The Vancouver Canucks finally wrapped up their preseason schedule on Friday (Oct. 4) against the Edmonton Oilers, coming away with a solid 4-1 victory. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead on goals by Quinn Hughes, Carson Soucy and Arshdeep Bains and never looked back after that. Thanks to great penalty killing and airtight goaltending by Arturs Silovs, they were never in doubt of winning the game and should feel pretty good heading into the regular season on Wednesday.
Final Roster Battles Between Raty, Bains & Aman
The Canucks’ top-six is seemingly set in stone for opening night with J.T. Miller centring Brock Boeser and Danton Heinen and Elias Pettersson between Daniel Sprong and Jake DeBrusk. The battle is being waged at the bottom of the lineup with three forwards trying to take spots on the roster that will be submitted to the NHL on Monday. As Sportsnet’s Ian MacIntyre stated in a recent article, it’s likely only one of Aatu Raty, Bains or Nils Aman will be able to make the team. All three have had solid preseasons and deserve to be on the final lineup card against the Calgary Flames on Oct. 9. Still, in reality, with general manager Patrik Allvin wanting to avoid long-term injured reserve (LTIR), two of them will probably be dispatched to Abbotsford (or in Aman’s case placed on waivers).
Raty has been impressive since the Young Stars tournament in Penticton, showcasing his improved skating and faceoff ability in both dots, ultimately usurping veteran Teddy Blueger on the third line. He has played between Nils Hoglander and Conor Garland throughout training camp and would have again in the final preseason game if Garland hadn’t tweaked something in the morning skate. Even after struggling in that game and incorrectly reading his coverage on Evan Bouchard’s goal, Tocchet still had him centering the third line in practice on Saturday with Hoglander and Kiefer Sherwood flanking him.
Aman has quietly done his job this preseason, killing penalties and showing flashes of offensive potential. Basically he’s been the same guy that played 43 games last season for Tocchet and was a low-maintenance center/winger on the fourth line. He would probably get claimed if he was placed on waivers, given his low cap hit and ability to fill a bottom-six role with no fuss. However, Phil Di Giuseppe cleared and was sent to Abbotsford, and he’s pretty much the same type of forward, just older.
As for Bains, he just played his two best games of the preseason against the Oilers, first on the road in Edmonton and then in his hometown of Vancouver. He scored power-play goals in both games, and looked good doing it, roofing a shot off a pass from Sherwood on Monday and finishing a three-way passing play with Heinen and Hoglander on Friday. He has also shown great awareness defensively, which is a hallmark of what Tocchet looks for in forwards playing anywhere in his lineup.
Related: Arshdeep Bains Should Start the Season With the Canucks
As I said, they have all made their case to be on the opening night roster. Now it’s up to the coaching staff who they feel will most benefit the team when they drop the puck on Wednesday. If it were me, I would choose Bains at this point, especially if Pius Suter is healthy and can center the third or fourth line.
Penalty Killing Looks Good Going Into Regular Season
While the rosters have not been representative of what the Canucks will see in the regular season (except for the last two games), their penalty killing has been a bright spot throughout the preseason. They only gave up one power-play goal and basically shut down the vaunted Oilers’ man advantage when the big guns Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid were in the lineup. They were aggressive, in good position with their sticks and bodies, and decisive with their clears. Most of all, they didn’t allow a lot of high-danger chances. According to Natural Stat Trick, they only gave up four during the entire preseason – second only to the Dallas Stars who gave up three. They also finished second to the Carolina Hurricanes in overall scoring chances against, finishing with 11 compared to the Hurricanes’ nine.
The Canucks have a new penalty-killing coach this season in Adam Foote, who was arguably one of the best defensive defencemen – and penalty killers – in the 1990s and early 2000s (from ‘Canucks: Penalty kill attention now falls on Adam Foote,’ The Province, 6/6/24). He is taking over from Mike Yeo, who departed for the Ottawa Senators in the offseason. His new system, which seems to be based on aggressiveness and good sticks, appears to be working. We will see how it goes in the regular season, but if he can make the Canucks’ a top-five penalty-killing team again, which we haven’t seen since 2014-15 when they finished second, wins should be easier to come by.
Silovs Should Start Opening Night After Strong Performance vs. Oilers
Arturs Silovs had the privilege of playing in the final game of the preseason and thus making a closing argument for his case to be the starter on Wednesday. It turned out to be a strong one as he made 28 saves on 29 shots – including a highlight-reel beauty where he went post-to-post to stop Zach Hyman. He looked in midseason form, and will most likely be in the crease when the Canucks open the season against the Flames.
Silovs was rocking the white pads ala Thatcher Demko and looked a bit like the 2024 Vezina Trophy runner-up with his athleticism and positioning. If the Canucks get this version of the Latvian netminder consistently, Demko can take his time recovering and come back not just 100 percent but 110 percent. Depending on how Kevin Lankinen does, it might force a tough decision for management; do they send Silovs down to Abbotsford, or put Lankinen on the trade market?
Quick Hits
- The Canucks might have a dangerous second-unit power play this season. Even Bains – who isn’t a proven commodity in the NHL on the power play – has looked dangerous out there, scoring two goals. When Dakota Joshua is back, they will have a pretty good group to choose from: Sprong, Hoglander, Heinen, Sherwood, Garland, Suter, and possibly Bains. Maybe the first unit won’t have to play almost the full two minutes anymore.
- If he isn’t already, Sherwood might become a fan favourite this season. He was signed in free agency because of how annoying he was to play against in the playoffs, and he’s already shown that attribute in the preseason. He got under the skin of Darnell Nurse, prompting him to leave his defensive position and go after Sherwood with a big hit. It led to a two-on-one, but play was stopped due to everyone coming to Sherwood’s aid afterward. If he can be that pest all season long, fans will fall in love with him, just like they did with Joshua.
- J.T. Miller was definitely rusty out there as he made a few gaffs defensively, leading to high-danger chances that Silovs had to stop. Overall, he was on the ice for five high-danger chances against and finished with a Corsi For percentage of 40. Hopefully, he’s gotten it out of his system now, and we see the Miller that was worthy of Selke votes and put up 103 points last season rather than the pre-Tocchet version that was prone to turnovers and bad decisions.
It’s Finally Time For Puck Drop, Up Next: Game 1 vs. Flames
The Canucks will battle the Flames on Wednesday in game one of the regular season. The points matter now, and judging by the lineup general manager Patrik Allvin has assembled, we should be in for another exciting few months. Hopefully, it goes further than May this time, but that’s a long way down the road. All I know is it’s great to see hockey back on our television screens again. Let’s drop the puck already!
