[MUSIC] Canucks Central Thursday, it's Dan Reicho, Satyar Shah. And the Kintek Studio, Canucks Central is for enzyme Pacific. Vancouver's premier Chrysler, Dodge Ram and Jeep Superstore on 2nd Avenue between Kambi and Maine, or an enzyme Pacific Chrysler.C.A. It is a Thursday, so that means we're bringing in the Canucks Central Roundtable, you hear them on the People's Show, you hear them on the Canucks Central Post Game Show. It is Bick Nizzar joining us in studio via the hotline, which is Mike Three in the studio. Dispatch plumbing, heating and air conditioning, the first call, the only call. Does it work this week? Can we figure this out? Okay, good. We're good. It's all early. It's working. It's working. I can hear myself. It doesn't sound weird either. That's good. All right. There we go. Look at us. A working radio studio. It sounds weird, just cuz it's me. I mean, you said it. We may have all been thinking it. It's Canucks Game Day, they've got the Habs tonight, Liz Abithon in town, and Tanner Pearson making his revenge game return to Roger's Arena. We'll get into that. Not more. It's The Open here on Canucks Central. Welcome to The Open. That's your home. Are you too good for your home? Answer me. Yes, The Open, where we bring you the latest on the Vancouver Canucks, and today there was an interesting comment from Rick Tockett after the morning skate regarding the Canucks prized deadline day acquisition, well, it wasn't a deadline day acquisition, but trade deadline acquisition in Elias Lindholm. He is dealing with something. He will continue to play through it while Ian Cole is being told, yeah, you can, maybe you don't have to play through things, even though you're banged up, you'll get a maintenance day. Elias Lindholm, no, you're still in the lineup. Getting aside. Lindholm having a bit of an injury, I mean, it gives us a little bit of, I guess, a reason as to why he's been as quiet as he has been for the Vancouver Canucks. Yeah. Yeah, perhaps. Yeah. To some extent, you know, any time players struggles, we can look at it and say, well, he's banged up, you know, but the other part of it too is if you're playing, what else can you do to impose your will on the game? And he's been good defensively, but has he been good defensively? He has, yeah. I mean, what's been the issue? He's just been on the ice for a lot of course against. Well, yeah, those things happen, but I mean, do you look at him individually? Like, do you see him being an issue? Now, he's had a few moments you can think of, but generally, I think he's been good defensively. Yeah, I mean, he got caught a little bit with his feet and cement against Rasmus Dolly, but that'll happen. Yeah. He's had moments, of course. I mean, what player has it? But I'd say over the 20 games he's played. Hell and he's left a little bit to be desired at times, but you're five on five. I think he's been more than good. Well, in general, the team has been really good. Yeah. You know, I guess you could say, as I was playing devil's advocate a little bit with sat, the team has taken a step defensively, right? Sat yesterday, we talked about their shots of pressure in their second best in the league since the All-Star break. When did Elias Lindholm come into town, the All-Star break? So I think there is a defensive level there that has added to what has already been built by the team, and that's helped them, I think, get closer to being an elite defensive team is that, can we view the Canucks as an elite defensive team at this point? Well, that's going to be the red, right? That's going to have to be the way that they win. And I was saying earlier, even with the Lindholm update, the bumps and bruises that he's carrying, he's got to be able to live up his end of the defensive bargain. And if that's the team identity, that's the thing he's going to have to do. I heard the news, okay, sure, you're still playing, and this isn't if you're good enough to play, then how hard are you? Well, if you're good enough to play, if you're going to be on the ice, you have to perform. At the end of the day, Montreal doesn't care that you're banged up. The Oilers aren't going to care that you're banged up to meet them around, too. The Preds aren't going to care, the Knights aren't going to care, on and on. If you're going to be on the ice, there's an expectation you still find a way to perform in whatever manner in which you can. He needs to be better offensively. But, look, and maybe he's hurt and he can't do it, but you're on the ice. Players are still relying on you. Listen, I get that you're hurt, but for instance, when the other night, what was it? It was Lindgren, when he came out of the net, he decided, and he had an open net to shoot at me. Again, it's Washington, yeah. To me, is that because you're injured or is it because you don't have confidence because you're struggling? Or whatever the reason is, I don't think the injury preventing you from not shooting at an empty net. Also, it's March. Yeah. It's March 21st. The thing I'm banged up. Most guys have an injury. Yeah. The thing I wonder about and reach you kind of touched on the opening, Ian Cole, he's banged up, the coach says, and he gets the day off. And hey, late in the season, they want to mess with things. I think it's another way of saying maintenance day for Ian Cole. Yeah. You know what I mean? I think that's what it is. Everyone's a bit banged up. You can use that excuse, you know. So why wouldn't it be true for a lie as Lindholm? I wonder what whatever Lindholm was dealing with, if it's not a day-to-day thing, where if you give him one day, it's not going to make a difference. Is it something where he needs a week or two? Yeah. If that's the case, I get why people say, "Hey, rest them," or do you wait another week or two, and then rest them for the rest of the regular season, once you kind of solidify your spot in the standings. It's also a depth thing, though, too. Like Noah Julesen can step in for Ian Cole. Yeah, you don't have-- Yeah, with the way he's played, he's legitimately playing third pairing minutes. When Dakota Joshua comes back, maybe you have more of an opportunity to give Lindholm a little bit of a rest. If they can reel off some wins, yeah. And all of a sudden, it looks like, hey, they have first in the Pacific, really in hand. It looks like they are going to finish first or second in the conference, okay. Then maybe you can look at it and giving him a week or so. I just wonder if that's something that might happen here once Joshua comes back and then win a few games, because if it was as simple as rest of the day and he's better, I think they would have done that. I don't think that's the case. Is it the way to just get the points and then find the rest later, because you probably need eight wins. Yeah. Well, eight wins wins. So eight wins gets to-- I think their magic number's 12. So-- No, to get to 106 points? 12 wins. But then you add in Edmonton losses, so it'll be less than 12. Oh, the magic number. Yeah. I see, I see. I thought you were just saying like, hey, they need to get 12 wins. Yeah. Well, I mean, you're getting to-- Yes. Okay. Technically it's 12 points. Well, if the Canucks get to 110 points, that would be eight more wins, 16 more points, eight wins out of the next 13. That means Edmonton to match that would have to win what 12 of their remaining 16 games? Yeah. It's a lot. You know, it's a lot of games that got to win. Linholm, 14 games since his last goal in that time to assist and is a minus seven. So you guys are like-- We're all on the same page. There's got to be more offense there. Even if there is an injury, if you're out on the ice, you've got to provide some kind of offense. At times there hasn't been enough of an offensive threat even, right? So that's part of the issue here, too. It was a little bit better. We'll see if they can develop a little bit more with Lafferty and Mikayev as we saw in the last game as the forward group is going to stay the same tonight aside from the Ian Cole change on defense. And whatever it is with Linholm, again, you're good enough to play, then, well, how much am I really going to give you the excuse of, hey, your hurt? You should still have more than two points in your last 14 games, given your stature as a player. And two, part of me wonders, you mentioned the Ian Cole thing, Sat, why he's getting sat out and Linholm isn't. Like, if I'm Elias Linholm, I probably want to be in the lineup. I want to make my numbers look as good as I possibly can going into the summer and into free agency. So, you know, there's probably a little bit on him, too, where he's like, I need to be in the lineup so I can score goals. I think so. Probably. He wants to play. At the same time, what's most valuable for him at this stage? I mean, he has, what, 13 games remaining? How much is he going to impact in these 13 games, the bottom line for the end of the season? Yeah. Like, realistically, his best hope is to play well in the playoffs. Right. And if that's the case, would it not be better for him to just say, you know what? Let me take a couple of weeks off here. Yeah. But I think that's the wrong mindset here. That's you looking out for yourself come the summer. The thing that he should be doing and the reason you stay in the lineup is, into yourself your team. I'd love to sit here and believe every guy is thinking about the team and the end of the day. Right. But you're the new guy, though. Come on. You've been here for 20 somewhat games. He's an unrestricted free agent. He's been on a very team-friendly contract and Calgary for a lot of his career. And now he's got a chance cap going up to hit the free agent jackpot. And he's having the worst season of his career offensively. Right. But I'm just saying, as far as the reasons, if you're a linto, you want to stay in the lineup. Yeah. And then the base status is less of a consideration than it is. Right. Like this team's going to the playoffs. Yeah. They're depending on me. And I'm the new person. Well, I probably have to make a better first impression than I have. Like the first one was fantastic in Carolina, but what's the next impression? And they gave up a lot to get them. I mean, yes, you look at the price the Canucks gave up. It wasn't eye-watering, it's just five pieces. But when you break down those five pieces, how many of those are actually like you look at and say, it's not all five. That's really two. I'm seizing it too. Right. It's really two. Maybe a third you can look at. Now they clear cap space for next year as well. That's the other part of it, which there's a benefit. But nonetheless, it has not worked out as well as you had hoped. So for that player, they gave up a lot to get you. You're a new team. Like, and if you pack it in until the playoffs or say you want it off, I'm sure that doesn't go well. We talk about how Patrick Alvey needed to reward the players for their fantastic efforts through 50-some-odd games. You're the reward. Yeah. You're the reward. You had to live up to your end of the bargain. And so far has it. Yeah. If it was like a broken foot, all right, like people would understand. But if you're well enough to play, and it's not as if his minutes are getting decreased to like 11, 12 minutes. He's playing 17 the other night. He's playing plenty. Yeah. So you got to perform. It is also tough. You see Tifoli off to a great start in Winnipeg. You see Genssel and the Carolina Hurricanes having a dandy old time right now. What are they? Six-in-one since the trade deadline and since they acquired Jake Genssel. Now the Canucks, I don't know if they ever really were going to have an offer that really enticed the Pittsburgh Penguins to get that deal done. But yeah. Even had you held on to the first and Bruce Davis and you added them to a potential Genssel deal. Is it enough? Probably not. Yeah. I don't think that's what they were looking for. They were looking for guys that were pretty close to playing, guys that were higher end prospect. So maybe Bruce Davis would have been a piece. They wanted guys in the Podkolsen-Ratu type age range. But even better, because I think Vancouver, I don't know what they offered, but you would have to imagine if they were in on Genssel and made at least a fair offer, but ultimately not a good enough offer. They're probably offering guys like Pudkolsen, Ratu, and maybe a future second or something, right? Which probably doesn't add up. So those guys already, when you think about it, would those guys of Bruce Davis have been enough? No. Now, if you get to first guys of Bruce Davis and first, well, now you're talking about giving up five legitimate pieces. Yeah. And now you're overpaying, right? So it's like the connection would have had to overpay by volume to get Genssel or if they're willing to trade Hoaglander, Willander, or Lakerimaki, which they were not willing to do. Yeah. So if you now want to move those guys, they would have had to like thrown everything they had at a Genssel type, which I don't think makes sense. Like I don't think you can give up that much to acquire one player that may be a run. And I do believe like the bunting part of the deal, we may think something of it, but Kyle Dubas probably sees bunting as more than just a makeover holder. Yeah. And for instance, would you have rather have bunting or garland? Yeah. Bunting or kuzmenko. Now, that's kind of what you're looking at, right? Like they would have had to take something on. If you don't make the Lindholm trade, what would have Dubas prefer it? I still think he takes bunting over garland and kuzmenko, right? Yeah. So I just don't know if there was a real legitimate pathway for them to get genssel, unless you're willing to trade one of their top prospects, which obviously they weren't. Because Manko never was a Soo Greyhound, so. Yeah. Takes another running. I know we talked about it a lot yesterday, sat, but here on the round table, we're looking at the big picture topics of the Vancouver Canucks. Is the power play fixed? I can't say it's fixed. And one thing the coach mentioned, and he kind of downplayed their success, and I thought about it more, and I watched the game again, and we were so enthralled by what JT did, right? Sets up suitor. He has a left shot, and the bumper was a familiar set we've seen. JT was just like an assassin on that first power play. Incredible. It was four chances. Yeah. And he created them all. And the issue, though, that you wonder about when what coach mentioned postgame was, the saber's PK is different. They kind of PK different from where the league's at, not kind of the diamond formation. So against other teams, that play is not going to be available. So that's also why they were moving JT around, because generally they felt the play they were going for wasn't available anymore, because of how teams were PKing. Buffalo is kind of the exception to that. So how much of that is going to be able to be carried over to Montreal, the other games, and ultimately into the postseason. So that's what makes me hesitate, no matter how good they looked, and I'm encouraged when I talked about this yesterday, like it's their key to success in the playoffs. Yeah. They're great defensively. They should have goal tending when Demko's healthy. Even the Smith makes you feel okay at times, right? They should be fine with that. If the PP comes through, it changes everything for them, right? But I just hesitate to say it's back. Well, it's more about just getting confidence back, right? Are you going to get tested against Montreal, against Calgary, in these next little two games? No, you're going to play some weaker competition, Arizona's on the docket, Anaheim's fair. Good competition, weak competition, didn't matter for two months, essentially. Fair, fair. I mean, they've been pretty bad outside the first, like, what, 15 games? Yeah. At the very least, just get the confidence back. Yeah. And we're going to have those conversations with the playoffs of why one team's PK is succeeding versus another, and how they're stopping the Canucks, the diamond formation, whatever it is. Well, game to game, you might find tweaks and holes that you can attack on the tape. But that you try to translate into the next game. Yeah. But at the very least, just don't go unsure into the playoffs about anything in your game. Yeah. And gain some confidence back just by any means necessary. And if it looks good, I thought it looks good. I know there's questions about it, but that first power was fantastic. It was. They got another one later, and they were threatening again, at least. This should have been better than one for five in the power play. That Buffalo power penalty kill, though, it was reminiscent of, like, end of days for Travis Green and even end of days for Bruce Boudro. Yeah. It's pretty bad. The play where JT just crept in at like a Kuznetsov shootout pace, and was able to gain right in front of the crease, like, okay, they're just giving space out. It's just cool. All right. JT, it was the, it was like the slowest bull rush you've ever seen. Yeah. It was like, wasn't even a bull rush. Um, I, so I've been really, I've been really impressed with the only McKay of lately. And I know it's, it sounded like a big stat thing, but the other night with, with Lynn Holmey was great again. Did you predict him to score? Uh, I did not. No, I had Connor Garland to score, and that worked out pretty well. Um, I'm starting to wonder if, if McKay of can be a playoff X factor for this team. Of course. If he's healthy and moving and playing with confidence, he's a difference maker. Cause I don't think it's just about the stats for him. I think him as a, an annoyance, a guy who's constantly pressuring other teams defenses and really making it hard for them on the four check and things like that. Like that's, that's something you really need in the playoffs. Is he forward version of Tyler Myers, where we're projecting like, Hey, in the playoffs, like Myers's game, you'll really see the value in it. Yeah. As long as he's, he's healthy and he looks like he's healthier, right? And it looks like he has, like he has confidence. I see like a couple of weeks, we see like a, an uptick and then it's, it slides or plateaus and then you kind of raise it again. I think this is probably the best we've seen them all year. It is. And you know, he's, he's now passed a year since he had a surgery, you know, and that date matters on the ACL front, right? And the best case always was he finds his confidence and you get the best version of him in the playoffs. Cause he's a type of player that makes a difference in the postseason, not only with the pressure and everything you kind of mentioned there, but the speed that really puts team on their heels. So useful. It's, it's, it's going to be so necessary in the postseason to have that, you know, X factor speed, especially in certain situations and the facts don't have enough of it. Yeah. And he's a guy that brings that, you know, and he can bring it with, like you said, a lot of annoyance. And I think once you get into the postseason, him on the PK can become a bigger factor as well. Well, and that, that size, you kind of felt it with him and, him and Lafferty the other night. Uh, why they could make a, a fun kind of winger combo if, if it sticks, if it has the ability to stick, we'll see how that develops. But, you know, even Lafferty, you know, we haven't seen enough out of him, but these are the, they are two kind of the player types that the Canucks lack. And they've both kind of been slumping for a while now. The Canucks really need them to get going, but it looks like Ilya McCabe is, is finding for him just at the right time now over 12 months from when he had the knee injury and the surgery. So, um, Rick Tockett, he's probably going to win the Jack Adams, right? Like, I don't think there's too much of a debate here. John Torrell and the Flyers have kind of backed off a little bit. Boys, scratching captain, how much does I resonate with voter? The Chocaturia vote is now going to change that bonus. It still feels like bonus is kind of a, a step behind. Mm hmm. Well, it's just unlucky. It's just in games that, for two stretches, um, how much of that goes into the, the voting process. And I guess Paul Maurice and Jim Montgomery are the, are the other two that maybe hold a candle to, to Rick Tockett, but we're on knob lock. Yeah, I think when the division, if they win the division, I think they would have to win the division. Or even just that. Close. Like it was such a recognition. You look at the, the, the history of Jack Adams awards and even coach of the year awards in the NFL. It's like generally if a guy brings a team from out of the playoffs into the playoffs, they're going to get a lot of love for a coach of the year award. So I think Rick Tockett is definitely getting, getting that vote. And for all the additions that they've made is, is Rick Tockett not the biggest addition that this front office made since taking over? The most impactful is either him or Corona. Yeah. Oh man. We jinxed it. Oh, it took a while. It's definitely, there we go. Ah, there we go. Tockett over Corona. And I think that's the biggest contender against him, right? Yeah. It's, and if, and if you think it's, okay, fine, you can, you can make that claim because of, you know, he, he might be a $7 million player here long term and everything. And could he outlast Tockett here if he signs for eight years potentially, right? I mean, it's a long time for a coach to be here for nine years, right? But I'd still say is Rick Tockett, like Rick Tockett is the best addition this front office has made. It's the most cohesive the organization has felt in a long time, right? From management down to the coach and onto the ice. But everything that he's talked about as a coach, we've sort of seen play out, right? Like there's not too many things that he's told us he wants to do or wants this team to get better at that we haven't seen happen straight from the inside guys and wall guys comment. You know, we've seen a lot of these players develop in those areas, how they've got to start like making multiple mistakes on the same play. We've seen that be mostly eradicated from their game. It's always rare to hear a coach be as forthcoming about his plan as Rick Tockett has so often and be as candid as he has, but also to see how the improvements have shaken out on the ice has been super impressive for me. The thing I've liked is it's so simple. Yeah. Nothing uncomplicated about the steps he's tried to instill and nothing that has been put forth to the players is something that they can't do. Yeah. And so you see the minimal growth month to month to month and just the staples that he's demanded to get right, they've done that. Get the line changes right. Yeah. How do we go through two coaches that sat there and couldn't get the line changes right? Yeah. I mean, they still get too many men penalties, but it's still a bit of a problem. It's more of a aggressively changing kind of problem than it was before. Yeah. It's not out of a lot of bad habits. But seasons went by and we talked, "Yeah, they're never going to line changes." Well, I mean, and we just accepted that and so clearly the coaches accepted that. Well, there's so many different things. I mean, going through the state, I mean, it was staying out too long and the home run plays all the time. And one player making a mistake, the other guy making a mistake trying to do other people's jobs. I mean, it was embarrassing at one point. It really was. And let's not forget, there was a flip in the Travis Green era that bubble, they essentially went park the bus. Yeah. And even when they came back, they were rather conservative and said, "Let's try to protect it as much as we can. You have to coach what you have. I get that." But they changed philosophies a little bit. Yeah. They changed philosophies a few different times. Yeah. And it's been simple. It's been straightforward from Rick Talkett. Just do these things and we'll set you to be yourself. But even most importantly for me is he's got the best out of every single player. You're seeing the best versions of every single player. Now, Pedersen has gone through his slumps, but you've seen what the peak under talk it looks like. Yeah. The only player he failed to get the best out of was Chris Manko. Mm-hmm. That's the only player that you can look at and say he wasn't capable of being the best version of himself. We're seeing the best version of Noah Julesen we've ever seen. Yeah. Like from a lower end. Go through the defense, how they're playing. Connor Johnson. Yeah. Right. And Hoglander. Yeah. Go through all these players. They're all succeeding. And that to me is the biggest market. You get a guy in that can build a program like he can. And commands respect. I think the biggest key for coaches is getting buy-in, which is the easy thing to say, right? But also being able to have the relationships with players to allow them to feel comfortable. He talks about that too, right? Comfortable yet being uncomfortable. He always talks about that to get uncomfortable, but also comfortable enough to have a relationship with the coach where you trust them. And if he's able to maintain that trust long term, I think those are the types of coaches that every organization is dying to have. And those guys usually tend to stay for the better part of a decade. Bick, we always appreciate that. Tom, we'll hear on the post game tonight. See you in a bit. There is Bick Nazar, Canucks Central post game. And of course, the people show here on Sportsnet 650, which you can find on your favorite podcatcher. Stan Ricio, Satyarsha, you are listening to Canucks Central.
