Joni Mitchell was mostly right when she sang, “You donâ€t know what you got till itâ€s gone.†But in the case of the Vancouver Canucks, everyone knows what theyâ€ve got in Quinn Hughes — and heâ€s still here.
No matter how this season unfurls for the Canucks, there will be angst on the West Coast about the future of Hughes, who will make a decision next summer whether to negotiate a long-term extension in Vancouver or seek to join his brothers in the National Hockey League in New Jersey.
This uncertainty only heightens the appreciation for what Hughes does on nights like Wednesday (and most nights), when the Canucks†all-world defenceman beautifully set up the first two goals for his team and then later deftly scored one himself as Vancouver dismantled the Calgary Flames 8-1 in their penultimate pre-season game.
Hughes was easily the best player on the ice in Calgary, although there were a lot of strong Vancouver performances.
With their captain headlining what will be close to the Canucks†opening-night lineup against the Flames next Thursday, the team further cranked up its intensity and urgency and checked a pile of boxes for what new head coach Adam Foote wants.
The Canucks played fast and aggressively. They got their defencemen up on the rush consistently, and were outstanding on special teams. Top winger Brock Boeser sniped the first goal on a breakaway from Hughes†brilliant stretch pass, and top centre Elias Pettersson continued his strong pre-season and made it look like 2023 when he lasered in a one-timer on a power-play that went 2-for-4.
Vancouver penalty killing went 6-for-6 and generated a pair of shorthanded goals. Would-be NHL centres Aatu Raty and Max Sasson scored to put exclamation marks on their auditions, and the defence looks close to set, although Derek Forbort played only one shift in the third period and may need to be replaced.
Now 3-2 in the pre-season and building momentum, the Canucks play their final tuneup Friday at home against the Edmonton Oilers before embarking on their 82-game redemption tour next week.
Foote generated some chatter back home in Vancouver when he left out promising forwards Braeden Cootes and Jonathan Lekkerimaki, along with veteran winger Evander Kane, from what was otherwise the Canucks†full, NHL lineup.
But the Kane-Cootes-Lekkerimaki line that practised Tuesday in Vancouver is expected to play together Friday against Edmonton in a last chance (at least for the pre-season) to show that they belong on the season-opening roster that will be set Monday.
Young, promising defencemen Elias Pettersson (Junior) and Tom Willander could also get last looks. At least one of them will play if Forbort canâ€t. The Canucks could also choose to rest veteran Tyler Myers, who looked good in 19:17 of ice time Wednesday after nursing a minor injury for a few days during the pre-season.
It sure looks like Victor Mancini, the prospect component of the package of assets the Canucks received from the New York Rangers last season in the trade of J.T. Miller, has made the team. The defenceman led Vancouver skaters with 22:28 of ice time, which included 5:41 on the penalty kill and 2:54 of power play. Mancini also blocked three shots.
At six-foot-four and 229 pounds, with offensive tools and outstanding mobility, the 23-year-old seems perfectly suited for Footeâ€s demands that defencemen aggressively close down opponents and get up the ice on the attack.
“Personally, I really enjoy it,†Mancini said of the game plan. “As someone who wants to use their skating as much as they can, be aggressive and attack pucks, but also on the other side, breaking pucks out and joining that second layer (on the rush) … I think it’s really important, and it’s been fun.â€
“He’s a specimen,†Canucks assistant general manager Ryan Johnson said during an intermission interview on Sportsnet. “He’s 6-4, he can skate, he’s strong, he’s a beast (on) the ice and in the gym, and I still think his game is evolving. We saw a lot of great things in the Calder Cup run for him (in the AHL last spring). But I still think his ceiling … we still haven’t seen it yet. So we’re obviously very excited about somebody that may have been a forgotten piece in a very big trade for the organization.â€
Itâ€s also the pre-season for referees and linesmen who are adjusting again to NHL speed and reaction time. So itâ€s understandable that some calls get missed, like Nazem Kadri being at least a foot offside on the Flames†only goal. But missing serial offender Martin Pospisilâ€s slew foot on Boeser in open ice in the second period was harder to understand.
The Canucks didnâ€t miss it, though. A few minutes later, as a post-whistle scrum in the Vancouver zone coalesced around Mancini and Blake Coleman, Forbort grabbed Pospisil and threw him to the ice. Pospisil left the game immediately, and Forbort played only six more shifts.
The worst result of any pre-season game is injury and, unfortunately, both Pospisil and Forbort seemed to suffer them.Â
One of four Canucks who cleared waivers on Tuesday, a day after the team cleaved its pre-season roster by 17, 32-year-old journeyman Joe LaBate was back on Vancouverâ€s fourth line in Calgary. The six-foot-five Minnesotan, originally a Vancouver draft pick 14 years ago, registered two shots and one hit during 9:32 of ice time and again displayed some net-front presence.
So, what gives? Well, now that he has cleared waivers, LaBate can spend up to 10 games or 30 days with the Canucks without requiring waivers a second time. Itâ€s possible Foote and GM Patrik Allvin like the idea of LaBate as a depth forward on their season-opening roster, and believe the organization had a better chance to retain him by hiding him in the tsunami of players being waived this week rather than exposing him on waivers a couple of weeks into the regular season. Just a thought.
Boeser to reporters in Calgary: “I thought we worked really hard tonight. We had a good game plan going into it, and we talked about our effort level and reloading hard and being aggressive. And I thought we did that well tonight. It should give us a lot of confidence. I think it shows that when we put the effort in, and determination, I think it really shows what we can do and the chances we can create.â€
DeBrusk-Pettersson-Boeser; Oâ€Connor-Blueger-Garland; LaBate-Raty-Sherwood; Bains-Sasson-Karlsson.
Hughes-Hronek; M. Pettersson-Myers; Forbort-Mancini
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