Dan and Sat are joined by Canucks GM Patrik Allvin to discuss the additions he made in free agency, including the big add in Jake DeBrusk and what he can bring to the team's forward group.
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.
the take it off signing season as the Canucks wrap up a lot of their business we're gonna have an exclusive conversation with Patrick all Veen here in a few moments we're in the kin tech studio, kin tech Canada's favorite orthotics provider powered by thousands of five star Google review sort feet. What are you waiting for and you can get in touch with us questions comments. Anything you want to say you can do it on the dumbbar lumber text message inbox 650 650 done bar. Lumber the bridge street dumbbar lumber and Ladner has moved to progress way in Tilbury's industrial park more room more product more awesome details at Dunbar lumber dot com the Canucks get a lot of business done today sat we're gonna discuss it here with Patrick all Veen in a moment but what's your view in the overall before we start getting into specifics of how the Canucks went about their business today. The Canucks are building a team that is even truer to their identity that they've established here over the past season that's my general my biggest takeaway from this team and the forward group looks a lot more in the vision of how they want to play hockey. Yeah, especially the forward group now defensively it's clear with their RNA would for board you're getting to big defenseman and that's six foot four for four and six seven for Deharnay. So you do you replace Zadora of size. Yes. Now he's not Zadora but he replaces Zadora of size six seven and four board is like like three inches taller or two inches taller than Ian Cole is even. Yeah. And even bigger. So they replace the overall size on the black back end which is to their identity. But the forward group is faster. It's not deeper because they just interchange players that we're here to start last season. But it is a far more formidable looking forward group. And one that is far true to being that for checking fast pace team they want to be. They certainly look like a team that can rule all four lines a little bit more next year which we know is something that they've wanted to do. But you add Jake de Brost, and you can keep for Sherwood to the forward group and three common themes their size, speed, and certainly when you think of Sherwood and Heinen good for checking players as well. Like that's something Rick Talkett has mentioned from day one showing up into Vancouver. We need more forecheckers and I think the Canucks accomplished some of that in their forward group today. No, they certainly did. And I think the size part is pretty considerable. So de Brost replaces Cosmanko. So that's like a pretty big size difference. Six foot four, de Brost versus six foot tall, Cosmanko, maybe five, eleven, Cosmanko. And then you bring Dan and Heinen in who's six two. So he's you know a little bit about the same size as McCabe was. And then Sherwood replaces Lafferty's size. But de Brosk is really the one that really adds a more formidable player to your top six in terms of size and imposition. But the pace they all bring and especially the way Sherwood plays. Yeah. And Sherwood is a really nice addition and especially a player that's going to bring a real edge that this team really needs. I mean, we saw it in the series against Nashville, Patrick Alvin, when he spoke to the rest of the media today, mentioned how Quinn Hughes is very happy. That key for Sherwood is now going to be a teammate and not somebody that's chasing him down on his on his retrievals next season. So, you know, they did some good work, especially. Okay. Yeah. Sticker shock. There's always going to be a little bit of sticker shock in free agency. I think for the most part, it happened elsewhere rather than Vancouver. The one player that I think they had to really extend for to get it done was Jake de Brosk going the seven years. On the average annual value, though, I mean, Jason Zooker got five million. Like, this is kind of the range that these player types were getting for a salary, but you had to give seven years to get Jake de Brosk here in Vancouver. Yeah. And the Canucks clearly were willing to spend on a forward. Like, they really wanted Jake Genssel. It just didn't work out for them. Right. And then when you look at the market, there weren't a lot of guys that were great fits. You know, like the right hand players that you looked at to Foley and even Marsha. So, like, they're nice. And I like Marsha. So a lot. Like, I think his ceiling is higher than the brass. For instance, obviously, like he's a more dynamic player, but he's obviously older. Yeah. It's a bigger risk. And he got almost 28 million from Nashville. Yeah. So it's a lot of money. That's not only a team, but a market that's tough to match. Like, you know, you're going to have to go above what Nashville is giving a lot of times in order to get that player. My thought on getting March to so would have been the Canucks paying him 30 million. Yeah. For context, his last contract, his six year deal was worth 30 million. Right. You're giving him another contract like that at 33 to bring him over. I can understand why that's difficult to do. And you feel a little sticker shock on it. I mean, if you're spending that much money, I think you'd rather spend it on a player who's six years younger. And I think that's kind of what calculation they made. It was an interesting market today. We saw a lot of money get spent. What is it over a billion dollars spent by NHL owners today? Patrick Levine in his front office contributed a little bit to that total value. But he joins us now, the general manager of your Vancouver Canucks, Patrick Levine joining us here on Canucks Central. Thanks for this, Patrick. How's the day been for you? Well, it's been a busy day. I would say a couple of busy weeks here leading up today, obviously in the early morning here, but feels a little bit better right now. You made several signings today. Jake Dubrow, Stanton Heine and Keith for Sherwood, Vincent Day, RNA, Derek Forbort, Yuri Patera, Nate Smith. It's a lot of business done as you just alluded to, but from an overall perspective, how do you feel about the work you were able to do today and and how it adds to your team? Well, leading up to it, I was very pleased with the process, you know, scouting meetings, getting the list in order. My conversation with Rick Talkett of our needs, kind of targeting the guys, we felt that would be available and would be a fit, but you never really know what's going to happen here today. And it's easy to get crazy with the money going out there, but I felt that we stuck to our plan and we're very pleased to execute and we're able to sign those guys that we believe we make our team better, speed up front. And bringing in some PK guys gives a coaching staff more options, how they want to have the line combinations and give them opportunity to have more options in different matchup roles and even in-game changes there. So overall, very, very pleased. You guys made a big commitment to Jake Nebraska. Now he's 27 years old. How much growth do you see in a player that age in this environment here in Vancouver, potentially? Yeah, I do think there is still growth in his game and Jake is coming out of a really good organization that has a winning tradition out in Boston. So I would imagine he's going to continue to thrive here and be part of the core group moving forward here in the next 70 years and his ability to escape and create the offense. But I also think that his two-way game has really improved over the years. I always be impressed by Jake in the playoffs where he seems to be able to elevate his game and play at the next level. So I'm excited about getting Jake into this group. You know, he had 19 goals this year in 80 games was battling through an injury. We do understand, but the two years prior, you know, he's over 25 goals in each of those years. It feels like maybe maybe a player that we haven't seen his best yet like there's another breakout and also a player that's got a lot of experience playing with top end players there in Boston in their top six and that could be a fit here in Vancouver. And I do think that the thing with Jake is that he's capable of playing both sides. So that gives the coaches another option. How they want to have the line combinations there. Well, and when we look at you guys wanted to get a bit more speed and a little bit more PK ability. Do you think you're a team now your four group especially looks more in the vision of what you wanted this team to be when you came and took over the job. I think it's a, it's a process. We're still growing internal here. I hope we have more younger players that that will show that they're capable of pushing for Austin spots. We always need the internal competition. I think some of those guys were able to play games lost during call of Southern Baines. I think at a rad is very close. I think Max is on this very close. Dr. Mackay coming in here next year too. So I think this is this is somehow things we have to have in consideration will be make on the signings as we did today that we're planning already on our team two, three, four years down the road here and see what commitment we can make and money allocation and open up spots for our own players. You know, it's you've done a lot to help out the depth of this lineup with the brass kind and and Sherwood in the forward group. You've added some of the four checking that I know has been something Rick talk it has continued to talk about in and you and in our conversations over the last couple of years. But but do you feel you've added another scoring dimension that that may be alluded to your team here in the playoffs. Yeah, I think that was something that we felt that the second half that maybe we didn't have in all of that. Or guys did really well at home London or in Garland, but I felt that another level was was needed here. As I said, to give the coaches a little bit more options, how they want to have the depending on different in games adjustments and having that. You know, the speed and versatility was was important here with the guys. You guys obviously mentioned in that your media availability that you're very happy with the defense. Me you've added, but obviously always open to making further improvements. But you guys headed into last season with a very similar defense as to the one you have right now plus you have De Harnay, which you did not have for that added depth plus Mark Friedman. So do you feel like, you know, you guys can head into the season with this blue line and perhaps find a defense. And if you need be like you guys, it was the door up last year. Yeah, I think that's always something we looking to see what's what's available out there and nothing is set installed. So, you know, I think or depth is is somehow better in last year. I think the players that was on the roster understand or system and structure. So I think you will see a different training camp here. And that's something we talked about. Rick and I this leading up here. You know, how do we plan for this year's training camp to take the next step? And I think that there's the trust in our system will allow the coaches to emphasize on different things starting off training camp this year. Is it important for you to go into the season with some cap space available so you can accrue as the year goes on? Pretend as I was sitting right now, we have that ability. But it also gives us more flexibility of calling up guys from Abbotsford, as I was mentioned here. And also put us in a situation that we, you know, if something comes available here, we'll still have a couple of millions here to decide if you want to spend or not. But otherwise, we'll just accrue during the year and hopefully put us in a good position if change is needed. It was obviously a very competitive free agent market and defenseman got paid a lot of money. And one player who got a very nice contract is a former defenseman of yours and Nikita Zadorov. You mentioned that you guys made your best efforts but couldn't get him signed. When you saw that contract, was that just that level that you guys couldn't get to? I'm no comment to that, but I'm happy Nikita did a really good job for us. And the players there are no waiting to free agency and they could choose where they want to play. Obviously, I couldn't come in to stay here, but I also felt that we were able to get some good additions on the back end here and there are there and for Bart to kind of fill out the PK minutes for us. It's pretty obvious some of what you guys like to target on the back end there with Forbert and Dejarnay. Both players that come in over 6-4 Dejarnay maybe fill some of the size that Nikita Zadorov leaves behind. Is that just part of the identity and what it takes to win-come postseason that you feel is important to have on the squad? Well, it definitely made us harder to play against the past year. I think there's always a combination that you need to be able to move your feet. The game is very fast and I think that was something that the coaches were intrigued with. Dejarnay that his feet was good and they were excited to continue to work with them. I think the bottom line is that I think you need a somehow a combination that would co-in and fill a bromic. They're extremely elusive and good with a puck and that gives the coaches a chance to have different pairs and we'll see how the training camp shakes out. And as far as you're looking at your defense too and the types of players you guys have gone after and especially on the 4-group too. How important was it for you guys to improve your penalty kill considering it was better last year but it still wasn't top of a league in terms of PK percentage of this past season? Well, I do think we adjusted extremely well in the PK last year. I think from December to the end I believe were top five or top six in the league. So obviously it takes time to get the right person all on that. I think we'll just continue to build on that but absolutely the players that they brought in here today, they're all really good PK guys. You're eligible to talk contract extension with Brock Besser now. Is that something you guys look to explore over the summer? We have a conversation with an agent Ben Hankinson and we'll see. I think we'll, there is no rush from more side. I think Brock will have another good summer and be ready to come into training camp and we know where Brock wants to be and we're excited after his year last year. So we'll see here as the season moves along. Patrick, we appreciate the time as always. I know it's been a busy day. I have enjoyed dev camp and we'll see you over the course of the summer hopefully. Sounds good guys. Thanks. Thanks a lot and hope you guys enjoy the summer as well. There is Patrick Alvin, general manager of your Vancouver Canucks joining us here on Canucks Central. So just a little bit of an update there on Brock Besser towards the end. No rush as far as talking contract. As he is eligible now, just scored 40 goals and eligible for a contract extension. Yeah and I can understand why you're waiting on this one a little bit too especially with how his season ended. It's probably best for everybody to focus on getting healthy and being ready for training camp and then you kind of take it from there. Something that Jim Rutherford also mentioned obviously and you know it's clear as he mentioned that they feel like they're a deeper team but they haven't closed the door on improving the team yet. And they've got other avenues to potentially do that. I mean end of the day like could I see them starting the season with this squad tomorrow and being okay with it? Sure. It would give them flexibility going into the year, a crew cap space and be able to be players on whoever might come available in trade much like they did a year ago but there is still another dimension up top. And I think Patrick when asked about it with us there sort of alluded to yeah like we're always kind of looking for that. But these options that we have now give us the ability to have different looks, the ability to make in-game adjustments better than maybe what we had during the course of these playoffs. So they feel like they have more options available to them with the work they were able to do today. Far more I mean look at the postseason they ran out of ideas really fast. Yeah and they had Lindholm too because Lindholm didn't really fit so he played on his own line and then you didn't have a lot of options. It was suitor playing up top and then Mikaya was playing with Patterson, Lafferty was playing with Patterson, PDG was maybe getting like you didn't have any legitimate options. So let's say you start the season with Hoaglander, Dubrusk and Patterson, if for whatever reason somebody gets injured or things are just aren't clicking well at least you have Heinen. Yeah that perhaps can play there right. Move Dubrusk with Miller and Besser and move Heinen to play with Patterson. I mean look it's still not unbelievably great options but you have options. He's got a really sneaky shot. He's a pretty good goal scorer for a player who has played 100 games. He has 17 goals in his last 100 games and considering his ice time like goals per 60 it's a pretty nice rate. He's got a sneaky shot. Is he a guy that you can actually perhaps ride in your top six when the slump is happening? Can he come and play maybe a couple games for you? Can he maybe score a couple goals here and there? If injuries happen can he play up there for a few games? I'm not saying he's going to be a solution but they also mentioned they see him as an option on the second power play unit. It's because of that shot. So there's something tangible there that they have that they didn't really have in terms of their depth players this past season. Had 10 goals in 68 games this past year with Nashville and even the year prior scored 7 in just 32. So as you mentioned decent scoring rate for a guy that's playing mostly 4th line minutes. My biggest question with the team is just how much did they raise the ceiling because obviously they wanted to get a genssel type. And now that he signed they're not going to really comment on players and who they were after or whatever. They didn't really want to comment on his contract. They usually don't give you much when it comes to those sort of things. But it's clear they were after a higher end player too. We weren't able to land it but they got somebody they feel like it can be a difference maker for them. There's still room on this roster to raise the ceiling. It's just not something you're potentially able to do all on July 1st. If you miss on Jake Genssel we talked about this. We went over this a thousand times over the last couple of weeks. What are the next best options? March or so? Stamm goes like are those guys even realistic for the Vancouver Canucks? Yeah, because honestly when we discussed things in Nebraska's name came up I was always kind of cool on the idea. Like I don't love the idea and especially in relation to trying to strike for those higher end type players. But like he is 27 and he does fit the mold of what they want to be as a team far better right. But he wouldn't have been as high on my list in terms of trying to raise the ceiling. But once you get past those players and again like March or so got almost 28 million from Nashville. Yeah, a lot of money. It's a lot of money for 30 years. Stamm goes got 32 million from Nashville. And we talked about Nashville last week and we're like if you think if you know Stamm goes you're going to get him for a relatively cheap contract. It's going to be like it's going to be 8 million per year for like four years and that's what he got. If he was going to take a team friendly deal he would have stayed in Tampa then. Yeah exactly so he wants to get paid if he was saying no to you know whatever like even 3 million at 8 years. Which is 24 million dollars if he's just laughing that off the table that tells you he wants a lot of money. And that's what he got and same thing with March or so and I'm not even sure that those guys are perfect fits. Like if you're paying March or so as a 33 year old you know almost 6 million a year for 5 years. And he's a right hand shot that doesn't quite fit on perfectly on a spot on your power play. Like is it the perfect fit and you're paying that much money for a guy that's at that age. Like I understand the hesitancy on it. My issue with paying those guys is it feels like you're paying more for past performance than potential future performance. Yeah absolutely. And DeBrask like you can have your qualms with him as a player. You can sit here and tell me that you think 7 years is too much. Like that's where the sticker shot comes in for me on the deal with Jake DeBrask. It's part of the cost of doing business on July 1st. But he is 27. And he is a player with a really good scoring profile and as Patrick mentioned his defensive game really came along the last couple of years. So that's the bet that they are making. Not just that he continues to be a 25 goal scorer but a guy with some real two way value that he's started to show over the last couple of years. And you know I'll do respect to Stamco's like he doesn't necessarily do that anymore at his advanced age. And his March is so going to be able to keep scoring at a close to 40 goal rate that he just pulled off with the Vegas Goldenites for the first time in his career. Like I have question marks on those things. Yeah it's fair and you know people are like hey you should have just paid Stamco's. You know the guy had 80 points last year 40 goals. You have to think of fit too right. And I know people get excited and I know they like star players and the star value goes a long way. And you can envision stars playing together and having success. And I'm not saying Stamco's would not have made the Canucks better. But if you can't put him in the best position to be successful potentially. Or if you have to take away somebody else's strength to make room for his. Is that the best type of addition to make when you're talking about 8 million plus. And like you said it was 8 million for 4 years to play in Nashville. Did he even want to play in Vancouver. And number 2 what would the cost have been to come to Vancouver over in Nashville. Yeah. So right. The cost of Vancouver is going to be a little bit more generally. It's going to be a little bit more than it is going to be in Nashville. And I know we want Powerplace to be fluid. But everybody has a preferred spot. They all do. Every Powerplay has that right. Stamco's and JT Miller play the exact same spot on the Powerplay. Who you taking out of their best spot. Yeah. And I get it. It would be Stamco's because of his shot. Yeah. But then you're taking away JT from his best spot. And maybe him and the bumper will be interesting and everything. Right. But it's one of those things where it's not a perfect fit. And he's not a center anymore. Like he's a winger and his pace is in the same anymore. The two-way impact is in there. He can score. But he's 34. Half his points came on the Powerplay. Like he's not the same. You see 80-point Stamco's at 34. And we said all these things before free agency. You listen to the shows on the weekend. So it's not just revisionist history because they didn't get these guys. I just don't get the fit for the money in Vancouver. It wouldn't have made sense to me. There was a lot of gaudy contracts today. I will admit when I first saw the JT DeBrus contract, I did have a moment of eyes popping out of my head. And like, wow, okay, the Canucks went that far to get DeBrus. Yeah. I mean, we should have known though that at age of 27, DeBrus wasn't going to sign 4 or 5. It was going to be sick. Like he hit free agency as pretty much as early as you can hit. Like it's 25 as early as anybody can hit for UFA as a real good player. If he was taking less years, he's getting over 6 million. Yeah. Maybe the Canucks went the extra year. Maybe the Canucks went the extra 500k per year over 7 years. But it shows you what the competition also was, right? And like we said before, free agency, you were going to have to take a bet somewhere. Yes. I love the Sherwood Hynon moves and even De Harnay and foreword are fine for the money that you're paying, right? Like it's completely fine. No issues with any of those. They're not ceiling raising moves. And even DeBrus may not be a significant ceiling raiser, but he's a legitimate top 6 player. Yeah. Like you are getting a need in your top 6, right? And that was going to cost you a lot of money one way or another. And a player that scores a ton in the playoffs as well if you look at his track record. I have maybe the most optimistic comp possible for Jake DeBrusque. We'll get to it coming up after the break. It's Dan Richo, Satyar Shah, more Canucks central, what they did on free agency, more of your thoughts coming as well as we continue to break down how the Canucks set themselves up better for next year. Or maybe you think otherwise, let us know 6.50, 6.50 on the Dunbar Lumber text message inbox. That's still to come on Sportsnet 650. Hey, it's Mike Alford and Jason Bruff. Join us for Halford and Bruff in the morning weekdays for 6 to 9 a.m. on Sportsnet 650. Or on demand anytime through your favorite podcast app.
