(upbeat music) We're back on Canucks Central, Dan Reicho, and Satyarsha. Rott's still to get into Yannick Hanson going to join us. We haven't got Yannick's take on Philip Ronick yet. The big contract of the week. - Yeah, sounding a big piece of their team to a long-term contract. - I'm very grateful that the Canucks gave us a big bit of news to discuss. This week, as we needed something going into next week, hopefully we'll get more. - Yeah. - I mean, look, Jake Hansel could happen. Other things could happen. A lot can happen for the Vancouver Canucks and what should be a busy off season as they try to get this team a step further from where it got to this year. Let's bring in our next guest. He is our Friday analyst at his Yannick Hanson. This analyst brought to you by the Magneson Auto Group, Metro Ford, Port Coquitlam and Magneson Ford in Abbot's herd on both sides of the Fraser to serve you. Thanks for this Yannick, how are you? - Yeah, I'm good, how are you? - We're doing well. It was a busy news week for the Vancouver Canucks. They started to get some depth signings out of the way, but also one of the biggest off-season question marks is now done and dusted an eight-year deal for Phillip Peronik. What's your reaction to the signing? - Yeah, initially I like it. Again, next year, 7.2 might be a tad much. Again, we're obviously, we're thinking he's gonna continue to produce in the same pace as he did. 7.2 for our number two defenseman, might be a little much. But again, if this contract keeps going and he's only 25, 26 years old, it will be a good deal if he continues to produce. And that's the if, but that's what you're always gambling with because he should be good for the duration of this contract. And if he can produce at a number two defenseman caliber for the duration, then five, six, seven years from now, it will look like a really, really good contract. So I have no issues with it. I'm happy they brought him back. Obviously playing with Quinn inflated his numbers and all these things, but on the other hand, he also helped Quinn Hughes become a better defenseman. So it's one of those things where you got a player that made your team and a vital part better. You have to pay for it. - One of the things that they've been talking about is him, they feel like the team that he could be better. And he felt like there's more room for him to grow as a player as well. How realistic do you think it is for him to expect him to get better next year and beyond at the age of 26? - Well, you're not supposed to peak until you're 27, 28, so you got a couple of years there. Again, he had a torn start. The first half was borderline ridiculous. And then it kind of fell off. So that's where it's like a happy medium. But again, if he can produce at that 50-point clip, they were very good defensively, which had been one of the question marks around Quinn Hughes for the last little bit. So if they can be good defensively and they're still putting up those amount of points, I know they won't be playing on the power play together. So you can expect him to put up a point of game like Quinn Hughes, but again, he's putting up a lot of points there. They're tilting the ice and that's what's important here. And if they can tilt the ice when they're out there, they will generate offense and they will push the pace. And that's really all you want. If you tilt the ice, generate offense, well, the goals will have to come eventually. But again, if you're in the offensive zone, you're doing something right. And that's essentially what you're paying for here. - You know, there's always seemingly a discussion of whether to keep them together, Hughes and Heronic, that is, or separate them and spread out the best talent on your D through a couple of pairs. What do you think they should do next year? - I was on that mindset when they got him and they didn't know it was too much for one deep pairing, split them, split them, split them. But I mean, you guys saw what they did. I would keep them together. They were too good not to play together. And again, you are playing them a lot. So if they're on the ice that much, they are playing with the offensive gifted players on your team. So if you split them up, now you can, yeah, in all fairness, you could probably have them on the ice for 50 minutes or so. But again, your top two lines are only gonna be on the ice in a perfect world, five on five somewhere, mid 30s maybe. So again, you can optimize this and make sure that every time these two lines jumps over the board, five on five, when you use heroic, you should be there or you're coming with the next. And so it's one of those things where you can make it to work. They're also so young that like, they're horses. You don't have to worry about tiring them out yet. And I'm saying that with a little bit of hesitation because you don't want your best players playing 30 plus minutes a night. That's not all I'm saying either, but they should be able to deal with this workload. If they're playing offensive zone minutes, offensive minutes, those are easier minutes as well. So you're also protecting them from being hemmed in, being four checked, that being fighting in front of your own net. So you can make the minutes easier as well. But again, the offense, they provide it. I would keep them together. - There was a couple of reports after the signing got done that Captain Quinn Hughes made sure to at least let management know that he would like to have Veronic back and locked up long term. - I mean, it's always going to be, we'll never know for sure how much that played a factor into the Canucks. Probably going to their absolute max to get this deal done with Veronic. But are you surprised at all to hear Hughes play a factor like that in discussions like this? - You hear this all the time. We're so happy that they signed him and we wanted him back when it's important players. And the team, the dressing room, they want these players back. They saw what he provided. It's what they've been missing. Like we've been screaming for a defenseman that would fill the void behind Quinn Hughes and your 4th, 5th, 6th best defenseman. And he did that the minute he touched the ice. So like all of a sudden, the teams, Quinn, everybody sees like, hey, we've been missing this. And this is why we've been playing second fiddle in NHL and finishing at the bottom of his denage because we haven't had these guys. Now we had him. And now all of a sudden, even though he was an RFA, which normally means that you're guaranteed to come back late. It's not very often these guys get moved but because of the year you had their speculations that the monies were too much. And now you start to worry a little bit because again, Quinn have been here for a number of years now and he has cycled through a lot of partners. And again, players want consistency. And as good as he is, it's nice to know who your partner is, who your line mates are. So again, how much it played in? - I don't know. I'm assuming they'd love him back. Obviously there was a dollar figure as well attached to this. But again, if it was something they were comfortable with, it was gonna happen. - And the question now kind of becomes, how do you fill out the rest of your defense? And we look at, we heard his rumors about Zadoraov and they're still talking to him and perhaps he wants upwards of five million. Now that you're paying, we're owning 7.25, Hugh 7.85, do you think it makes sense to add another defense that's making five million or so or would you look to kind of spread it out a little bit? - No, well, he has to be better than Zadoraov. And I don't get me wrong, I love Zadoraov. But I'm not expecting him to play at the same level, the same pace as he did in the playoffs. I'm expecting the regular season Zadoraov. With, he's a good defenseman, don't get me wrong. And he's worth three and a half, four million. No question about that. But if you're paying a defenseman, five million. Now you're venturing in where this is, this is your number three defenseman. This is a guy who can carry his own, his own deep pairing, hopefully. And that's where he's like, that I'm afraid we're gonna run into the Tyler Myers scenario where like, we just saw what Tyler Myers did. And if he's come back at three million, I'd love to have him back. And it's the same thing to Zadoraov. If you all of a sudden start paying him the money, Myers had last year, we're gonna start looking at him, hey, you need to score 15 goals. You need to put up 40 points. You need to throw people through the glass and into the doors, like on a regular basis now, throughout the regular season. And I don't think it's in him. So that's where like, again, the playoffs was phenomenal, what we saw. But I just don't think that's attainable for him. So again, I would like to have him back. But at five, I think you're paying a little bit too much. I think you need to fill the winger spot. And then we know that's probably coming up here in a little bit who that would be. But that's gonna cost you. And that is your, I'd say that was even your number one priority before you signed Heronig. It was just nice to get it done. So now you have some cost certainty. But we need this winger. We need the winger to play in the top six. So you have a legitimate top six. And then we can worry about our number three defenseman after that. Yeah, and it seems as though management is playing it that way as well. Like, of course, in a perfect world, you'd be able to bring back all these guys. But the cap is going up. Teams have more money to spend this summer and free agency is, you know, it's the chance for Zadora or Dakota Joshua to go out and get a life-changing contract that especially for a guy like Joshua, he's never really had. And for the Canucks, like for as good a season you had, you also know, like, we got to get better. And we don't get better by staying the same. And it feels like that's essentially the conversation that the front office is having right now with themselves. Yeah, and it's a test the thing. Your team has success. Players have success. And now the pay-day come due. You just hope that the pay-day that the guys that are coming due is not the ones that are going to shatter your cap. And again, we have some depth players here. And as good as Dakota Joshua was, he is a depth player. He's third-line penalty killing. So he is, say he's not a priority yet. He's not the one that's going to win you a series. He's great to have the intangibles he provides. It's going to be sorely missing. You're hoping that you can find some of that grittiness, toughness, size-wise, elsewhere at a cheaper rate. And again, if Dakota Joshua goes out and scores 20 and puts 50 points on the board next year and does the same thing he does here, then, yeah, OK, then we made a mistake. But again, the sample size here, if Joshua is 22, 23, then they sign him in a heartbeat. But because it is an older player, it's the first time we see it, you're hesitant. Because is this attainable or was this a contract year for a guy that has this one opportunity? And again, everybody has seen this story played out a lot of times. And it's not very often you get rewarded with these older players that have career years that take this to another step after they sign the deal. Well, and you're right. And I think what the Canucks need to do, as we've been talking about, is really find some higher end players, whether that's finding a winger for Patterson, finding some other quality players. And obviously, we hear a lot about Genssel that being a player that the Canucks are after. But he's a player that a number of teams are after. If they can't land a Jake Genssel, do you think it's imperative they find somebody at least is going to say it to Foley or Marsha so? Or can you live with adding a couple of guys that might be a bit lower than that type of quality? I think if you miss on him, you look for the older players that have proven to produce. And then you add a couple and step on shorter deals. And you incentivize them a little bit, paying a little bit more, but on shorter deals. So you're not tied in for as long. Again, the window is open. There's no question about that. And again, Edmonton is the third game. Six of them, they call finals. And Vancouver was right there. So they can see how close they were. So they will need to push this right to the edge every year right now because of the players they have, the A's, their ads. So again, you can take a step back, but you also can handicap yourself to the point where, OK, we didn't get Genssel. Now we're going to go after a to Foley or Marsha show and sign them to a six, seven year deal. They're too old for this. And they're not going to contend. And then when this next Genssel player comes available, now we don't have the money anymore. So you've got to be able to protect yourself there as well. So again, if you don't get your player at whatever nine, you're going to have to pay for him if you're lucky. Yeah, then you get a couple players instead at a cheaper rate. And then on shorter deals that will still give you some goals. You know, all these discussions have brought up more discussion, more talk about Ilya McKayev and potentially moving him to get his salary off the books and have more flexibility to do more and add more this off season. But is it worth moving on from McKayev, even if it's going to cost you a draft pick or an even worst case scenario? And I don't think this is going to play out, but a buyout, which is going to add on to the penalty you're already paying for all of Rekman Larson's buyout last year. Does it make sense to do that? Or should you bet on the player maybe having a better season being fully removed from his ACL surgery? Yeah, sir, chance on the buyouts. I would never do that. You have too much money tied up to buyouts that's coming due here. I think it's not this year. I think it's next year in the following. It's going to get ugly. So a draft pick, again, it sucks paying up draft picks. But again, the fifth, fourth round draft pick is not going to win you anything. So if that's what makes the difference between you having enough money to add Gensl and add a third defense man, then I would consider it. Because of the cycle you're in, because of where we are right now, we need his $4.5 million to produce 20 goals, to produce 40 points if you're playing on the bottom six. So you need value for all your players, especially where we are right now, where it's tipping whether or not you're right at the top or you're longing to catch up to a couple of teams. Well, and I think what we look at this Canucks team, too, it's clear that free agency is going to be something they look at. But as far as making trades, that's going to be something that the team always looks at. But if you have to trade away your top assets already, is that something you're willing to do? Or do you think they need to be a bit more patient on that type of approach in terms of going after players via trade? I don't think you have a lot of options for trade options to give away. Like your draft picks are bare. You're young guys that are coming in that those are the one that's going to help you win. You need your entry level deals to outperform in order to have the quality throughout your roster if you really want to win. Otherwise, you have to be lucky that you've signed a couple of deals a long time ago that really turned out well for you because you need these cheaper contracts. So going out and hoping you can land these impact players in trades, like we got lucky last year with Sodoros. There's no question about that. You didn't get as lucky with Lindholm. He played well in the playoffs. Don't get me wrong. But it's one of those where it might be a first and a fourth or a first and a prospect that's gone for two rounds of playoffs. And you almost had it. You almost had it. But now that you didn't, now you look like I left to have that back because we only really made it to the second round. So it's a slippery slope. That's where the middle round draft picks, if that's what it cost to free up $4.5 million, being clear, for you to then go out and do a free agency and add a player that's not costing you anything other than money. And you're hoping and begging and praying that he is the player that will push your team over the top, then I'd go that route. Anna Kansen, our guest. The Stanley Cup final, still ongoing. Edmonton's finding a way to keep it going. Well, I guess I should say, Conor McDavid is finding a way to keep it going. I mean, this playoff that he had, he's breaking Gretzky records. I don't think any of us thought something like this was going to happen. What do you make of the way Conor McDavid is? Is dragging Edmonton along to potentially overcoming this 3-0 deficit? Yeah, it's hard to play against a team or a player when they put up nine points in the two team. What can you do? Like the Corey Perry goal is like you can only like nobody can defend that. He was at the end of his shift yet. He was a minute 50 in the shift. Three guys, and he teased it up back door for a captain for a guy who hasn't been close to a goal. And yeah, since he was 36, it's one of those things where it's like it's ridiculous. And we talked about it when we played against Edmonton that you just hope that these guys don't show up. Because if they do, there's really nothing you can do. Your goalie might be able to have something to say with it, but Bob Rosky is not saving this one, even though it's Corey Perry. He's not making this save. And it's one of those where it's like you just hope that they're tired, they have a terrible nap, or whatever it might be that their game isn't clicking for them. Because if it's clicking, well, you need to beat the other half of the Edmonton lineup. All I have is what I mean is when McDavid undrized, I was not on the ice. And then you have to score four or five goals while this is happening. And that's very hard to do. So it's one of those things where you're hoping that they're off. And if they're off, your chances of winning are growth exponentially. But again, the last two, he's gone on, and they win. Yeah, they really have, right? And when you watch a player like Connor do what he's doing, and when you look at a team like the Florida Panthers that have done a really good job of keeping him in check so far, and then all of a sudden he blows up this way, like, what do you do in terms of your game plan to try to slow him down here for game six? Continue, L.A. Like, you play this. You keep throwing Barkov out against him. You're hoping that he can slow him down. And then again, you're hoping that the other 17 players and the team picks up the slack when they're off the ice. Because again, we've seen it now for-- it's not 10 years, but it's six, seven years now since he came back from the first couple of injuries there where, when he plays that way, he's head and shoulders above the rest of the league. It's like he should be playing at a different league. He's that much faster, that much more skilled. Pucks followers him around. Lane's opens up that you don't even see until he's seen them. It's one of those things remarkable to see. And we're being treated to it right now, but you can't really put it into perspective until you start mentioning, hey, this is Gretzky's record. He's just both, oh, there goes another one. And for how many years have we talked about all these records Gretzky has put up that's like, they're never going to get broke. Nobody can do that. Not in today's NHL. He keeps doing it. So again, it's remarkable. And it's great to see. And again, one of the reasons where I think Florida wins, but a whole badminton, because we can put everything to bet then about him and his team player. Then he's got his trophy. And you can enjoy what we're seeing. Last thing, because I know we've had John for quite a while here. But how is Florida feeling right now, given up these last two games after being up 3-0? I think you're still comfortable. Game 5, if they score early a couple there, like Skinner made some saves for them. It might be a different game. As good as McDavid has been, it's 4-3. You have opportunities. You're there. You still like your chances. You have two opportunities here. Obviously tonight in Edmonton is a tough one. But again, you need something exceptional. And again, they have a goaltender who's proven he can be off. But he can also be on to a point where he's almost impossible to score on. And if he has one of those games, you win the Stanley Cup. So you like your chances, still. You have a great team, a phenomenal team. You're just running into a player right now that's almost unbeatable. Yannick, always appreciate the insights. Have a great weekend. We'll talk soon. Yeah, you too. Take care. All right, there is Yannick Hanson joining us here on Canucks Central for another one of his Friday hits as an analyst. We're teeing you up for game 6 of the Oilers and Panthers. I want to see the Oilers force game 7. I'm more invested in the series now, sat that Conor McDavid has dragged them back into it. Are you invested in it because you want to see Edmonton win or because if they win on Monday, we only have a one hour show again. I mean, that's a win win for me. Yeah, and listen, I mean, two hours is fine too. Hey, man, these are the final pro hockey games we're going to watch for the next couple of months. Hey, listen, give me game 7 of a cup final. Yeah. Like, who doesn't want to see a game 7 of a cup final? I would be so in for that. Dan Rachos Satyar Shah, we're back on Monday. Jan Pro, the leaders in commercial cleaning and janitorial, if your workplace demands a clean environment, contact Jan Pro for a free, no obligation quote. Visit janpro.ca. For producers, Josh and Zach, my co-host, Sat, I'm Dan. You've been listening to Canucks Central. Hey, it's Big Nizar. Have your say and join me on The People's Show with big takes and even bigger bets. Weekdays, three to four on Sportsnet 650 or wherever you get your podcasts. (dramatic music)
