In last year’s preseason game in Abbotsford, the Vancouver Canucks put on a show.
It was the Canucks’ stars against the stars from the Edmonton Oilers, as Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes faced off against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Pettersson gave fans in the Fraser Valley a preview of the 102 points he was about to produce, scoring two goals to lead the Canucks to a 5-4 win in front of a raucous Abbotsford crowd.
This year’s preseason game in Abbotsford wasn’t quite the same.
Not only did the Canucks keep their big four — Pettersson, Hughes, J.T. Miller, and Thatcher Demko — in Vancouver, their opponents, the Seattle Kraken, kept most of their stars away too. The Kraken iced none of their usual top-six forwards and just one NHL defence pair in Will Borgen and Jamie Oleksiak.
Without the star power, this game was much less of a barn-burner or even a barn-raiser. It was a lot more akin to watching paint try on a barn.
That’s a bit of a shame for Canucks fans in the Fraser Valley, who were likely hoping to see at least one of Pettersson or Hughes for the price of their preseason ticket. For the Canucks, however, it was much more of a practical decision. They wanted to give one more game to a few players who might get called up to the NHL sometime this season: Aatu Räty, Arshdeep Bains, Max Sasson, and Linus Karlsson.
“Guys like Bains, Rats — those guys could be call-ups if we have injuries,” said head coach Rick Tocchet. “So, it’s good to get those guys one more look before the season.”
That didn’t extend to Arturs Šilovs, who got called up but only sat on the bench as the backup, or Filip Johansson, who was the odd man out as the team dressed seven defencemen. With the Canucks likely to dress something approximating their opening-night roster in their final preseason game on Friday, Johansson won’t appear in any preseason games at all.
Ultimately, it comes down to the purpose of the preseason. For the team as a whole, the point is to prepare for the season to come. For individual players, it’s often to prove themselves to a coaching staff or management that they belong in the NHL or in a bigger role.
But the games are still played in front of paying fans; did the fans in Abbotsford get their money’s worth on Wednesday night?
I’m not sure I got my money’s worth and I only paid for parking when I watched this game.
- At least Andrei Kuzmenko was trying to make the game entertaining for the fans in Abbotsford. He was the Canucks’ most noticeable forward, particularly on the nifty spin move above to evade a hit by Brandon Tanev. He then fed Pius Suter down low for a scoring chance. Unfortunately, like a paisley tie with a plaid shirt, it did not go.
- In retrospect, it was a good idea by the Canucks to avoid televising either of the Canucks games against the Kraken. It wouldn't do to have too many people seeing how much the Canucks struggle with their speed.
- In the offensive zone, Christian Wolanin is great with the puck, throwing all kinds of fakes and deceptions to create passing and shooting lanes. Everywhere else, Wolanin’s sure hands suddenly become shakier than the San Andreas Fault. He can't be a regular in the Canucks lineup if he's constantly coughing up the puck, though he at least got bailed out in this game by the Kraken going offside.
- Filip Hronek was mostly fine in this album but got victimized in a bizarre way on the Kraken’s first goal. Earlier in a penalty-killing shift, Hronek had his stick slashed and had to discard it. Later, as the penalty was ending, Hronek attempted to make a short pass to Carson Soucy only to hit his own discarded stick, sending the puck skittering to Andrew Potularlski in front. Potularksi potted it, naturally.
- While that turnover wasn’t their fault, Soucy and Hronek seemed to have their wires crossed all night with some of their reads and passes. Tocchet has said that the Canucks will have to defend by committee with no set pairings, which seems awfully concerning when one of those potential committee pairings showing very little chemistry. Hopefully, it will come with time, though the Canucks are running out of that precious commodity.
- On the plus side, Soucy and Hronek combined for the lone Canucks goal. After a strong shift by the line of Bains, Sasson, and Karlsson, Hronek picked up a cross-ice pass from Sasson, rotated to the point, and fed Soucy, whose shot floated through traffic to find the top of the net.
- Pius Suter had a strong game in a bit more of a top-six role than he will likely play this season, barring injury. He’s the type of player who’s just constantly showing up as you watch. You ask yourself, “Who made that stick check in the neutral zone? Who forced that turnover? Who made that backcheck?” and, sure enough, it’s Suter.
- One of my favourite plays of the game was a forecheck by Kuzmenko, who didn’t always have that element of his game last season. He just jumped right in between two Kraken players to win a puck, then slipped a neat backhand pass out front for a chance. Unfortunately, Anthony Beauvillier couldn’t finish on the open net, then Cole McWard missed as well. Still, it was an encouraging sight: I’m not sure the NHL is ready for a Kuzmenko who forechecks.
- Speaking of McWard, he was fine. That may seem like damning with faint praise, but it’s important to keep in mind that he was playing with Guillaume Brisebois in this game instead of Quinn Hughes. Does he belong in the NHL right now? Maybe. Maybe not. But he was fine.
- Casey DeSmith had a good game in net, bailing out his teammates multiple times on turnovers and bad beats. It was a weird game for a goaltender, as the Kraken had just 15 shots on goal, but were far more threatening offensively than that would indicate.
- For instance, there were the two posts that the Kraken hit in the third period, including former Canucks prospect Kole Lind. Those were two wide open chances given up by the Canucks defensively that could have required spectacular saves to keep out — instead, the Kraken tasted iron.
- There wasn’t much that DeSmith could do on the game-winning goal by Eeli Tolvanen, aside from not kicking the rebound to him. Still, the initial shot by Cale Fleury was designed for DeSmith to kick out a rebound and, besides, why was Tolvanen wide open to hammer the puck top cheddar? This is one of those great philosophical questions that has no real answer.
- (It was mainly Aatu Räty missing a rotation as Christian Wolanin moved to the puck carrier who was being pursued by Brock Boeser. Räty needed to shoulder check and spot Tolvanen, while Boeser should have then covered the man in the middle. Ideally, Wolanin wouldn't move to the puck-carrier, but would stay central, allowing Tyler Myers to deal with the oncoming Tolvanen. But these things happen pretty quickly.)
- The Canucks had a strong push late in the game for the tying goal but it was cut short by a surprise penalty after a Canucks timeout. Instead of an offensive zone faceoff with 30 seconds remaining, the faceoff came all the way back into the defensive zone, much to the consternation of the crowd, who booed the refs lustily.
- “That was me, that’s my fault,” said Tocchet, owning up to the bench minor. “I thought Tanev — well, he did, he left his feet on a charge. It was charging, I thought. He left his feet and I wasn’t too happy with it. I can’t and regular season I probably wouldn’t — I want to give our team a chance, I shouldn’t have taken that penalty but I was pissed at the ref and should’ve kept my mouth shut. It won’t happen again, put it that way.”
- Here's the one thing that worries me. The Kraken make breaking the puck out of the defensive zone look disconcertingly easy. This wasn't even close to their A-group and they still were crisp and clean and structured on every zone exit. What the Kraken make look easy, the Canucks make look absurdly difficult, whether it's their top group or a mix of NHL and AHL players. Watching the Kraken break out the puck is like Homer Simpson looking at the barbecue pit illustration on the box and screaming, "Why doesn't mine look like that?"
