Blömqvist

I'm watching the replay. DiPietro was really good considering the Canadian defense hung him out to dry on both goals. He saved the partial breakaway but the Canadian defense couldn't clear the rebound in time, and on the second goal they left the Finnish player wide open -- it's like giving Russell Wilson 5 seconds without pressure of course he would find his spot! That said, does a bigger goalie cover up more net and not allow that second goal? As an aside, Finland dominated that first half of the second period. At 3:45 left in the second period Ray Ferraro says, "Since Canada has changed goaltenders, they have played almost exclusively in the Finnish end of the ice." Further, during the second intermission Bob McKenzie breaks down that second goal: "Marcus Phillips, number 18, he's got his man number 29 in front of net. The problem you run into here though, is Jarret Anderson-Dolan number 11 a forward, doesn't come over and seal off the man with the puck, and as a result, the man with the puck had way too much time. You could make an argument that Mikey DiPietro didn't make himself big in that situation, but that Finnish shooter could have ordered out for food at that point he had the puck for so long in a prime scoring area before Anderson-Dolan got over too little too late."

Agreed. Thomas Chabot had to spend his D+1 and D+2 years in the OHL, both Shea Theodore and Josh Morrissey spent their D+1 and D+2 years in the WHL. Defensemen need time to bake in the oven, and if anything, with Josh Brook ahead of Jett Woo in the depth chart and him playing his final Junior season, Woo will be the top dog next year and have top pairing, PK1, and PP1 duties.

I'm pretty sure he'll be "baked" once he comes to Vancouver... just ask Tryamkin

Or momentarily boarding a plane to Toronto in exchange for Nylander... (Jk if I had to guess he's prolly sick)

I agree, Juolevi will be a solid defenseman for us. The way the game is trending it will be interesting how far up the depth chart Juolevi goes. Before in the 80s and 90s defensemen needed to be 6'4" 220lbs and hit like a freight train. Fast forward to the mid 2000s and coaches started to defend as 5 man units. Today the game is faster than ever before and defensemen need to be able to skate to retrieve the puck on dump-ins and make a play to move the puck. With the recent rule changes in stick violations there is much more offense and this will likely remain the trend. Coaches have adapted and it isn't so much of a "make a mistake and you're benched" type of game anymore. It's about creating more scoring chances than your opponent. Mistakes happen all the time in the game. No player is immune to them. If a player can generate offense in today's NHL as long as they aren't tire fires in their own end (IE, they have adequate strength to get the puck out and adequate understanding/defensive positioning to defend in the 5 man unit) they will get ice time. Skill players -- especially those on defense -- are at a premium because of this. The last draft had Hughes and Boqvist drafted as the first two defensemen, the year before it was Makar and Heiskanen. Whereas these type of defensemen would traditionally be viewed "undersized" and "powerplay specialists" the game is trending to have them as important players. As important as the #1 Goaltender and the #1 Centreman. Juolevi may not be this exact defenseman (see, Quinn Hughes) he does possess the type of skillset needed to generate a large amount of scoring chances. An analogy to this exists in basketball. The Golden State Warriors revolutionized the way the game is played. Teams were stuck on holding possession of the ball, running down the shot clock, and getting the two point bucket (or in Lebron James' case, the "and 1"). The Warriors revolutionized the way the game was played because they focused on fast break offense and shooting beyond the arc whenever they had a good look. To them, it was much more advantageous to get more looks at the bucket and to go for the higher scoring play. The Warriors simply outscored their opponents game after game, season after season. Now all teams are doing the same and that is the new norm. For the NHL, the trend is higher scoring throughout he league, an abundance of highly skilled young players, defensemen that can generate chances in the offensive zone, and of course speed. The Canucks have players that fit the trend and Juolevi is certainly one of them. Juolevi doesn't need to be epic defensively to make it in the NHL. Similarly, he doesn't need to be epic offensively to make it too. The way the game is trending, he has the skill set to play a big role for the Canucks, it's just the process of becoming strong enough, quick enough, and understanding how to defend at the NHL level.

New article on Sportsnet about Jake Virtanen's skills training with Pavel Barber during the offseason and how that has contributed to Shotgun's early season success: https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/stickhandling-sensation-pavel-barber-spurred-jake-virtanens-rise/

How are you still standing?

Juolevi is looking good. Every defenseman makes mistakes -- some more than others -- but as other posters and management/coaches have said Juolevi is progressing and playing better as of late. Could be due to the "transition period" of getting up to speed to the AHL level. EDIT: It will be interesting to see how much his game improves once Canuck regulars Edler, Sutter, and Beagle get back to full health and the trickle down effect to the Comets. Gaudette and Chatfield are up here, and I think Boucher is still injured too?

I'd like to see more of Virtanen with Horvat, especially while Sutter and Beagle are out. Green doesn't have anyone else to form a matchup line at the moment and, although the Avs trio of MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Landeskog got their share of points last night, Horvat and Virtanen had the speed and size to keep up with them stride for stride, pound for pound. They just need a defensively responsible playmaking left winger on that line to help generate scoring opportunities for them. I wonder if in the future Horvat and Virtanen become our top matchup line, freeing up Pettersson and Boeser to get prime offensive opportunities and Gaudette's line to outscore other team's third and fourth lines.

Interesting numbers! Now 14 games into this season and Jake has 5 goals and 7 points. Spread over the end of last season and the start of this season, in his last 34 games played -- which is about half a season -- Jake has 12 goals and 17 points. That's exactly at a 0.5 points per game pace and if sustained over a season would equate to 29 goals and 41 points. Looking at the numbers Jake has been very consistent over his last 34 games played. In my opinion, the biggest improvement over his last 34 games isn't in his offensive numbers, but the fact that Jake earned the coach's trust by playing well in primarily a defensive bottom-6 role and is now finally getting an opportunity offensively on the second powerplay unit and, at times, at even strength with better quality players.

I'm 5 beers behind "Shotgun" Jake's goal total. If he has a hat trick next game I think I might have alcohol poisoning. Well, that or a really good night. Here's hoping he maintains this consistent play in all three zones and scores one (or two or three) next game!

OOoooOooOoOoOoo will do!

Smooth for sure.

When I get the new job, should I spring for a Johnny Walker Blue or is there something better in the Scotch/Whiskey world?

YOU WERE JUST ON TV!!!!!

Crazy... yep pretty sure I won't be buying a Chrysler or Fiat-related vehicle like.... ever.

Interesting how you word that, and I absolutely agree. It's nice to have two guys on separate pairs that have elite skillsets in puck movement. It's like having 40-45 minutes of smooth breakouts and transition from the backend. Elias Pettersson definitely drives the play and creates offense when he's out there. He'll need someone like Juolevi to facilitate the process -- someone who can transition the puck quickly to Pettersson's stick and maintain offensive pressure along the blueline. Hughes on the other hand is a one man breakout machine and creates a ton of offense. He'll help Horvat maintain possession of the puck in the offensive zone and make space for Boeser's shot. Whereas Juolevi gets the puck off his stick to his forwards to generate offense, Hughes maintains possession of the puck and uses his skating to generate instead.

If management doesn't trade Edler at the deadline IMO he is 100% back with the Canucks next year. They certainly won't lose him for nothing at free agency and on top of that we don't have anyone to replace his current 25:25 average TOI/game and 22.4% offensive zone starts. Both Hughes and Juolevi look like they will be able to play effectively in sheltered roles but who will shelter them and play those hard defensive minutes against the likes of Crosby, McDavid, Gaudreau, Ovechkin, etc.? Next year I could definitely see a left side defense group consisting of Edler, Hughes, and Juolevi, with Hutton and Sautner as extras. Pouliot might be on his way out...

Before the season started maybe Chicago would let go of Henri Jokiharju for an experienced Top 4 defenseman, but after he start that he's had it will be hard trying to take Jokiharju off their hands. The kid has 5 points in 5 games played and is playing 20+ minutes a night for them. Granted, those are with heavy offensive zone starts but 20+ minutes nonetheless. If we could get Jokiharju that would be great as he did form Finland's best defensive pairing alongside our very own Olli Juolevi at the most recent World Junior Championships, outplaying the likes of Miro Heiskanen and Juuso Valimaki. I like the idea; Chicago, Tampa Bay, Nashville, Washington, Toronto are all playoff teams with some solid defense prospects that they could be willing to let go of come trade deadline.

One would hope that a Jake Virtanen or Jonah Gadjovich becomes that physical, goal scoring presence in our Top 6/Top 9 forward group. I agree with you though, that we should use our picks on defensemen. Hughes and Juolevi look to form our Top 4 defense group on he left side. Are Stecher and Gudbranson in management's long-term plans, and if they are, are they Top 4 guys or are they more of a #4/#5 defenseman? Is Woo in that same grouping as well? I personally thought Gudbranson would be an immediate Top 4 defenseman for us but his injuries have held him back; He certainly hasn't showed us all that he was in Florida. A hypothetical future/potential depth chart for defense looks like: Hughes - ________ Juolevi - ________ 3LD - 3RD With 3LD being Hutton, Pouliot, Brisebois, Rathbone, Utunen. And 3RD being Gudbranson, Stecher, Chatfield, Woo. If Tryamkin comes back, with his versatility he'll likely play 1RD or 2RD alongside Hughes or Juolevi. We'd still need another Top 4 RD via draft, free agency, or trade, and it's a heck of a lot easier to acquire a Top 4 RD through the draft. Does either one of Byram or Broberg play both sides? Honka is right-handed..

I know we have major issues on defense currently as not many of our guys can hit that outlet tape-to-tape pass or make a move with the puck to open up those passing lanes, but next year if both Juolevi and Hughes take the next step our defense group will be very different. Edler can make that pass consistently. Tanev isn't so bad at it too. Gudbranson can make the short pass if it's open, same with Stecher but he can at least make a few moves with the puck to open up the passing lane. Adding in Juolevi and Hughes will give our back end one player on each pairing that can hit that pass consistently. Just have to make sure we have the supporting cast to help Juolevi and Hughes... Back to Virtanen, I think he's looked good so far. The only gripes I have with him is that he could be a tad bit more aggressive and use his size, speed, and strength to take the puck to the net. His first goal this season was classic Jake Virtanen; use his footspeed to get separation, use his body to protect the puck, and his hands in close to score the goal. IMO he's best when he's on the rush and takes the puck to the net or makes a move to get into a scoring position in the slot. Offensively, he's got to do more of that and less slap shots or wrist shots along while he's skating down the half wall.

Small sample size, but Elias Pettersson has 6 points in 3 games, with 3 of those being goals. His talent has contributed to the Canucks' potent powerplay, with 4 of his 6 points coming off the powerplay. He is also winning 55.17% of his draws. Looking good so far for the young rookie, but again small sample size. Apart from Nik Goldobin and Loui Eriksson benefiting from Pettersson, the next player who has benefitted the most is Alexander Edler. Edler has 4 points in 3 games, with 3 of those points from his role as powerplay quarterback. Again, small sample size.

Edler and Gudbranson looked good together last season. They both played big and tough defensively. Small sample size but IMO I would much rather have Gudbranson with Edler as Edler makes far fewer mistakes than any of our other LHD. Del Zotto and Gudbranson? No thank you.. Hutton and Gudbranson?? Definitely not.. Pouliot and Gudbranson??? That's a minus 5 night waiting to happen. I also think that if Juolevi were to play alongside Tanev, then we wouldn't be able to "shelter" Juolevi. Tanev is an elite shutdown/shot suppressing defenseman, so we might as well use him in that role with a veteran guy like Del Zotto, who can provide a bit of a physicality. That leaves Stecher, our only other RHD. IMO this would probably be best, as we'd have two defensive defense pairings in Edler-Gudbranson and Del Zotto-Tanev to do all he heavy lifting, leaving Juolevi-Stecher as our more offensive-minded option. Stecher is good at jumping up in the play, making little plays in the offensive zone to generate scoring chances, and plays with pace. Maybe the two of them in a sheltered role will be able to facilitate the offense from the back end. Worth a shot (Juolevi with Stecher), as I see neither Hutton nor Pouliot as better offensively and/or less liable defensively than Juolevi at the moment. And to think, in a sheltered role with more offensive opportunities once Juolevi gets adjusted to the pace of the NHL game he will be significantly better than both Hutton and Pouliot. I mean, it took Juolevi half a season to be a legitimate top-4 defenseman in Finland, and by the time playoffs came around he was their #1 defenseman. Blom's defensive lines for Preseason Game #7: Edler - Gudbranson Del Zotto - Tanev Juolevi - Stecher scratches: Hutton, Pouliot, Biega

Tryamkin net-front presence or PP QB?

Hoping he stays in college for another year. One more year in the NCAA won't hurt his development. If anything, he's already going to a top-notch program at Michigan where he can get quality coaching and ample time in the gym to get stronger. The NHL schedule is a grind, and players often end up losing weight over the course of the season despite being on strict nutrition and training programs. Size might not be a matter at the start of the season, but by the 1/2 or 3/4 mark the grind of the schedule may affect him. Besides, Pettersson and Gaudette and Boeser should all be enough to draw in fans.