Canucks Have Multiple Needs Up Front
Vancouver Bureau Chief Farhan Lalji joined Jay Onrait on TSN’s Sportscentre on Monday, and outside of Elias Pettersson, he was asked what the Vancouver Canucks needs are.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Jay Onrait: “So you mentioned up the middle an area of need for the Canucks. Is that the number one area of need in your mind? What is this team? You also mentioned this team has a lot of things they have to address. Talk to me.”
Farhan Lalji: “Well, truly, I think the needs are in the top six. I think when you look at how the blue line got reconstructed mid-season, I think it’s solid, one of the best in the league, quite frankly, beyond just Quinn Hughes. And I think it’s deep. And even in the minors, they’ve got some potential answers there with a guy like Tom Willander, who got signed and was a high draft pick for them.
But up front, particularly in their top six, they’ve got big needs, because you lose J.T. Miller, in all likelihood, Brock Boeser is going to be out the door. So you were short a guy to begin with. And Jim Rutherford said at the end of the season that he probably felt he needed three high-end forwards, and many people thought he might say one or two.
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So the fact that he jumped out on the ledge and said that it’s not just one top-six center. They need one or two additional scoring wingers to go along with, say, a guy like Jake DeBrusk and Connor Garland.
So lots of needs up front, the backhanded and gold there. Think they’re in pretty good shape.”
How Will the Canucks Handle Their Goaltending Moving Forward
In their continued discussion, Onrait asked Lalji about the Canucks having an interesting dilemma in between the pipes revolving around Thatcher Demko.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Jay Onrait: “Okay, speaking of goal, though, Thatcher Demko one year remaining on his current deal. Kevin Lankinen has that five-year extension he agreed to last year. You’ve got Arturs Silovs, sort of waiting in the wings. Maybe that’s why we’re starting to hear Demko’s name mentioned in potential trade talks. What is your take on the Canucks goaltending situation?”
Farhan Lalji: “Yeah, I think there’d be a lot of teams around the league that would probably want to take a leap at Demko, knowing he’s just got one year, so you’re not really tying yourself to term with him. And if you can get him healthy, this guy’s one of the top-five goaltenders in the league, in my opinion, but getting him healthy is easier said than done. He’s healthy now, but can he stay healthy?
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And in the last few years, he just hasn’t proven to be that durable. So I think the Canucks would like to extend him. He has said all the right things that he does want to be back. We’ll see if he actually does. But I think there’s going to be a bit of risk taken on both sides. I don’t think the Canucks can go out and give him big, big term, and I don’t think he can expect that. He’s going to show he can get through a season healthy. They gave Lankinen the extension, as you mentioned, I thought they went high and long on Lankinen, and I was surprised that was four and a half a year over five years.
He hasn’t proven himself. He hasn’t had that sample size yet. So I think if they can get Lankinen in for half the season and Demko playing half the games as well, which puts him in the best position to stay healthy, I think they can be okay. Then Silovs has been amazing in the American Hockey League playoffs.
But it wasn’t his best performance when he played at the NHL level this year. Even though he was good in the playoffs last year, but he certainly rehabilitated his value during these playoffs. And it gives the organization something to think about but some depth in goal as well for Vancouver.”
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