(upbeat music) Are you ready to get fired up for the next game? Nothing helps more than a bowl of Campbell's new chunky spicy chicken noodle soup. Let me tell you, it's got tons of seasoned chicken, veggies and noodles, all in a tasty spicy broth. So it'll fill you up and get you fired up. So take your day to the next level and see if you can handle the heat with the new chunky spicy chicken noodle soup. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) I did have one other takeaway from Saturday night's game. I don't think Alex Ovechkin's going to be Gretzky's record. - That's right up the middle. Wilson trying to muscle his way in. Time up gets it back. It's ready and fries go. Oh, Betts gets 20th. A power play ball makes it two of the capitals. - I hate talking about the greatest goal score of all time like this, but it was a tough watch. I don't think he's going to beat the record at this point. - The air feeds it down low for strolls. (audience applauding) - And Carlson, Ovechkin with the one-time star. Ovechkin's second on the power play. - Oh, that's textbook. Alex Ovechkiner that makes it three of the capitals. - You know, he's not as much of a factor on the power play anymore. He is, I mean, look, he worked hard to get that goal on Saturday, but other than that, not nearly as dangerous a player as he once was. - That was what, three weeks ago? - Oh man, a lot of things can happen in three weeks, man. A lot can happen in three weeks. Like nine goals can happen in three weeks. - Yeah, like a 38 year old can just like turn back the clock and be like, "Father time doesn't fool me." - No, rushing me. I need an ambulance, call an ambulance, but not for me. - Oh man, yeah, Alex Ovechkin has ten goals since he left Vancouver and I said that. - It's great though, it's fantastic. It's great. I mean, he's gonna get the record now. This one here says, "I think he'll realize "from his best start, he has to train harder this summer. "He'll get 35 next year, easy as one tech says." And I agree, it's kind of something that we talked about a couple weeks back to. Like, he'll probably show up in a lot better shape next year and that should help him out too. - This comes up a lot where people say, "Where would Jay and North Delta? "Where would he be if COVID and the lockouts "had not wiped out two seasons for him?" It's fair. I mean, it probably would have him at a different level, but if you want to do that and you also have to consider that the first two years Wayne Gretzky played, one in Indianapolis, Indianapolis Racers, 78, 79 and the Edmonton Oilers 78, 79 in the WHO. That's 46 goals that do not count for him towards his tally. So, it's like, if Wayne Gretz, so I get it, it's true, but you can also look at that with Wayne Gretzky too and say he also lost half a season to a lockout back in what was it, 94, 95, and then 46 goals of his came into WHA as well. - The other thing that's happened for OV, he was like, so he was like a stick-free agent. CCM stopped making the stick that was the OV stick for so many years that he had gotten used to and now he was like trying a bunch of different ones through the course of the season and he has finally settled on one and is using a Bauer Vapor Hyperlite and he seems to like it 'cause he's scoring goals for fun again. Alex Ovechkin. - Yeah, it's fantastic, it's great. It's great for the game, man, it's great for the game. And it's bad for your take age poorly, but it's for the greater good day. You did it for the greater good. - Did it for the greater good. All right, it is a Friday. We've got lots of questions. Let's get to it, it's mail back Friday on Canucks Central. (upbeat music) - Yeah, Smellback Friday where we answer your questions for us. @satsyarsha, we'll put out a prompt on Twitter every Friday. You answer with a bunch of your questions and producer Josh Elliott-Wolf. Compiles the best ones. - Hello. - Hi. - This one from Nate is where we will start. Not McKinnon, I assume. Nate, why is Quinn Hughes going to lose the Norris? Because Kale McCarris, three more goals then. - I would be shocked if Quinn Hughes lost the Norris at this point. - Ooh, I wouldn't go and say shock. I'd still say he's probably going to win, but I'm not sure I'd be shocked. Are you really that confident in NHL award voting? Do you trust half the marks that are covering this game? 'Cause I don't. - What are you trying to say? - I said half, I didn't say all. Like, okay, sure, whoever's voting out of Colorado is going to end up voting for Kale McCar ahead of Quinn Hughes, but you'd say the same about anybody voting out of Vancouver. So that'll all even out. - But also the Vancouver people would be right. - Yes, generally I think, I think Hughes has had the kind of season that just is undeniable sort of thing. And not that Kale McCar isn't deserving of it. He's having another incredible season, but I feel as though there is the whole hum Kale McCar doing his thing again, whereas like, hey, look at Quinn Hughes having his breakout year. We should commemorate it with giving him a nod in the Norris vote. I do feel like some people are as simple as that with their voting. I would like to hope that they go a little bit deeper and see how consequential Quinn Hughes has been to the Canucks success this year, but I'd be lying if I said I have full confidence that every writer voting on these things does that. I mean, just look at some of the votes that have been handed out in years past to some of the players that have gotten votes. And you could tell, like not everybody is doing the work when it comes to NHL award voting, but Hughes has been too good. The Canucks season has been too good. He's seen as the captain leading the charge of all that. There's no way Hughes doesn't get the majority of the vote for the Norris. - No, I think so too. And one narrative that's kind of coming out and you're seeing this more too. I don't know where half the stuff is coming from. I saw the piece that was being quoted too and somebody said, well, I liked my defense but to be able to play defense actually. And it's like, well, you're an idiot. If you ask your take on Quinn Hughes, you haven't been watching the game. And I still see people messaging and saying, well, Quinn doesn't get the hard match ups. It's true. They get the hard match ups like strictly against the other team's top lines. But he's still in the 80th percentile of quality of competition. Which means it's still some of the tougher quality of competition. Yeah, it's not like 99th percentile. He's not getting all of the hard match ups, but he's not being sheltered or hidden away from top end players. Every single game you look at, he's still getting at least two or three minutes against the other team's top lines, five on five, right? So I think this notion that Quinn Hughes doesn't play against other team's top lines and he's bad defensively is still a narrative. A lot of people who aren't truly paying attention will follow. And some of those people who don't truly pay attention and follow the game vote for it. So that's where I am being a bit cautious, 'cause I do think there are some people voting who don't know what they're doing. So that would always make me be somewhat cautious and not say he's for sure winning the award. - Well, even the idea that like Roman Yosi deserves heart votes, well, if you think Roman Yosi deserves heart votes, then Quinn Hughes deserves a pretty long consideration for the heart. Ultimately, like we know what the heart trophy is going to come down to. It's gonna be between McDavid, Matthew's McKinnon and Kucharov. Like that's pretty obvious. And then who ends up in the top five? You know, there could be a good conversation for that. But the Norris, I mean, the betting odds say it. It's pretty obvious. Quinn Hughes is the heavy favorite. I don't see him losing it at this point. And if he did, man, it would be a tough look for the PHWA. - Next one from Tage. Should the Canucks quote unquote rest one or two big names on Monday when they play against Vegas? How did I know like, who like asked this question, like? - I mean, listen, like we said, if you want to avoid Vegas, there is a way to avoid them. You beat LA and then you make sure you pack it in against Vegas on Monday. And that more or less will, it won't guarantee, of course, that Vegas is gonna finish third 'cause they still have games remaining. But it makes it very, very difficult for Vegas to fall out of that spot, right? - Yeah. - But that's just not realistic. That's just not a-- - Just beat LA on Saturday. - Yeah, you know, like that's the best thing you can do. Beat LA tomorrow and let the chips fall where they may from there. - Well, and if you ask half the fans who are so skeptical, they're gonna say the Canucks are gonna lose two Vegas anyways on Monday, so. - Yeah. It would just be hilarious. Like the idea of like Rick Tockett going to JT Miller and being like, yeah. - Take the night off. - Take the night off, JT. - All PDGs are gonna be in your spot. Don't worry about it. - Yeah, I can say like-- - I know Zomon, first line center, we're good. - Yeah, to me, that Winnipeg game, the final game of the season is the one where I'd be like, especially if everything is figured out and done. I'd be like, you know what, Quinn? You stay home, JT, you guys stay home. We'll take the rest of the guys. You can't risk everybody because you still have to, you don't have unlimited players available to you. You can't just, you know, rest four guys. But if you have two extra forwards and you have two extra defenseman, do you rest her own and can use? Do you rest JT and PD, for instance? You know, like that's something that I think you could do for the last game of the regular season, so they don't travel to Winnipeg, but that's pretty much it. - Next one from J. How can a near wire-to-wire division leader be considered less of a threat in the playoffs than the teams trailing them significantly in the standings? Is it perspective? Do we watch this team with too much scrutiny? Are we haunted by previous playoff failures? I don't get it. - That's a great question, J. It really is. But when you think about, or even just the term, maybe it's a cliche now, process over results. The Canucks process is very good. I would say some other teams, probably because they have a little bit more talent than the Vancouver Canucks, their process shows out to be a little bit stronger. And they do generate offense at a better clip than the Vancouver Canucks, while also defending well at the same time. It's just like the Canucks don't have a high gear as some of the other top teams heading to the Stanley Cup playoffs do. Is it a lot lower? Does it mean they can't win in the playoffs? I don't think so. But it does lead you to believe that there are some other teams that just have a little bit more than the Vancouver Canucks currently do. And I don't think that's unfair to the Canucks to say something like that. - No, I don't think it's necessarily unfair to me. It always comes down to matchups, right? And that's where it depends on which team we're talking about who they're facing and which ones you're worried about. There are some matchup issues against Colorado, for instance, potentially Dallas too, in the last week of August. - Like Vegas, kind of bullies the Canucks, usually when they play. - Yeah, they have. When they have, I mean, last game wasn't so much that they bullied them. It was more about like the Canucks, they just kind of, it wasn't like a physical, like yeah, I don't know if the coach said he wanted a bit more physicality from them. But to me, the issue was more about like you, they kind of fell apart as soon as some adversity hit in that game and they just couldn't, you know, rectify themselves. - They were a little light. - Yeah, they were a little light. Another word for soft, perhaps. - Little mushy. - Depends on how you view it, right? Depends on your perspective of that word light. But a little permeable. Yeah, a little permissive, a little too permissive. But I do think it all comes down to matchups. And the other thing you have to keep in mind is regular season success, yes, it's a great indicator, but it's not to end all be all in terms of how you're going to have success in the postseason. So I don't think it's as, you can't just draw a straight line between your top, your record and playoff success, but it comes down to matchups. And there are a couple of tough matchups, but I don't think every matchup in the West is, is as difficult of a who risk people make it out to be. - Next one comes from Woodrow. Could Arthur Shilov's be the Canucks back up next season? - 100% I think he can. - Well, it should be, no. - Like, should be, yeah. - I still think they probably bring in some kind of veteran competition, no? - I mean, I guess I could see it, yes, especially if he's going to graduate, that means you're going to look below and you have one, you want to have somebody else and they'd like to have some depth. So, yes, I wouldn't be surprised if they bring somebody in, but are they bringing in the next case of the Smith or the next Colin Delia that's making league minimum? That's fighting for a second. - Yeah, it's more like a Colin Delia type, I would say. - That's how I would approach it because you've invested in Shilov's this much, right? He's shown a lot of progress. And maybe he's not as good as people think he is, but can he be a capable backup? And we've all said this numerous times, too, as good as Casey the Smith's been, if he has to be the guy in the playoffs, they're probably not winning the cup this year. They're probably not getting into the Western Conference final this year, right? So, it's not like the backup you currently have is giving you the type of insurance that you truly want in the postseason. It's more about getting through the regular season and being able to keep you head above water. And I would bank or I would bet on Shilov's being able to give you at least 80 to 90% of what Casey the Smith has done. And if he does that, then how do you bypass somebody making about 800k potentially next year, being your backup goaltender and being a prospect that has to control them and potential down the road? - It gives you so much value on the salary cap that the Canucks would be paying roughly like even a little bit less than $6 million of their total cap charge on their two net minders. I mean, it's just, it allows you flexibility to do things elsewhere. So, I think it's a very good possibility that Arthur Shilov is the backup for the Vancouver Canucks next year. - Next one from Austin in Langley is Brock Besser on the Canucks next season with his extension looming and some of the other moves they seemingly want to make. The math isn't mathy. - Wow, Austin really looking ahead, asking the big questions. This is going to be one of the big question marks of the summer, is it not? - Yeah. - For the Vancouver Canucks? - I think so. It's going to have to be the big one, right? I mean, can you give him the big contract? - You can, yes. - Yes. - You can, should you, is maybe the bigger question. - So, I was comfortable making a bet on JT Miller because of his overwhelming skill level ability and how rare of a player type he is. I'm just not as comfortable with Besser on that. Nor am I. And it's tough to say that about a guy who's about to hit 40 goals and should likely hit 40 goals by the time the season ends. He's finally had the big season that you were waiting for at a Brock Besser. And while I think he's scored goals in different ways, he's gotten to the hard areas. I want to A, see what it looks like in the playoffs. And B, I've said this before about Brock. Maybe I'm just a little too close to it. And sometimes I see more of the flaws in the player than I see what he does well. And I'm willing to admit that, but I'm at a point where I've watched enough of Brock Besser where I'd be very squeamish about having to give him seven and a half, eight million dollars over a significant term. I just, that's where I'm at with the player. And that's, it's tough to say because Brock's been a good citizen. He's been a good soldier for the Vancouver Canucks. He's been through a lot while he's been with the Vancouver Canucks. But I'm just not sure I'll ever get to a point where I'd feel comfortable about giving him an eight million dollar term, a eight million dollar per year with term kind of contract. - Next one from West The Waiter. On what day will the Canucks most likely have their first playoff game? Need to start planning. - Ooh, I mean, we've been talking about this at the station amongst ourselves, trying to figure out when it's going to be. I'm pretty confident it won't be the 20th, which is Saturday. - Okay. - I would guess the 21st. - So the Canucks finish on the 18th. - Yeah. - The Golden Knights finish on the 18th, I believe. - Yep. - They finish on the 18th. Golden Knights might be on the 17th. It's one of those two days. And Nashville finishes on the 15th. Like if you play Nashville in the first round, you cannot, like as far as competitive balance goes, like you can't play that first game of the series on the Saturday and have Nashville home and cold out having four or five days of rest and practice while the Canucks have to fly home from Winnipeg and get ready for game one of their series. You'd have to at least go to the Sunday, the 21st. I think that's the most likely scenario to play out is the Canucks play their first playoff game on April 21st. - I was the day of the Vancouver Sunrun though. So I don't know. - Yeah. - That plays a factor. - Maybe it does. Yeah, I mean, the thing is you just can't have Vancouver have one day of practice coming off a game in Winnipeg. And like you mentioned, it just makes no sense. So I think the 21st would be the earliest. - Yeah. I've been saying the 20th because my reasoning is they probably want Toronto to play on the Saturday and then they would want another Canadian team to play the evening game. And the Oilers play it back to back to end the season. So I don't think the Oilers play like five, six and eight nights to close the season. - But you can't. - I just think it would be absolutely absurd to give Vancouver a playoff game with one day in between games. - What if it just makes no sense? - What if it's Vancouver LA or Vancouver Vegas. So they both play on the 18th. - You can't, I still can't do it. To me, it's absurd that you're gonna have these teams actually get prepared for a playoff series against another team with one day between games. - Yeah. - It's absurd. - It's tough. - Like even two is kind of tight. Like honestly, if you look at Rodgers Arena, they're scheduled to, that's where the issue becomes. You kind of have to maybe play on a 21st and 23rd. It's difficult to find the open dates. You can always move stuff around. But I just, even 21st, I don't think is great. Like you're only getting two days off, but you're getting two practice days before a playoff series. - The NHL bending to the wants of its television broadcast or south of the border. This is the reason they moved up the playoff start date to the 20th. But anything earlier than the 21st would be surprising given how the season finishes for the Vancouver Canucks. - Hi, this one from Tawassen Knocks. This might be excessive, but we can shorten it if we need to. Rank the 16 teams currently in the playoffs from would hate to face in round one to fingers crossed we get those guys and where do the Canucks land? - So the 16 teams? - Yeah. - We could either do all 16 or we could just do the Western Conference. Why don't we just do the Western Conference first? - Yeah, let's do the Western Conference first. - Let's see where we're at, time-wise. - Yeah. - I think Dallas should be my number one seed. - I feel like Colorado is still, to me, number one. - We have to be on a consensus here. Sat, you're the tiebreaker. - Oh man, I'll go Dallas. - Woo, you guys are cowards. - Okay, so Colorado is two then. - Yeah. Edmonton three or Vegas three or Vancouver three? - I would probably put Edmonton three because of how prolific they've been since they made their coaching change. So I would go Edmonton three. - All right, Edmonton's three. - Yeah, and then Vegas four? - Yeah. - It's Vancouver or Vegas at four? - Yeah, I think Vancouver Vegas is pretty tight. I think it's pretty tight. - Right now, I mean, if you do a power, if you do rankings based on the season, of course the Canucks should be ranked higher, but like current form getting healthy, them too, and you know how good they might be. - And they're defending Stanley Cup champions? - No champions, maybe slight edge to Vegas. - Yeah. - So Vancouver five then? - I'd say, look, if the Canucks and Vegas were to play a first round series, Vegas is going to be the favorite of that series. - What Vegas is a Stanley Cup odds are currently better than Vancouver's are per the bookmakers. - But because they play on home ice to start off, it might be pretty close to a pick 'em. - Yeah. - It would be pretty close to a pick 'em, yeah. - Yeah. I think honestly, you're trying to rank Vegas and Vancouver for five, and even with Edmonton, to be honest, like, I don't think there's a lot separating them from three to five. - Yeah. - So I know, you know, somebody listening, I'd be like, "Thank you, we should be third." Like, to me, it's the same tier. Like, I don't think Vegas has played well enough for me to say they're in a different tier. To me right now, like Colorado Dallas might be in a different tier with how they've gone, but the rest are kinda in the same tier. It's more about how you rank them in the tier. And if you're in the same tier, you have a chance to beat them. So I wouldn't get too caught up in whether they're third and fifth. I think they're pretty close with those two teams. - By the way, Vancouver does have better Stanley Cup odds than Vegas. - Oh, really? - At least at the moment. Vancouver's +850 Vegas at +1,000. - Yeah. - Guess it depends where you look, yeah. - Yes, so I think, I mean, yeah, yeah. So I think I'll put those four. - So, okay, we'll go Vegas for and then Vancouver 5. - And then 6LA, 7 Winnipeg or 7 Nashville? - Yeah, and I guess if you wanna remove Vancouver from it, 'cause I know somebody messaged too, isn't it about who you're most scared the Canucks are going to play? Okay, fair point. If you wanna remove Vancouver out of it, it's not about ranking Vancouver. Then I would say, yeah, I mean, Dallas, Colorado, Edmonton, Vegas, and then I would say Nashville over LA. - But then I would probably switch Colorado and Dallas if it's about who am I afraid to come back to? - Is the bottom seed? I think Winnipeg's better than LA or Nashville. - I forgot about LA. I forgot about Winnipeg. I forgot about Winnipeg. Yeah, so I put Winnipeg ahead of them. So they'd be fit. - Are of course. - Yes. - It's Winnipeg. It's so forgettable. Who cares? - I would have, I would have, I think Winnipeg's scarier opponent than LA or Nashville. - I agree, I agree. I put, yeah, I agree. So we put Winnipeg 5, then, and then who do we put six? Nashville or LA? - I'd say LA. - LA. - I'd say Nashville, but with a school LA, then. So Nashville's your, the opponent you want to meet the most in, that's the one you're least scared of? - Yeah, so you're saying that LA sat is the one you're least scared of? - No, for me, it's, yeah, probably. - You're saying you're preferred first round matchup for the Canucks would be the LA Kings. - I'd say so. - LA and then the Preds. I think the Preds, I still don't feel bad. I think the Canucks beat the Preds too. I think the Canucks beat LA. I just think there's a better pathway to the Preds stealing that series than it is, there's one for LA. LA doesn't create enough. Like, if you think this LA team's the same as the 2012 team, you haven't been watching them. Like, that 2012 team was like offensively, they grinded you down, they were great at keeping the puck down low, creating low to high chances. They out chance you, they outshot you, they out-possessed you, and yeah, they played a really tight, stingy hockey, but they spent all their time in the offensive zone. These guys just sit back, playing in one, three, one. Like, they're not pushing forward, plus their goal-tending's a mess. - Well, end with this one. Basketball fill, would you draft Bronnie James, if you were an NBA team? Declared for the draft today, by the way. - A hundred percent, yes. - I mean, I draft them, that depends on where. If I'm the Lakers, I draft them, it'll be a late pick and you can play with LeBron. - His dad. - Yeah. - But if you're like the New York Knicks, or you're not like, "Hey, if we draft Bronnie, "shouldn't be that hard to get LeBron to come over." You know? - Yeah, I guess so. - I think that's kind of the reason I would sign, Bronnie is because you're probably getting his pop after a swell. Now, if you're Charlotte or something like that, maybe you're not gonna convince LeBron James to head there, or OKC in one of those teams, I don't know, but... - But how good is Bronnie anyways? - Doesn't seem that great. - Does not seem good. - He's not as good as his dad. - His dad is pretty good. - His dad's not bad. I mean, is he even like... - No, he doesn't project to be the second best player of all time, no. - I mean, does he even project to like be a high pick? Like, I don't even know. - No, I don't think so. - Like, I feel like it would be a second round pick. - But you know what? If I'm an owner, I'm taking Bronnie James for sure. - Yeah, that's my thing is like, the second round picks rarely worked out anyway. - Yeah. - And if you're an owner. - Sure. - Yeah, you're just like, you know what, this guy's gonna make me a bunch of money, you're gonna take 'em. - Yeah, I potentially have a marketable player. I potentially have a way to get LeBron James to my team. This all makes sense from an ownership perspective. - Yes. - All right, we'll do some mailbag overflow. I know there's a bunch of questions coming in, 650, 650 on the Delmar Lumber text message inbox. We'll get to that, and more to close out the show. It is Canucks Central. - Hey, it's Big Nazaar. Have your say and join me on The People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets, weekdays, three to four on sports net 650, or wherever you get your podcasts. (dramatic music)
