[MUSIC] Back in on Knox Central, it's Dan Reachow, Satyar Shah, here in the Kintek Studio. Knox Central is for Enzyme Pacific. Vancouver's premier Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, and Jeep Superstore on 2nd Avenue between Cambien, Maine, or at EnzymePacific Chrysler, Dot, C-A. I still got a mail bag to get to, but up next. It's been a while. Couple of weeks since we've had Yannick Hanson, our Friday analyst on with us. He's been enjoying spring break, and we get Yannick back in on the conversation today. This analyst brought to you by the Magnuson Auto Group, Metro Ford Port Coquitlam, and Magnuson Ford in Abbotsford on both sides of the Fraser to serve you. Thanks for this, Yannick, how you been? >> Yeah, always a pleasure, thanks for having me. >> It's great to have you back on the show. It's been a couple of weeks. What have you made of the way things have gone for Vancouver in this last little while? >> Yeah, it's like you're treading water. You're on, you're off, winning some, losing some. It's that dreaded time right before playoff starts there. They're almost set. Edmonton could kind of cast them, and they were that four point behind a couple of games than they lose, but they're like, they're set, it seems. So it's like you're just trying to get these games out of the way. Don't get hurt, and hopefully your players are playing at a level where they need to, because like again, playing against Phoenix and Anaheim, like they've done here last couple of games, like you don't want to be playing that right now. You want the intensity, you want playoff hockey, and then you're not going to get that every night. You're going to get these teams that have a handful of games left, and all they're looking for is cheddar. They're just looking for points, they want to make plays, they want to have a good time. Season is over in a week and a half for them, and they have no fear, no repercussion for anything. They're just going out, and it's dreadful to play against these teams. They can embarrass you, you can get hurt, all of these things where nothing is on the line for them, and everything is on the line for you, so your, like you said, you're kind of floating through these games. And again, getting yourself ready. When it comes to, you know, the playoffs and the type of run you need to be, how important do you think it is, like, you know, I was mentioning this yesterday. So last year, the Vegas gold tonight's won like nine of their last 10 games, and it went to the postseason, and obviously won the Stanley Cup. The year prior, the Colorado Avalanche won like one of their final eight games, and they only lost four games in the playoffs. How important is it going into the playoffs on a runner or not? Like, does it really matter, or what's most important when you get, before you get into the postseason? - Uh, Colorado that year was a step or two above everybody else, so they could afford it. I'd say they could turn it on. I would rather be beyond my game when I enter the playoffs, so I'm not worrying about, okay, is my power plate clicking now? Can the penalty kill get the job done? Are my top six going to be producing in game one and two? These things, I'd rather have them, and if you're winning eight of the last 10, there's a pretty good chance that your team is clicking. So I take that any day. That being said, once playoffs started, it's a brand new season, and anything can happen. But again, just for comfort and believe, because a lot of times it's also like, you believe in yourself, you believe you're better than the team you're playing against. You're going to play with a little bit more confidence. And again, if it then translate on the ice right away, you have the mental upper hand. You know that, okay, we go out, we do our thing, we will win this stuff. Where you're not looking for extraordinary something exceptional to happen for you to tilt a series your way, don't get me wrong, it can happen, it does happen. But I'd rather going in being very confident in myself and my team. Well, there's the main reason there is some lack of confidence or a loss in confidence in this team. Yeah, the results haven't been as good lately as they were earlier in the season. But it's the offense that's dried up defensively. They've kind of just tried it along. They've been as good as they've been, maybe even better than they were earlier in the season. Maybe throw that one Vegas game out the window, but isn't that what you want going into the playoffs that the way you're playing on the defensive side of the puck to be as sharp as it has been or sharper than it has been at any other point in the year? It's definitely easier to win a 2-1 game against anybody. My issue with what you're mentioning is losses to Colorado or not Colorado to LA. It's losses to Vegas. We haven't seen Edmonton in what five months, but they're definitely a different team than when they played them three times early in the season. And the hesitation and that thing that comes from these are the teams we've got to play in the first and second round most likely. And you don't have the best run-in with them in the past here. So again, you've got to find some way to make yourself and us believe that if we see LA in one or we see Vegas, we're better than them. We can beat them and the play as of late has not exactly been showing that and that's probably where it comes from because if these faults in their game had been happening against the Arizona and against the Anaheim, but we had taken care of business against these other teams, then you wouldn't have been thinking that way. So I think that's where it stems from. Are you concerned about the Canucks current trend? Are you worried about them in the first round? I still don't like the top six again. First round that they should get home. I see it's a wild card team, but again, if it's a natural team, like natural has lost one game in the last 16, 17 or wherever many of this, like they're humming a tough travel. Like that there is no easy matchup and there's no question. Vancouver is in this position because of how they did early in the season. They've been they've been fluttering a little bit. I still like them in the first round home ice. It is a wild card team, but but again, like it's it's the top six that has me worried right now and you guys mentioned scoring. It's not so much that it's more so that who is the top six in Vancouver right now? Linhong's injured, you have PD, you have Bock and you have JT. And then we have three fillers in there right now. And by fillers, it's not a it's not a knock on Garland or Herglener or whoever the other three guys are. They just don't scream top six. And I know if we start picking through the other teams will find the same things here. It's just that we have we only have three legitimate. Linhong's healthy, you have four, but but somebody's playing out of position. And what we've seen in the game so far is that that he hasn't really excelled in that position. So so you're you're you're thin and you in my opinion, the top six don't match up to the other top six is that we're talking about. So we need other things to go right for us. There's no question that pretty much regardless of who we play in the first round, we will have the best goaltender, granted them is healthy. We will have the best defenseman on the ice. We will probably unless we play unless we play Edmonton or Colorado, which we won't, we will have the best one to punch at center. But but then we we we're going to start lacking from there on. And again, death is important in the playoff and that's where we're lacking a little bit. Yeah, and you know, they are one top six forward short at least, but also like with the way Pederson's playing right now, you're you're you're almost to top six forwards short. And the coach is trying everything to get him going. Right. He bumped Besser down to play with Pederson and Hoaglander these last few games. And it's just it's just not clicking for Petey right now. What are you seeing in his game? He's on an island and by that, like they they some is some is under players. But but again, they haven't they haven't found a winger for him. No, no, I'm not talking to wingers. One. He's had a rotating makeshift line the entire season. Chris Manko, Hoaglander, McKay of a little bit with with JT and Brock, but like it's so many different players and none of them outside the little stint with JT and Brock is legitimate top six caliber wingers. And that's what's missing. So when he comes on the ice, it's where I'm going to say easy. It's easy to zone in on him because you cover him and then we'll like the other guys hurt us. And I'd rather have Hoaglander. He's a great player and all these things. So is Garland. I'd rather have them their the puck on their stick than on TV's. And then let them do something let them that they're not going to dance through me in the same sense that PD can do take over the game. So when he doesn't have a legitimate running mate that you're in all fairness, scared of when he's out there, you zone in and you almost cover him by the man and a half. And then it is very hard to produce. If you look around the league, everybody, all the good players, they have somebody playing with them. Matthew has marner when he's healthy for the most part. Like McDavid and Drycidal, the same kind of deal. Like you're going to have these guys and they have guys playing with them that when you cover this one guy, well, somebody else will pick up that extra room and will hurt you. Where we're in PD's sense, I don't see that. And again, it's not a knock on the players he's played with. They're great players. They just pulled out a little bit of where they probably should be. And again, then this is kind of the result you see. So again, I know where we're talking next year now, but you need to find somebody and we're hoping it will come through the trade deadline, Lynnholm or whatever they find. It didn't happen and now you're kind of stuck with, this is it. And now you're hoping that he can will his way through this and find the chemistry needed with two players in order to turn a line. That is kind of makes you into a legitimate top six and that's hard. Well, and the thing about this too, and you know, you're just kind of mentioning about it, hey, getting the lime is the thing that stands out to me, though, individually and regardless of who he's playing with, he's not shooting the puck as much. There are opportunities where he's got a chance and he decides to bypass it on the power. Please not quite as aggressive. Like, is that just a confidence thing sometimes where things aren't going your way and you're just looking to pass off instead of taking what's there for you? That creeps in so fast and then you're looking for perfect place. I need an empty net or a backdoor play, otherwise it won't go for me. And then instead of just filling the buckets with pucks and shooting, you start picking and choosing and it's a very slippery slope because it's hard to get out of it that way and the only way to get out of it is scoring. It's producing. You start feeling good about yourself. You start feeling that, hey, my next shot is going to go in, too. And it's an incredible feeling. And once you have it, you wish you could bottle less stuff up and keep it for whenever. But it disappears and then getting it back. You guys talk to players all the time and they're always talking about, yeah, got to get back to basically, it's got to get in front of the net, got to get a dirty one. Because once you get one, you're like, oh, now it's not 10 games ago since I scored or stuff like that. And you feel like you're actually a pretty decent player again. And I'm confident it is a very, very funny thing. Like when you have it, it's like your top of the world and then anything go right for you, but we need dope. It's so hard to get out of that funk. What have you made of all the changes in the forward group right now? I mean, they've essentially got the same 12 that they had before. They made the Lindholm trade. And yet, Rick Tock, it's throwing Dakota Joshua and Connor Garland up with JT Miller. He's trying some different things with Patterson. The bottom six isn't having as much success because of that. Are you surprised there's been so much change here late in the season? Yes, I am, especially. I know the Joshua went down there. It seemed like that line was almost untouchable. And I wouldn't have done anything to that if he was state health and they continued playing like that. Obviously, unfortunate events team did otherwise. And then you're hoping that, hey, these were actually really good. Maybe they can make somebody else go. And maybe Garland is the player that's going to make PD click. Okay, it wasn't really happening. So now you're trying out all these things to kind of see what serves you best. Come game one, but again, when it doesn't happen and we keep searching and we keep seeing new lineups, it puts a lot of question marks into the dressing room in terms of who's going to play where and who am I going to play with and what are my reads going to be and all these things. Am I going to be checking? Am I going to be scoring? And that uncertainty is something that you'd like to eliminate going into the playoff. So you have a role, you know your role, and you can go out and execute. You don't have to think. Well, as far as the man advantage goes to and they're trying a lot of different things. I know they scored some goals here in the last little while. What do you make of having Garland on the power play and in the spot that he's in? Like he's done a good job of obviously digging pucks out and playmaking. But if you're not a shooting threat on the half wall, does that not take away some of your unpredictable nature on the man advantage? I have never liked Garland on the half wall. And I love him as a player, don't get me wrong. The things he brings, the way he skates and tenacity and all these things. But standing on the half wall, you're standing still and you're threading needles. You're picking spots, making passes, and that's not his forte, if you will. He's better at digging out pucks, getting them back with a guy on his back kind of thing. There were a lot of times, it's a completely different animal playing on the half wall. There's only few players that excel at it. And the guys that do are operational on, like they're a better passer than the rest of us. They had a better vision. Eyes of the back of the head kind of thing. And again, once you're at the half wall, it revolves around you. And if you aren't getting it done, the power play aren't getting it done. And that's where I don't see him as a great fit there, to be honest. Yannick Hanson, our guest, earlier this week in an interview, Jim Rutherford was asked about Dakota Joshua, who was an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. And he said it is a priority to get Joshua signed to a contract. Now, with the season he's had 15 goals, plays penalty kill. Now he's playing a little bit on the power play score, that great goal the other night. It feels like $3 million is kind of the range we're talking about for Joshua, who is really just into his second full NHL season, Yannick. What do you make of the decision that Canucks have to make here on Dakota Joshua? That's too much. That's too much. I love him as a player too. He has intangibles that outside of Tyler Myers and Sidor of Susie, we don't have. He's got some size, some grit, will fight as well. So he has stuff that this team needs on the front end. It's four, five good months enough to warrant the kind of contract that he can probably demand. I don't think so, but again, it is what it is, but like I said, they got some other guys they got to take care of before. And again, I would be worried about signing a player like him with the small sample size to that high of a contract. We see it every year, these guys that can fight a little bit physical, score some goals. They're going to get paid really handsomely, and then the offense dries up and what now. So again, I really like what he's done this year as a player, how he's progressed and what he's done for the team. Again, I wish I'd seen it over three years, and then I'd be comfortable doing it. But the sample size is kind of short for me to warrant that kind of money. And the final one here on the contract stuff, Philip Hironic, Rutherford mentioned they want to get him done, obviously, depends on the money. How important do you think it is to get him back? Is it like, if you have to pay $8 million, you'd do it? Or are you careful considering he's been playing with Quinn? I need him under Quinn. I need him paying to get him paid less, and I know it's like $7.8 for Quinn or something like that. So I need him under that. I wouldn't necessarily call it an internal cap or whatever, but you can't go over. That's just the way it is. And if you want more, has he earned it based on the year he has? Potentially, he's playing with the best player in the league, arguably. So you're going to get inflated a little bit in that sense. He has made Quinn Hughes a better player than he's been before, too. So they both have a stake in each other's success. And you hope that you can talk to a guy like that and say, "Hey, listen, you're going to be here for the next five, six, seven, eight years. If you want to, you're going to make a ton of money. You're not going to be wearing a boat where you're going to be living and stuff like this. Can we get something done here that aren't going to hamstring our team going forward, where we can still build this? And it is more fun to win. And again, if you're making, I know I'm speaking for my own experience here, but if you're making 7.2 or you're making 7.8, is that really going to float your boat? If it means that a couple of other guys do this, and now we have a third-line center, and I know it's wishful thinking from fans and GMs, but again, those are the things that they will make a difference in the end where you've got to find a way to, I'm not saying squeeze guys like this, but talk reason to them and see if they can see the bigger picture here. And again, hopefully, don't listen to their agents too much. Yannick, great to have you back. We'll talk soon. Yeah, take care. There is Yannick Hanson joining us here on Canucks Central, and Yannick, a presentation of Magnuson Ford in Abbotsford and Metro Ford Port Coquitlam, and he joins us every single Friday, also on The People Show every Tuesday. So definitely has some qualms with giving either Philopronic or Dakota Joshua some of the kind of money that's been speculated about here early on in the negotiation process. Yeah, Yannick is, he's very tight with the money he wants to give out. He's shrewd in the ocean, he knows what it's all about, and I think he echoes all the same things. Like, we mentioned this about Dakota Joshua yesterday too, if we're talking about him actually pushing for three and a half, four million per year, and he can actually get that, it's like, you know what, great for you, God bless you, and go and get your money elsewhere and have a great rest of your career. That's how I would view it. If it's a number that makes a bit more sense, a bit lower, okay, I'm okay with rolling it dice even with some risk, but I feel Peronic same thing, like, you just can't be overpaying on Philopronic. As much as I know, he's great with Quinn, and he's a fantastic player, but if he actually has to get eight million to stay here, I just don't do it. Yeah. Yeah, it would be, it would be really tough, right, to have that happen. And these are the tough decisions you have to make, right? Some guys, you know, you just can't be living without, and other guys, you have to have a firm standing on what you believe their worth is, and it feels like the Canucks understand that with their players and where their values are at, and they did it with Bo Horvat. We'll see what happens with some of the others they have to sign this off season. We're going to have a lot more of this coming up in the mailbag, but it is just, it has just come to my attention here, Sat. What we have an update out of sports. Okay. Okay, Vaxkin has scored again. So he's got up to what now? 2029 goals. How many goals was he at when you ripped them? Was he at 20? He was at 19 when he scored in Vancouver. It was his 19th of the season, and now he's at 29. So what's he about long ago, the 10 goals, like less than a month. This is his 10th game. Yeah. He's scoring a goal a game. Do we have him? Do we have confirmation that he was listening to you? I don't know. He like somebody got it to him. So this button in Vancouver was like, hey, OV, look at this clown saying you're not going to beat the record. He has eight goals in his last nine games. Yeah. It's ridiculous. Yeah. He scored against Vancouver and his score equal since then. Somebody should have told me he figured out his stick problem after the all-star break, and that's the reason he's like scoring a bunch now. I was shooting more. And he went for like four games without scoring a goal, and then he scored yesterday, and then obviously he got another one now. So I mean, he's getting to 30. He's got 29. Yeah. And he's what? 43 back of Wayne now. Can he make that 40 by the end of the season? That would be tremendous. If he can have like, if he's 40 out by the end of the season. It's remarkable, then, like the amount of goals he's scoring lately. I'm telling you, I did not see a guy that could score at this rate when they were here in Vancouver, but OV is just a different breed. I should have known that when I talked about it. Well, I mean, he may just be the greatest goal of all time, yeah. His great hot streak makes it feel, again, as if it is inevitable for Alex Ovechkin to eventually beat Wayne Gretzky's record. He's up to 851 goals. Yeah. So yeah, just needs the 43. So I mean, 44 to break the record. So I mean, if you can score 25 next year, that means you need to get what, like, 18, 17 the next year. That's all he needs. So like, next year is big too. I think like two years from now, there may be that like precipitous fall off a cliff. Like, that could happen, right, because he's going to be in his 40s. I think next year is huge. Like he's got to have like 20 plus, like if he gets 25, if he gets 30 next season, then it's cake, right, and it's all done. But if he has like, if he next year, it's like 17 goals, 18 goals, then it gets touch and go, but if he gets like a 25 goal a year next year, it's over. They're going to come in point in like his age 40 season. The capitals are just going to be getting blasted, like almost every single night. And they're going to get a power play and teams are just like not even going to cover a hobby. Just like, let them have the shot. See if he can score. It's going to be a layup for him by the end. I just I was just checking my messages. Joey Dollywell says, can you please get Richeo the Ripp-pedi? I've tried. Didn't work in the same. No, you got to say so, you got to say something like he's washed. You said, you said a vechkin is washed. He's not getting the record. I mean, I didn't quite say that. You got to say like, Patterson's watched. He's going to get bought out. You got to say that. But the thing is, you have to mean it. It has to like, it has to be earnest. It can't be something you just throw out there. It's got to come from the heart. Yeah. Yes. It's like you with the J's. You also curse the J's in a couple of games. They're never going to hit runs. Yeah. The only way the score runs now is if teams give them the runs. So fun. I love our group chat. And every time there's a J's game on, the messages that come in from Dan, I just howl at it. And I know I'm going to join him. I was like that with him last year. I was like, ah, whatever. I didn't care. And then once we got to July and August, I was livid. I was like, but it just took me like three months to get there. Like reaches out like a number as like a nine and 10 already at the losing my mind stage with the Blue Jays. Man, I just feel for Kevin Barker. They got him on the commercial being like, yeah, I'll take the over on 86 and a half wins. Like, well, they put that on the commercial. Jay, still 500 reach. I don't know. I've seen this team play. It's early. Yeah. All right. Stan Richeaux, Satyar Shah, Knock Central Mailbag is next. Hey, it's Mike Alford and Jason Ruff. 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