Dan and Sat are joined by former NHLer Landon Ferraro to discuss the additions the Canucks made in free agency, how the team is shaping up for next season, and more.
This podcast was produced by Josh Elliott-Wolfe.
The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.
[Music] We're back on Kanak Central, Dan Rijo, Satyar Shah, here in the Kintak Studio. [Music] Season Finale Show for us. [Music] As news is starting to dry up in the NHL offseason. Let's bring in our next guest. It is Landon Ferraro, and he joins us weekly here on Kanak Central as a NHL analyst. Thanks for this Landon. How are you? I'm doing really good. How are you guys doing? We're doing well. Just how quickly does the league head up to the cottage or the cabin in Kelowna as soon as July 1st is done in Dustin? I know the Canucks camp finished here going up Gross Mountain this morning. My stepmom, Cammy, is kind of done. She looked like she was on vacation today. I can finally take a breath here and see what's going on in the world. That sounds about right. We saw the kids doing the Gross Grind today. The sign of the summer is coming, that the development camp group has gone up to Gross Mountain. What do you remember about a dev camp scenario when you were first coming into the league? I was actually talking about it with someone yesterday. When I was coming in, that was when development camps were really picking up steam and every team was now having one. It was only a select few kind of before that. My first couple in Detroit was we were on the ice once a day. We'd go to a Tigers game. We'd kind of hang out. There was no workouts really. It was so different from what they've grown to now. Seeing everything they do and the information all the kids get by speakers coming in and nutrition and everything like that. They're just a wealth of knowledge. If you want to learn while you're there, it's there for you. It would be super exciting. Absolutely. Previous years, Landon, as you know about this market, this team has struggled. Development camp was a big deal because Connects could talk about their first round pick and their prospects and hope for the future. In this year, it's a bit of a blip on the radar because not only did the Connects have a good year but also a pretty exciting free agency too. They made the most of their money adding a bunch of players to help them out. What was your main takeaway of the work that Connects did this offseason? I think it's kind of exactly what we've grown to expect from the management team here. They're very methodical in what they do. They're not going to overpay just to get a name that fans will be excited about on July 1st. They want someone that's going to make the team better in mid-January and then in playoffs. I think they did a very good job of replacing some people that left but not only that kind of building on some areas that they needed to. We've talked for multiple weeks now about we need to find a winger for Pedersen and it looks like they've done that. There was a little bit of sticker shock for me seven years. He did just score 19 goals. I looked a little bit deeper into the profile and he doesn't really have too many weaknesses in his game. He's a good all-around player, really good skater. Now already maybe the best forward skater on the Canucks roster scores goals at a pretty good clip. Can play the PK as well? He does a lot of things well even if he doesn't have one super standout trade about his game. For sure. One thing to think about too is the players that he has been playing with in the past in Boston. We had Patrice Bergeron for a couple of years there and he's obviously going to be a Hall of Fame player and was fortunate enough to be around him for the season that I spent there. The amount of just teaching that would have gone on just by sitting on the bench next to him like he would have learned so much from him. But once he retired like Brad Marchon was there and like March, he's a very, very good NHL player. He was going to be on the Olympic team and he's had an unbelievable career. But watching Pedersen's style of passing and how he can find and open up plays I think is going to be something where DeBrosia is going to be able to build and have more opportunity that it's more centered on his shot instead of just trying to create for someone else. In terms of that type of step for a player, that's a pretty sizable role difference isn't it? For sure. I think that he was in a place where he was expected obviously to produce but there were bigger guys ahead of him. Mainly Pastor Nak who was being who he is, he was one of the best players in the league. But he steps into a place here where not only is he going to have to play to his contract that he just signed just like everyone else, but he's almost going to be taking on a bit of Pedersen's stress as well because he knows he needs to have a good year and a lot of that is going to ride on the chemistry that those two can build if it stays like that. So it'll be interesting to see but I think they're set up in a pretty good spot here. Can it be hard to play with great players? It totally depends on your personality. I always enjoyed any time I got to jump up. The year in Boston I got to jump up and play with Marshawn and Berger on for shifts randomly here and there and not that I had a lot of points that year but most of them came from when I was playing with them. There's the opportunities there and if you know that you're not the most special person on that line and if I just do my job they're going to make me look good then it's really easy to play. But if you feel like you're always going to have to prove that you belong on that line, that's when things become tough because you're trying to force yourself into a style that you're really not built to play. You were brought in to play the way that you are because we think that it will work with what we have here. So you just have to be confident in yourself and you don't kind of follow the lead. Well you mentioned how there's a role difference in a step here for Dabrasco and for being the third guy in a line to being the duo guy with a great center or a great offensive player next to him and the Canucks are hoping that a couple of guys make a step or at least one of the guys makes a step into being the third guy in a top six line and a guy that they're looking at is Danton Heine and now Keith for sure we'll get to as well but Danton Heine specifically is a guy who obviously a local boy, he's been playing in the league for a few years, he's been very productive for a guy that plays essentially third line minutes so far. Does he seem like a guy poised to with a settled real look in a top six role, maybe with JT, maybe with Pedersen, to really take that step as a player? I think so and I think his shot and his release that is not known in the league because it's not like he's in the top of Rachaelon I've skated with Brandon for a number of years in the summer while we were training and I've been around him and seen his work rate and honestly for me his release is quietly really quick and it comes off heavy so now he's going to be into a spot or get a chance to play with those two and I think it can work for him, I think he can be a guy that he provides a good speed and he can go work and he likes playing the same way that JT Miller does as well like straight down and hard like that's how Dan wants to play and he wants to keep it pretty simple heading north but again I think his shots what's going to give him a chance to really kind of solidify a bigger role for himself when you look at the signings in totality it's like it's pretty clear the Canucks have a type of player that they value you know they did sign three Bruins on July 1 so are they like minded to what the Bruins front office likes I mean you know straight ahead players direct players good on both sides of the puck like it feels like the Canucks in this front office certainly has a type yeah and I mean if you look at what has won in the past in this league is yes you need to have your superstars and your skill but at the end of the day it's all about simple you know as much as I hate saying like old school style of hockey you have to be able to play a hard man's game when it comes down to playoff time so you need to be able to have those skill guys that can help get you to the playoffs but they need to be able to elevate their game I say elevate it's almost bringing it down to like I just have to work I can't look for the extra you know toe drag here or there but it's it's what works so I mean you bring in a guy like Sherwood that you just had a series against that you know clearly seen what he's all about and and the players on the Canucks had made it known that they were not a fan of how he played and now we're going to love the way that he plays I know that I don't know about you guys sorry I don't know about you but I just can't stop thinking about the random times when they need a bit of a you know just a bit of a wake up call during a game whether it's you know that mid week game in November or February or something and they Chuck Sherwood and Joshua on a line and say just go run around for a couple shifts like that's going to be fun and those two are going to love to do that randomly together absolutely and I think they have that and I think you know not to simplify things but I think you know this is essentially what it is even Alvin himself one of the things he referenced about depressed was playoff performers so it's clear that they're looking at the playoffs but also like Harinan has a good shot good release Sherwood also good shot good release the brush good shot as well it's it's pretty clear that when you look at playoff hockey it's hard to get to those areas either you get to those you get to those dirty areas or you have guys that are one shot scores or these guys that can score with their shot like that yeah and I think you know honestly like I think people would be pretty surprised with the amount of depth players around the league that are playing third or fourth line that are at that kind of you know 20 to 30 point range and if they had opportunity on another team or even on their team consistently like they would produce at a higher rate it's just it is all about timing and being in the right spot and having that opportunity like there's a lot of guys that get end up pigeonholed in spots and they do the third or fourth line very well and that's their career but you see these little bursts of what could be and you know I saw a clip today of three on two that Sherwood was on that you know pass comes all the way across and he hammers in a one timer from six feet above the top of the circle on the left side like that's a goal scored goal like there is more to the game there he just needs you know it's a bit more confidence and he's just played his first full season and he's going to be moving into it now a second so I mean it's there and it's going to be interesting to see how many guys out of that group can take a step this year again and one of the other things all being referenced with us when we spoke to him on July one he you know he sort of talked about the playoffs and how quickly the options to to mix things up in the lineup dried up for the coaching staff and you know some of these moves you know they they help in that factor right because mike wasn't going you wanted to bump him down but who do you put up it's like Sam Lafferty but Sam Lafferty's not going so so at least adding a little bit of this depth you know when things aren't going well let's say in a playoff series maybe there are a few more options for Rick Talkett to go to to try and jump start the lineup in a way yeah I mean if you look at the roster if you put them you know in right now at what it is like there's so many different options to go with right like there's obviously you know the first glance look at you know what all of you have been talking about of you know these are kind of the lines of what they look like right now but as you start thinking about different teams and different styles that they play how can you start doctoring around the lineup and compared to you know a month or three weeks ago a month ago in playoffs like you said like there's only really one or two guys you can move around and now like you can be throwing guys from the third lineup to the first second to third like you can move it all around because there are options now and that's why I think they've done a very good job and free agency here to really address I don't want to say an issue but something that can help them move along and in the journey that they're trying to get to to be a championship team yeah absolutely and I think one one one of the fascinating parts about how they're going about things is obviously also where they are at with the cap they need to make some bets on guys that can take a step but they're also betting on the fact they can get the most out of players they had some good proof of it last year with this coaching staff and I think a lot of it where that I'm really intrigued to see is on the back end with Vinnie Dejarnay how they believe with this coaching staff there's another level he can reach and be more than maybe a third pair of defense management it seems like a pretty intriguing thing right that you feel like you have a coaching staff that can actually get the best versions out of players and hey maybe that's what all coaches try to do it's a lot easier said than done and we'll see if they can continue doing that but is it wise betting on your staff to get more out of some players feel that you do it right now because they haven't given you a reason not to and if anything the three year contract that Myers has in his back pocket now is pretty good evidence of why you should trust them until they show you otherwise you just keep rolling with it so you know they get a look at Dejarnay especially in the playoff series that he gets into and he handled himself pretty well and they see potential there but even for a bird as well you know if he is a good PK shock blocker you know there's a bit more to his game note and you know they feel that if they did it with Myers last year with how they simplify the D zone and make it almost like there's just a couple of reads like there's just a couple places you have to look you don't have to over complicate anything in the D zone and and maybe that they can take you know a bit of a bargain off that deal as well so you know you put together coaching staff that you trust for situations like this where you don't have endless money you need to find players that are going to give you excess value on what you sign them for and you know with what they have here they have a good start with giving that at least a very good chance so you know I think the Canucks are mostly done for the summer they could still make some ads they do have some flexibility within the salary cap but it might be another year where you know they're aggressive in tapping into the trade market as it happens the thing is like it's come around so fast like I feel pretty comfortable about the Canucks core that they should be a playoff team next year that is you know maybe making their bigger ads towards the trade deadline and that's you know that's kind of the way it progresses quickly when you have a pretty solid core in place with a good coaching staff and a good program that you believe in Yeah I mean for so many years here you know the Canucks fans have been basically living and dying with every single game because every game has meant so much from the very beginning just trying to have a decent season and like you said it did flip around here pretty quick but you know they're now at the point where you know of course they need to keep building on the momentum and what they have going here but it's also now you get yourself to this point of free agency where you're comfortable with what's there to at least start the season and it's just about seeing how the team performs and what you need to add that little one or two pieces later on it's not as much of a rush to okay we need to make sure that we have at least enough team to be in the hunt like the team is if they play as they should the team is in the upper half and they're feeling good to start the year so you just waited out and hopefully you can find a little bargain again somewhere in a trade Landon you are a pretty good trade deadline acquisition for us here on the on Canucks Central we appreciate your insights through the year this is our season finale show for for the summer and you know we'll be talking again soon I'm sure but we really appreciate your time and your insights this year yeah no thanks for having me guys been a ton of fun yeah one hopefully we'll chat with you throughout next season as well all right sounds good enjoy your break yeah thanks Landon there is Landon Ferraro joining us here on Canucks Central has been an NHL analyst for us and some really good thoughts there and you know really really high on Danton Heinen has a closer look having trained with that Danton in the summers here for their playing careers and and it gloated quite a bit about the shot that Danton Heinen has yeah and like he mentioned too and this is something that you know we should always keep in mind NHL players are really good and even guys that are kind of third line players stuff like that but they have a lot of talent and sometimes it just comes down to rules and opportunity and that's why sometimes those guys don't get overpaid because we were looking at it how much is that production opportunity or is it like the player being a real difference maker does he meet a baseline behind is interesting because there are there is enough there in his game and he does enough things well that there could be a level he can reach though because the shot is plus we went we mentioned you've gone through the edge edge data as well like it ranks pretty high in the league in terms of shot power velocity and how he shoots all the rates per 60 like there are a lot of really impressive things there with Heinen could it pop at some point that's what the Canucks are looking for yeah you know is there a little bit more out of you know Heinen or Sherwood that were more of the value buys that they got on on July one for this team and even some you know some intrigue and key for Sherwood as well is he going to score the 67 goals that sat his pecking for next season I'm not I'm not quite sure but those jokes keep rolling in at the dumb bar lumber text message inbox and also on Twitter Peter and Vancouver love listening to land and he's a star in the making land and like I said was a great trade deadline acquisition for us here on Canuck Central shortly thereafter the trade deadline but he was he's been a good addition for us here on the show yeah absolutely and we're gonna have more of your questions for us coming up mailbag Friday season finale mailbag it may last a whole second hour of the show it probably will last a whole second hour of the show how many we have lots of questions right we have lots of questions but you can still get some in there's a are there a chance it depends on how fast we go through when we get some put some put some in the text box and I'll try to get to them are we're going to be able to get to them or we'll be able to see if we get to get to the next game. Try to get to them are we doing it like BC place that if there's enough demand will do a full hour of mail we'll open up some sections all right mailbag till midnight tonight I'm just going to do that it's going on vacation right now good I have another hour in me here man. It's good accentual sports at 650. Hey it's big news are 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 go. or wherever you get your podcasts. (dramatic music)
