[MUSIC PLAYING] Knocks Central Monday. It's Dan Reachow and Sati Arshah here in the Kintec Studio. Knocks Central is for Enzyme Pacific Vancouver's premier Chrysler Dodge Ram in the Jeep Superstore on second avenue between Canby and Maine, or at Enzyme Pacific Chrysler. Dot, C, A. Dan Reachow and Sati Arshah here in the Kintec Studio. And yes, Knocks, trying to flip the script as we approach the trade deadline. They beat the Anaheim Ducks last night and maybe trying to put their slump in the rear view mirror. So a couple of good news stories to kick off this last couple of days. Leah's Pedersen signing, and then a win over the Anaheim Ducks. Yes, and-- Do the job over the Anaheim Ducks. They did. It wasn't as convincing as many wanted. Pedersen wasn't as prolific as many had hoped, but a win as a win, and the Canucks hopefully can build on that against the LA Kings. That's how I viewed it. Yes. And that line had a good night, especially with the way Niels Hagenander played. I like to reference the great Vin Diesel line every now and again, but it doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winning's winning. Yeah, that's true. A win is a win. That's all it is. They all count as two points. They all count as two points. And it was a Nervy at times, but they got the job done. And you hope that they just build off of it from there. So it's-- Was it Nervy, though, considering how to list the Ducks or? But yes, I get what you're saying. It was like playing Burnley away from Turf Moore. All right, let's get to it. It's the open here on Canucks Central. [MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome to the open. [MUSIC PLAYING] That's your home. Are you too good for your home? Answer me. We have an open segment to start the show where we bring you the biggest news on your Vancouver Canucks and deliver our takes on the Canucks. So, Sat, we are, yes, I guess two, three, carry the one, just a few days away from Trade Deadline on Friday. Yes. There's a lot going on. A lot of rumors rumbling around the National Hockey League, and it appears the Canucks, even though they've already made the arguably the biggest splash of any team, are still very much in the mix. Yeah, they are. And the Canucks obviously want to improve their team as much as they possibly can. We know that this has been a very aggressive front office. And I'm really interested to see what they pull off this week. I'm comfortable in saying they'll do something. Yes. Because they're a bold take. They're very bold take, right? The question is, can they pull off something significant? And we mentioned this on the Emergency Podcast for the Elias Patterson signing on Saturday. Now, the Canucks are still very much looking at a big name if they can add one. Jake Genssel, of course, is the player that is in everyone's crosshairs with a lot of reporting by Elliott Friedman and Dolly Wall that the Canucks are in. And I think LeBron even mentioned the Canucks as a suitor. One of like six teams, a half dozen teams? Yeah, so all the insiders are getting the same information on the Canucks being in on Jake Genssel, which aligns with what we were saying on the weekend that they are looking at a big name. Kyle Dubas is just texting everybody about everybody's interested. They all want them. Every single team is interested. All 31 other teams in the league want Jake Genssel. The thing is, though, how big of a bidding war is there going to be? Yeah. And is that one the Canucks are going to win? Because Vegas has oodles a cap space burning a hole in their pocket. They're going to fill it with Mark Stone being done for the rest of the season. We know they're doing something. And they are bold enough to do what it takes to get Jake Genssel. I wonder if the Canucks can outbid Vegas if Vegas wants to play or come hell or high water? Yeah. I wondered too if the idea that the Pittsburgh Penguins would prefer young players over draft picks is sort of a signal to a lot of the teams that have spent. They're capital in the draft capital in the last couple of years, like, hey, you can be in on Jake Genssel too. Just make sure your top prospects are available, right? Because generally, a trade deadline move for a rental at the top of the market is usually the same kind of formula. We talk about this all the time. We talked about it with Bo Horvat last year. It's a first round pick. It's a pretty good prospect and probably a roster player of some kind. And yeah, they'll change a little bit here and there, depending on cap situations and how it's going to have to work. But we saw that for Horvat. We saw that for Lindholm. Why would it be any different for Jake Genssel? And the answer simply is Pittsburgh seems to want a young player or a prospect to be the headline of the deal. And that is most preferred. And so if you put that into a Canucks context, for me, I say, well, then their first ask is going to be Nils Toglander, is it not? I think that's the player. And I mentioned this on Kipper and Boren. That's the player a lot of teams are asking. When the Canucks make calls. And I've talked to some people on different teams. And that's the player a lot of teams want. Obviously, the kid has about 20 goals now. Top 10 in the league and 5 on 5 goals. He's making 1.1 million next season on the cap as well. It's a bargain of a contract if he continues flourishing and being an offensive weapon the way he has been. Of course, teams are asking for him, right? We know the Canucks are reluctant to trade him. Yeah. Are they unwilling, is he a, what is it? I don't think he's a player that you don't trade. Like, I don't think he's an untouchable. Right. It took me forever to come up with that word. I don't think he's an untouchable. Yeah. But I don't think they want to move him. It's hard. Would they do it for Genssel? And I don't, I mean, if they would, I think they probably would. It probably gets a deal done, right? Like as much as Vegas has good prospects and good players, do they have a young player that's ready to play that can do what Corglandi can do? No. So that tells you already the Canucks aren't offering him. Yeah. 'Cause I think if they did, they would probably get a deal done in some way, right? So are you willing enough this year to go that far to acquire Jake Genssel and also sign him to a contract extension? Yeah, but are you robbing Peter to pay Paul, you know? Like, isn't your team better with Genssel and Hoaglander on it? Obviously. So can you make that deal without trading Hoaglander? Yeah. And if that's the case, I just don't know what they're going to be able to outbid a team like Vegas. If you're not trading Lecarra, Mac, you're a Lander either. Yeah. And in any of these sorts of cases, you'd want to be able to talk extension with Genssel to have an idea like, does this player want to sign here if we're going to trade for him? And maybe they already have a sense whispering to the agents and whatnot, but that's where I sort of, I continue to fall short on the idea of Jake Genssel being a Vancouver Canucks, at least as of right now, is a trade piece because Vegas can potentially offer more. Vegas doesn't necessarily have to include a roster player to get it done because they have the cap space whereas the Canucks would probably need, well, they definitely would need to either move somebody out or have Pittsburgh take somebody off of their roster in order to facilitate a trade. And it just feels like there's more hurdles in the way for the Vancouver Canucks to get a Jake Genssel deal done than there is for a team like the Vegas Golden Knights. And that's probably scary for the Vancouver Canucks because Vegas is probably, if there's any kind of a playoff run beyond the first round, maybe even in the first round, Vegas is going to be one of those teams you have to go through. Yeah, absolutely. And that's why you wonder how aggressive is Vancouver going to be, not only to get the player, but keep them away from maybe one of their biggest challenges to get through the division anyways in the postseason. And can you make the deal without trading those guys? Ask yourself, is put Colson or Rottu enough to get Jake Genssel? No, not, I mean, I guess Vegas is a pretty good, stable of prospects. They got persona that they could offer. You think about Carolina, if they wanted to make a move like that, they've got the prospect capital to do it. Certainly, Colorado can make an interesting deal. I don't think Edmonton really has all that much that would entice Pittsburgh more so than what Vegas or some of these other teams that I mentioned could, but even if you're offering pod goals in a Rottu, I don't feel like it's enough on its own. So you'd have to throw in either multiple prospects of good value or the first round pick for next year. That's a lot of re-protected. I, you know, if the penguins get the right deal and a first round pick is in it, I'm sure they'd still take a pick rather than a prospect or whatever it might be. It completely depends on the value of that pick, but I don't know if you're getting Genssel by trading, let's say two of your top five prospects, but both are four and five in your prospect pool rather than having to give up one of lekoramaki or Willander. - Now it really depends on what teams are looking at too, right? Like are, is Vegas actually willing to trade Brisson? - That's a good point. - You know, if they are, then that gives them, it's like the Canucks trading at me. He's not quite at the level of the karaamaki's been this season, right? - Yeah. - But he's a comparable prospect in terms of pedigree and how they view him right now as in terms of being integral for the organization. And would they do it for a rental? So sometimes I think the trade asks are very high and then you get to the deadline, you become a bit more realistic and the trade gets done. And usually people are underwhelmed, right? They're like, essentially Pittsburgh has just sent out the bat signal that, yeah, we're trading Jake Genssel. - Yeah, yeah. So I mean, I think it could rot to and put coals in. And again, we're not saying this has been offered or anything, but you know, in terms of you're gonna get him, could it be a competitive offer? Yeah, I'm sure it has. Is it enough to win it? I guess time will tell. And I think that's what's gonna be really interesting about these next few days here is how aggressive those make were going to be and how desperate do they feel like they are to add another higher end player to this team. - Who else would be out there? Like of course, a lot of focus on Jake Genssel right now, but the other names we've heard connected with the Canucks are Tafoli who still very much up in the air if he's getting traded or not. New Jersey just made a coaching change. There's Jordan Greenway out of Buffalo that we've heard quite a bit, Brandon Duham out of Minnesota, but that's not an expensive trade by any stretch of the imagination. There's just, and we've talked about this a lot too, there's just not a lot that should realistically cost a ton on the market beyond Jake Genssel. - No, and one of the players that we had our eye on, and I had a very keen eye on and daydreamed about the Canucks perhaps acquiring. - Oh, here we go. - Mr. Tommy Novak. - Yeah, Zach gets to walk down memory lane and think about all those times. - Yes. - He penciled Tommy Novak into the Canucks cap friendly. - It may have happened on one or two occasions. - How would this work if the Canucks could pull off a trade? - It's only making 800K like that's the guy. - Anyways, he signed a three year extension with the Preds, right? And I think there's an interesting conversation to be had about his contract and comparables. We'll get to that a bit later maybe this week, but that was a guy you looked at. Let's make Gordy Lock happy 'cause he always pushes his name, Anthony Manta. I know Dollywall mentioned he could see the Canucks perhaps having some interest in him. - I don't think Anthony Manta's a Rick Tocket kind of player. That would be an interesting fix. - No, I would say, and Gordy makes his point often on Twitter too. He's been playing a tougher game this year. Like when you watch Washington, he has been more aggressive. It's like, it's almost like he's a contract year before. - Yeah, yeah. - And he realizes, right? So maybe you are getting a bit more, but obviously he's not a high end addition, right? He would kind of fit in as a middle six guy. Could he play in your top six potentially? - Yeah. - Is it better than what you currently have? - Potentially? - Yeah, that's why I don't think there are gains making those types of additions as well if they can't make a bigger move. And let's see if they're able to pry away a player we haven't seen mentioned. I think this is where the heroic situation I think is interesting. Where the Canucks have made it pretty clear they don't want to give up any, you know, their higher end guys or rentals. But is there a player with more term that's younger that we haven't heard about that becomes available? And the Canucks pounce on that. - Well, with the buffaloes and autowaz and some of those types of teams being well out of it and sort of looking in the mirror and be like, okay, things aren't working here. So how are we going to shake up our mix? - Yeah. - Maybe, you know, there are some players off of some of those types of teams that do come loose. We'll find out as the week goes on. - And the other guy of course, I know people won't love it very much but he plays for the Arizona Coyotes. - Yeah. - A player they had in Pittsburgh when he was there. - Right. Nick Bugstad? - Well, I think Nick Bugstad and also, Zucker, Jason Zucker, Jason Zucker. That's a guy to keep an eye on if they retain the salary. He hasn't played great but he's a type of gritty, you know, fast in the four check guy that can score a little bit, has had a really tough year. But again, like if you're not able to get a higher end player, do you maybe acquire a player like him? And I think those are the guys that you have to kind of keep an eye on if the Canucks can't go out and get a Jake Genssel. - He is a unrestricted free agent at the end of this year, 32 year old Jason Zucker. All right, quick thing on this. Over under on how many trades the Canucks make before the deadline. Two and a half. Let's set the number at two and a half. - Ooh, two and a half, two and a half. Ben, you got to take on this? - He's going way under. - So this week, you think that you think the most active front office in the NHL is going to be quiet on trade deadline with it. - It's a gut feeling. - Okay, all right. - Producer Ben speaks the truth, maybe. - I will go with the over. I can see three trades. - Three trades. - I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if they add a depth defense, like a cheap depth defense. I'm not talking about a guy they have to spend a lot on, maybe a sixth round pick or something, right? I can see them doing that, a cheap depth defense. I can see them doing a guy that's going to be fighting for a roster spot as a gritty forward. - Yeah. - Smaller deal. - Yeah. - No, dehames been mentioned, I can see that. And I can see them adding a guy to fight for a spot on the top six. So I'll say over, I say three. And who knows if they make minor deals too. But yeah, that's what I would go with. - See, the reason I said it at two and a half is because it feels like they'll at least get a depth forward and depth defense. - Yeah. - And so, the wild card is that third move. And that's what we're trying to figure out. Is there a top six type of player that they can go out and acquire? Because the one they have acquired hasn't really panned out so far, Seth. - Yeah. Well, and it was interesting listening to Elliot Friedman today's gonna casually bring up in the midst of all this trade talk. I wondered if the Canucks would flip Elias Lindholm and then-- - One team mentioned. - One team mentioned. - They wondered if the Canucks would flip Elias Lindholm. - And then he said, no, they're not gonna do that. He heard he's not or whatever. And I've also, I got looked into, when I heard about it, I looked into it and I was like, I heard there haven't really been any discussions, but would you put it past a front office to flip them? - They are the ones that have the brass ones that could do something like that. - Yeah, like I wouldn't put it past. - But it would be unprecedented in NHL history, really. - It would, and I know his fit hasn't been great. - Yeah. - But I don't think now is where you're gonna see his value. - So I know I've pegged that the nine game homestead is probably where you see the best out of Elias Lindholm, but I'd be lying if I said I haven't been somewhat concerned with what we've seen so far. I mean, zero goals, zero points in his last six, zero goals in his last eight. He's got two goal games with the Canucks and the other 12, he has just two assists. He's a minus five, hasn't been on the top power play unit, has been bumped down to third line center, even on the penalty kill, which I expected him to make a positive impact. He's been their least successful forward on the ice. Six goals against on the PK, most on the team since the all-star break, and by expected goals, he's over eight and a half goals against per 60. For reference, Tyler Myers is under five goals against per 60. The Canucks traded for a top six forward and realistically what they've gotten so far is basically a fourth line center. I mean, it's a little bit of a concern. - That's not fair, he's not a fourth line center, come on. - That's the production he's given them so far. - Okay, production, I mean, even that, I don't know if that's fourth line center. He's at what, six points and 14 games? - Okay, so maybe third line. - Third line, okay, third line. - I mean, be fair to the guy. - I'll compromise with him, I'll compromise. - At least I got you to third line center. - And he is playing on the third line. So hey, he's doing, okay. But I would say, it hasn't been a great fit yet. It's very clear, it's been uncomfortable so far, right? But I do think, like he's doing some positive things. Like I think him and Garland in terms of their defensive play and the last couple of games doing some of the things they've done, but there's been some positive things that have happened, he's really good defensively. - I test, I test has felt better than, you know, looking at the numbers. - Yeah, and the numbers honestly, when it comes to some of the metrics, we got to take it with a grain of salt a little bit. Hey, remember the Vancouver Canucks when it came to their metrics earlier this season? - Yeah. - Right? They were kind of bottom of the league, people said, hey, you know, the underlying numbers aren't great. Lucky and all this sort of stuff, right? Based on five on five expected goals, four percentage? - Yeah. - The Canucks are not 10th in the entire National Hockey League. Did you know that over this past 14 game stretch now, since the all-star break, the Canucks are a top eight team in terms of their expected goals differential? - It's their worst stretch of hockey of the season. - So again, when it comes to the numbers, what I'm trying to say is, we can't just look at those numbers and say, they're indicative of true performance, 'cause they're not, they're valuable, they help you with a lot of things, there's things we can reference and stuff. And I do think they're actually fair in terms of, there's been a lot of games the Canucks have played over this stretch, where they've been better than the result would indicate. - Yes. - So that also shades it a little bit. But I do think, again, with Lindholm, it's a small sample, he still has to fit in with the team. The reason they got him now is because they would call on a 30 game stress for him to get through this kind of awkward process. - If I'm Lindholm, I'm also sort of wondering like, okay, you went out, you acquired me, you wanted to get me in here for a big playoff push, now I'm playing third line center, you're attaching me to the latest guy you've brought up from the minors, and I've been kicked off the top power play unit. You know, I could see how Lindholm's a little bit like, all right, what's going on here? Where is my fit on this roster? 'Cause I don't know if I'm feeling it right. - Yeah, and there's a part on him that he's got to play better in order to get that, but I'd be wondering if I'm him, like what'd you guys go out and get me for if you're gonna put me here? - I think there might be a part of that. I think once you get into the postseason, even if he's playing there, and I think that's where you're going to see his value. Rick Talkett often references the Vegas four lines they have and how they play. - Well, the big reason why they can play the way they play is 'cause they have William Carlson sometimes being their third line center. - Yeah, I call Stevenson Carlson. - Right, so I think I'm sure the way Talkett views it, and when he realized the chemistry wasn't quite there yet, with Lindholm and with Patterson, and obviously they wanna keep Miller and Besser together, that I think the temptation to see if they can run the three guys down the middle is too much to resist for the time being. And I think it's going to be predicated on, can they add another forward by the deadline? - Yeah. - That can truly play with Patterson, which will allow you to kind of stick Lindholm there, and maybe that's not what Lindholm likes right now, but come the postseason, that's going to matter. 'Cause if they can get him to actually be that guy who's your shutdown player in the playoffs, it makes such a big difference. And he's a guy that also has potential to do more, can still play on your power play, and perhaps there is a way for him to gain some more chemistry with this team, but I don't think you're going to see his true value until the postseason. And once the playoffs come around, and if things work out, you'll see why he's that important. We always talk about in the postseason, do you have enough players that can not only hold their own, but win match-ups? That's a guy that can at least hold his own against big-time players. - It's been a tough watch a little bit though. - Yeah, it has been, there's no doubt. - I, you know, it's a guy that scored 10 goals on the power play in each of the last two seasons, and now he's not even playing on the top power play unit after you went out and acquired him, and moved off. One of the guys that was on your top power play unit as part of his trade package. So, you know, I'm just curious how that's all working out, and I know the power play hasn't been going well, but to me, Lyslyn Holmes' usage has been at least questionable to this point. All right, let's get to the Canucks Central roundup. Couple of quick things here. I wanted to get a take in on Podkolzen, solid in his first game of the season for the big club, and I know we talked a little bit on the pregame yesterday about it being a showcase. You know what, it's showcase to me is with all the UFAs that the Canucks have on their roster, if Podkolzen remains a member of this organization, I'd feel pretty okay with penciling him into at least a bottom six role for next season. - I don't disagree. I think he can handle that, and especially at a cheap number. - Yeah. - He's going to sign at the most, but he's getting the Hoaglander deal. - 1.1. - 1.1 for a couple of years, right? That's the high end. I wouldn't be surprised if it's even lower. So I would pencil that in for next season. - Canucks play the LA Kings tomorrow. They are the ones that handed down the Grim Reaper-ish type blow to Lindy Ruff and his New Jersey Devils head coaching career. They were suffocating again last night. I think this is a good test and it could line up as a potential first round opponent. The LA Kings, we're going to talk more about that with our next guest coming up on the show. Carson Susie, close to returning. The Canucks sent Matt Irwin down, so it looks like Susie's going to be back in the lineup tomorrow. - I can't wait to watch Susie play again. I mean, out of all the acquisitions the Canucks made the soft season, he's the one that you look at and he said, "Man, maybe you wish he would have signed "for four or five years "if he can play the way he's played so far." - Tyler Myers looks like it's only going to be one of the two weeks so the week-to-week mantra does stay clear and not a player the Canucks could use on LTIR to add even more to their salary picture ahead of the deadline. Jack Eichl returning tonight for the Vegas Golden Knights should be in line up versus Vancouver on Thursday and Alex Wenberg held out for trade-related reasons with the Seattle Kraken so they are getting ready to be in cell mode ahead of Friday. So those are some news and notes on the Canucks Central Roundup. Coming up, we've got Eric Stevens covering SoCal Hockey for the Athletic LA Kings Preview and we'll also get an idea of what the Kings and Ducks deadline plans are, especially for those in the inbox that continue to ask about my boy Frankie V, Frank Fatrana. - It's more for you, Reece, than the people, be honest. - Okay, maybe, maybe. That's coming up next on Canucks Central.
