Speedy, skilled forwards on GM'S shopping list
Benning wants team to get back to what it's good at: a fast-skating, skilled game
“We want to add speed and depth to our forward group,” Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning said a week ago, following the conclusion of his team's 202021 NHL season.
It's not the first time Benning has laid out such a vision. After his hiring in May 2014, he spoke in similar terms.
“We need to get back to what we're good at. This organization needs to play an uptempo, fast-skating, skilled game. Before last season, this team had … a relentless attitude that they were going to skate and to wear teams down and to score. For whatever reason that didn't happen last year, but I'm hoping that, with Trevor (Linden), we hire the right coach for this group and get back to that moving forward,” he said.
Seven years later, he's back on the hunt. In looking at the Canucks' roster for 2021-22, there are some obvious points to fill. First up, let's look at the forwards. The Canucks' top two centres are very solid.
Elias Pettersson had a difficult 2020-21 with a wrist injury that ended his season early. He said in his post-season media session that he was focused on getting back to the player he wants to be in 202122 and at age 22, he's right in his prime as a scorer.
Captain Bo Horvat played hard and was voted the team's MVP by the fans. He turns 27 this fall, not a spring chicken anymore, but will be a quality forward for several more seasons.
There are also some handy wingers. We know that Pettersson centring J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser can make for a formidable trio, a first line that any team in the league would want.
Tanner Pearson was re-signed and is expected to start next season on Horvat's left side. The real question on the second line is whether Nils Höglander will be the right winger again.
The rookie Swede proved to be one of the better two-way forces on the team. Using the expected goals metric, which measures the probability of a goal being scored off every shot, when Horvat and Pearson played with Höglander, the Canucks had an expected goals metric of 53 per cent and just 46.5 per cent when he wasn't playing with them. That's an important consideration.
The problem, as Benning himself identified, comes when the top two lines haven't been on the ice. Some of that is about the makeup of the defence corps, but as the Winnipeg Jets have shown this season, if you can build three strong forward lines and you have a top-class goalie, you can make up for a sub-par blue-line.
The Canucks have a sea of options to play on the fourth line — Matthew Highmore, Jayce Hawryluk, Travis Boyd, Zack Macewen, Will Lockwood, Kole Lind and so on — so the focus for improvement going forward must be on the third line.
THE ROOKIE
One winger on the third line is almost certainly going to be Vasily Podkolzin. Benning told CHEK-TV on Friday that he expected to be able to announce Podkolzin's signing after the IIHF World Championships, underway in Latvia.
The Russian had a strong second half to his season in the KHL with SKA St. Petersburg. He's a powerful force along the boards and a great playmaker off the wing. He knows how to use his size to create space for both himself and his linemates.
There's every reason to think he'll make an easy transition to the NHL next fall, playing as the left winger on the team's third line.
THE HOLES
Which brings us to centre and right wing on the third line.
There are no other options on the Canucks' depth chart at the moment. Ideally they'd have a young, cheap centre ready to take the next step.
There's no one on the wing who truly fits the bill either. Lockwood is fast, but does he have the offensive element to last in the role? Jonah Gadjovich has nice hands but does he have the wheels?
There are some interesting players who are pending free agents, led by Florida's Alex Wennberg. But given the season he just had, with 17 goals, he's not going to be cheap. Same with Blake Coleman, who scored 14 times for Tampa.
More than likely, filling these spots is going to be a roll of the dice on players like Vegas' Tomas Nosek, who has been a solid role player for the Golden Knights, or Vinnie Hinostroza, the pint-sized forward who started the year with Florida on a cheap contract but finished with Chicago and picked up 12 points in 17 games. Someone like Steven Lorentz from Carolina, a player the Hurricanes won't be able to protect in the expansion draft, might be a decent bet.
Looking at a veteran who is looking for an intriguing opportunity and willing to sign for less, as Joe Thornton and Jason Spezza have done with Toronto, and Corey Perry with Montreal, is worth consideration as well.
Or maybe the Canucks will get even more creative and look to Europe, seeing if they can find a player in top circuits like the Swedish Hockey League or the KHL who are unrestricted free agents.
Solving this problem isn't going to be easy.
And on Monday, we'll look at the other big question: the defence corps.