The Vancouver Canucks enter the 2022-23 season with a feeling they are headed in the right direction.
Though they weren't able to check off every item on their to-do list this offseason, the optimism stems from the moves they did make and the fact they will start the season with Bruce Boudreau as coach.
"It's hard to say what the expectations are but we do feel better about our team from where we were at the end of last year to where we are now," president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford said.
Despite being unable to upgrade the defense as they had hoped, the Canucks improved their speed, skill and penalty killing at forward with the additions of forward Ilya Mikheyev, center Curtis Lazar and forward Andrei Kuzmenko in free agency.
For a team that began last season 8-15-2 but went 32-15-10 after firing coach Travis Green on Dec. 5, 2021 and replacing him with Boudreau, Vancouver's hope is that will be enough to get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in eight seasons.
Rutherford joined the Canucks four days after Green was fired, replacing general manager Jim Benning.
"We have more depth in our forwards, more balance up front, and when you have that you have more control of the puck for more time in the game," Rutherford said, "and then you become a better defensive team because you're playing in the offensive zone."
Getting out of its zone has been a problem at times for Vancouver; Rutherford called the Canucks defensive-zone breakout "probably one of the worst in the League" at the end of the season but hopes improved structure and speed can improve it.
Mikheyev, who set NHL career highs in goals (21) and points (32) in 53 games with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season, brings plenty of the latter.
"I've liked him for a long time," Boudreau told Sportsnet650 radio this week. "He really adds some great speed to the team and I think he'll be an exciting player to watch."
In addition to the possibility of playing higher up the lineup than he did in Toronto after agreeing to a four-year contract with Vancouver on July 13, Mikheyev could also help the penalty kill after he scored four shorthanded goals last season, tied for seventh in the NHL. The same is true of Lazar, who agreed to a three-year contract the same day and projects to be the Canucks' only right-handed center, something lacking on a penalty kill that went from last in League (64.6 percent) under Green to 11th (80.5 percent) under Boudreau but still finished 30th at 74.9 percent.
"I think we were just starting to get really good at it, so we've got good penalty killers, but now we've got really good depth in the penalty killing department," Boudreau said. "It certainly gives you depth and it gives you, especially in Mikheyev's case, the fact that you can think a little bit of offense when you're supposed to be totally on defense because of his great speed."
For all the added depth, speed and experience over the summer, the Canucks will go as far as their returning young talent can carry them, especially 23-year-old center Elias Pettersson and 22-year-old defenseman Quinn Hughes. Each missed training camp last season before signing a contract on Oct. 3 and Pettersson struggled at the start of the season, with 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in his first 22 games; he finished with 68 points (32 goals, 36 assists) in 80 games.
"We need those guys to get to the next level and they are capable of it," general manager Patrik Allvin said. "That's going to be key. With Quinn and [Pettersson], my understanding is missing training camp last year set them back, so I challenged them, and I hope they're going to come back ready and just take off."
That echoes the hopes for how the Canucks will play with Boudreau behind the bench from the start.
Vancouver improved in almost every measurable aspect after Boudreau became coach on Dec. 5, going from 22nd (17.4 percent) to second (26.7 percent) in the NHL on the power play, from 27th (2.36 goals per game) to 12th (3.28) in goals per game, and 23rd (3.16) to fifth (2.67) in goals against per game.
"Hopefully we go into the season with confidence," Boudreau said. "When I took over the team last year, when you lose it's difficult to have a lot of confidence, but I think at the end of the year these guys were thinking they're capable of doing much better and I think that's going to be a big difference going into camp."
Entertainment Plaza - TV, Movies, Sports, Music, Soaps
http://almosthuman99.com
Babe Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://almosthuman99.com/polls/babes/babeofthemonth.html
Hunk Of The Month - Vote Now!
http://almosthuman99.com/polls/hunks/hunkofthemonth.html
No comments:
Post a Comment