-4-1 in their final 15 games to get there.
But aside from the coach, there are veterans who want effort, points (their own), and, yes, wins right to the end.
And keeping those veterans happy, arguably, has been part of the reason Desjardins has built a team this year that consistently plays hard for him.
“(The coach) has to show the team we’re here to win games,” Henrik Sedin said. “When you get away from that, it takes away a lot from us.
“There’s a way to (play the kids) without taking away from us feeling that we need to win. You see a guy like (Reid Boucher) getting time on the power play, and that’s good because he can show what he can do there. But late in games, you may not play guys who haven’t had a great game.
“It’s a fine line, but (Desjardins) needs to show us he wants to win.”
Somehow, with this coach, I don’t think that will be a problem. But fate has a funny way of giving sports teams what they need.
Remember, Troy Stecher couldn’t crack an eight-man defensive unit to start the season, and only got his opportunity because of injuries. It was a similar story for Nikita Tryamkin, who would have played significantly fewer games if Erik Gudbranson had been healthy for the past few months instead of recovering from wrist surgery.
Both players got into the lineup because of necessity, not because they earned it. And both have thrived.
A recent run of injuries and trades have created a similar petri dish for Canucks forwards.
Boucher, who has had his conditioning publicly shamed by the organization, has got minutes and excelled. Maybe peak fitness isn’t as important as the Canucks think it is. Think Kyle Wellwood.
The electric Nikolay Goldobin has made the most of limited chances, enough for fans to swoon and demand more.
Alex Grenier has been recalled and will play tonight against Pittsburgh. He’s not really a prospect anymore but at least he’s younger than Jayson Megna.
And up and down the lineup, it is the kids who are outplaying the veterans. As Postmedia News contributor Jeff Paterson pointed out, of the Canucks’ past 12 goals scored, only one was by a player older than 24.
In the past 20 games, Brandon Sutter, who probably is too injured to be playing, has five points and the Sedins have four goals, combined.
Alex Edler is the only veteran on this team who is outplaying the Canucks’ collection of youth, which is good news for the head coach because right now giving the kids more and more ice time may give the Canucks their best chance to win.
“You try to win every game right to the end of the year,” Desjardins said. “Your lineup may change a little bit, but whoever is in the lineup that day, you expect to play hard and try to win.
“That doesn’t change. Maybe you do dress some younger guys. Maybe guys who have performed a little better wouldn’t be in.
“But the expectations don’t change. That has to be a constant. It has to be ‘This is how you play and this is how you get better.’”
The Canucks’ quickest path to getting better just may be giving many fans what they want — more kids.
Maybe you do dress some younger guys. Maybe guys who have performed a little better wouldn’t be in. But the expectations don’t change.