[Article]Canucks Post Game: No slack for Etem, Granlund gets it, Hutton pleases, LaBate teases

[Hairy Kneel]

Notes, quotes, news, views, from Canucks-Coyotes clash.

Points to ponder as the Canucks dropped a 4-2 preseason decision to the Coyotes on Monday at Rogers Arena and positional battles kept heating up:

Etem isn’t being cut any slack

At one post-game point, Willie Desjardins was asked if he could cut Emerson Etem some slack because the winger became a father Thursday, didn’t get much sleep and has had to fend off roster challengers. It was a reasonable query, but the Canucks coach cut to the chase about what the preseason process is really about.

Emerson Etem got a chance to show offence Monday, but didn’t deliver.

Etem is in a battle for a job and played with Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi against the Coyotes to see if there’s offence to his game, or if he’s just among those hoping to grab a fourth-line spot. So baby, or no baby, it’s a tough business, so no extra rope.

“Probably not,” said Desjardins. “There are too many guys fighting for spots. I feel for the guy but we have to go with the best guys and I’m not saying he’s not. But guys are pushing and guys up the lineup might think they’re safe, but it comes down to the last two (preseason) games.”

After playing with Brendan Gaunce and Derek Dorsett on Sunday, Etem was purposely placed on a line with skill. He responded with two first-period shots but just three overall and not nearly the return Desjardins was looking for. And if he’s not scoring, Etem has to be an energy guy, but the Canucks have lots of those.

“He was good early, but the big thing is he needs to score,” said Desjardins. “The best part of his game is when he’s creating offence and going to the net. He’s got to contribute offensively and he hasn’t. He hasn’t had as many chances and he’s not generating them.

“He can play a fourth-line role, but he’s a guy I see more on the top three lines.”

Granlund looks like he got a wake-up call

Markus Granlund doesn’t say much. He’s always going to be compared to Hunter Shinkaruk in the swap of wingers, but whether he took a look at a glut of wingers here or was sent a message, it’s working. He got into position to tip home a power-play point shot Monday, then stole the puck and had another chance. He had four shots, moved well enough, thinks the game and looks better at wing. He just needs to do it consistently.

“It’s been a while since I played wing, but I can play centre or wing and we’ll see what happens,” said Granlund. “I have to get used to it, but I thought I played good tonight.”

Desjardins would agree. He thinks Granlund would be better up the lineup and if that means third-line winger, he could supplant Alex Burrows.

“He’s versatile and we’re just trying to find the right fit,” Desjardins said of Granlund. “I don’t like him as a fourth-line centre, because I don’t think he gets enough minutes there. I like him in a different place to give us more up the lineup.”

Hutton looks like he’s got an extra gear

Ben Hutton scored off the rush Monday and is ready to get more offensive this season.

Ben Hutton has a green light to get his feet moving in an expected pairing with Erik Gudbranson. Judging by the giddy-up he showed on his unassisted effort Monday — busting past Alex Goligoski and then depositing his own rebound — he’s going to surpass the 25 points (1-24) he had in his rookie season.

“I want to contribute more and I can do that by jumping up like I did,” said Hutton, who was second in rookie assists by blueliners last season. “They (coaches) just keep telling me to do what I’m doing and it gives me confidence. But I don’t think of burying 15 goals and 30 assists. I just play my game. Have a chance? Bury it. See somebody open on the backdoor? Hit him.”

Said Desjardins: “I worry that we put too much pressure on him. He has all these high expectations, but he surprised us last year.”

Labate takes giant development step

Winger Joseph LaBate got the back-to-back litmus test Monday on a grind line with PTO hopefuls Tuomo Ruutu and Jack Skille. He had two shots and three hits and did what was expected to earn a longer preseason look.

“He’s such an honest and hard player who battles for his teammates and doesn’t ask for anything,” said Desjardins. “He’s strong and goes to the hard areas and has the makings of a guy who’s hard to play against.”

Said LaBate: “I felt like I had good energy tonight and our line was doing the job of getting pucks in and getting on the forecheck. I’m a pretty meat-and-potatoes player and shown I can play at this level.”

Sutter’s health a work in progress

Brandon Sutter played his first preseason game Monday, a quiet outing with just one shot. Aside from practising, the centre was doing extra strength work to ensure the effects of sports hernia surgery Dec. 1 won’t linger in any manner.

Brandon Sutter is still working to strengthen his core after hernia surgery Dec. 1.

“It’s just a continuing thing and something you work on as you keep going,” said Sutter. “It’s something that doesn’t really go away and you have to stay on top of it. But it’s feeling good. Still a little bit of maintenance and mostly the strengthening stuff.”

Desjardins dishes on good, bad

On six penalties: “We took too many and we can’t just talk about it — and guys know that. The too many men with (Nikita) Tryamkin was a language thing, I don’t know why he jumped there. But he’s not the first guy. We’re just trying to play more aggressive and our battle level is high, but we’re taking bad penalties when we don’t need to take them.”

On Troy Stecher: “He was good. He moved the puck well and was heads-up. He keeps putting you in a spot where you think that’s enough and he can’t do it. He hasn’t done that yet.”

bkuzma@postmedia.com

[apollo]

It's kind of interesting how having a kid affects certain guys. You would think it would be extra motivation but then again he's probably sleeping less? These guys are pros, maybe the team should help out new father's and get them a nanny or something? 

 

When the Dragon Slayer had  a kid, it just amped up his game... Hansen on the other hand had a rough year when he had a kid. 

 

When kesler had a kid it also made him play better and take less penalties... 

 

It can really go either way eh =/ 

 

It's too bad. I really like Etem off the ice and he's got a solid skill set on the ice. Hope he can turn it around. 

[Blue Jay 22]

Congrats on Etem becoming a father. I did not know that until now.

[Hairy Kneel]

I was trying to find the box score and found this interesting summary from last nights game. Power play ice time I was looking for

Rodin 3:09

Sutter 5:00

Etem  1:44

Bears 3:50

Horvat  3:43

Granlund 4:53

Edler  4:55

Hutton 1:53

Stecher 4:37

Larson  2:11

Stecher with over double Larsens pp time.

 

Sutter is worrying me about his health. I hope we don't lose him for another year. 

 

 

[JM_]

7 minutes ago, apollo said:

It's kind of interesting how having a kid affects certain guys. You would think it would be extra motivation but then again he's probably sleeping less? These guys are pros, maybe the team should help out new father's and get them a nanny or something? 

 

When the Dragon Slayer had  a kid, it just amped up his game... Hansen on the other hand had a rough year when he had a kid. 

 

When kesler had a kid it also made him play better and take less penalties... 

 

It can really go either way eh =/ 

 

It's too bad. I really like Etem off the ice and he's got a solid skill set on the ice. Hope he can turn it around. 

 

Its hard to say. When my daughter was born I felt like I could take on the world (for about 36 hours). 

 

The fact is everyone has issues or something going on so you can't use this to leverage a spot. Look at poor Vey for god's sake and what that kid was dealing with. 

 

[JM_]

7 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

I was trying to find the box score and found this interesting summary from last nights game. Power play ice time I was looking for

Rodin 3:09

Sutter 5:00

Etem  1:44

Bears 3:50

Horvat  3:43

Granlund 4:53

Edler  4:55

Hutton 1:53

Stecher 4:37

Larson  2:11

Stecher with over double Larsens pp time.

 

Sutter is worrying me about his health. I hope we don't lose him for another year. 

 

 

 

I think they're just easing Sutter in. He'll probably get full minutes on thursday. 

 

[PhillipBlunt]

Etem will be traded with Sbisa within a month.

[Putgolzin]

8 minutes ago, Hairy Kneel said:

I was trying to find the box score and found this interesting summary from last nights game. Power play ice time I was looking for

Rodin 3:09

Sutter 5:00

Etem  1:44

Bears 3:50

Horvat  3:43

Granlund 4:53

Edler  4:55

Hutton 1:53

Stecher 4:37

Larson  2:11

Stecher with over double Larsens pp time.

 

Sutter is worrying me about his health. I hope we don't lose him for another year. 

 

 

I'm more worried about his visibility or lack thereof - with 5:00 of power play time I wouldn't have minded seeing him get more than one shot on goal ... I'm probably wringing-hands needlessly, but it sure would be nice to have this guy ready to contribute come regular season...

[PhillipBlunt]

The worry about Sutter is a tad premature at this point. The guy hasn't played an NHL game in months, and had a horrible injury ridden season last year. He was definitely underwhelming last night, but looked to me like a player trying to get his bearings after a long layoff.

 

If he is still playing like that, and isn't injured, 30 games into the season, he deserves it.

[Hairy Kneel]

48 minutes ago, S'all Good Man said:

 

I think they're just easing Sutter in. He'll probably get full minutes on thursday. 

 

 

Sutter 5:00 with of power play time. He was pretty rough out there last night. Good in the face off dot 60%, I'm just kind of worried about anything abdominal injury wise. Tough to come back from I hear. Hope he heals up.

 

 

[khay]

21 minutes ago, nzan said:

I'm more worried about his visibility or lack thereof - with 5:00 of power play time I wouldn't have minded seeing him get more than one shot on goal ... I'm probably wringing-hands needlessly, but it sure would be nice to have this guy ready to contribute come regular season...

Yeah but I guess Sutter won't be seeing much PP time anyways:

 

#1 PP: Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson

#2 PP: Baertschi-Horvat-Rodin,

 

and it's probably good for the team since he isn't very well known for his vision nor passing. 

 

Sutter's timing was off but I saw enough to realize why he is going to be valuable to the team. He is one of those harder to play against type player, backchecking and stick checking, using his body to separate the puck carrier from the puck, faceoff skills, good skating, a pretty good shot, and going to the corners and to the net. 

 

 

[jmahyoung]

25 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Etem will be traded with Sbisa within a month.

Sbisa made the world cup team Europe, so we haven't seen much of him in preseason (obviously).

Anyone know when those guys will be back?

 

[PhillipBlunt]

Just now, jmahyoung said:

Sbisa made the world cup team Europe, so we haven't seen much of him in preseason (obviously).

Anyone know when those guys will be back?

 

Last game of the preseason, most likely.

[JM_]

4 minutes ago, jmahyoung said:

Sbisa made the world cup team Europe, so we haven't seen much of him in preseason (obviously).

Anyone know when those guys will be back?

 

 

Supposed to be Thursday for Sbisa is what I believe I heard on 1040. I think that's when we'll get to see the Tryamkin-Sbisa pairing experiment, which could go either way. Tryamkin needs a mobile partner imo, and thats when Sbisa gets into trouble so it could be interesting. 

 

I'm by no means a Sbisa hater, but I do think if Benning can move him the time is right. Various parts of his good skill set are duplicated and I think if Tryamkins going to get the development time he needs Sbisa's the odd man out in the top 6. 

[khay]

26 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Etem will be traded with Sbisa within a month.

It seems like WD sees Etem and Granlund as top 9 guy and with Rodin very close to securing a spot (if hasn't already), it comes down to Etem vs Granlund for one spot. And Granlund is winning based on last night's game. 

 

Top 9: Daniel, Henrik, Eriksson, Horvat, Sutter, Hansen, Baertschi, Rodin, Granlund.

 

And why is Sbisa not playing? WCH has been over for nearly a week and Sbisa didn't even play much in the final.

 

Very likely that those two are being shopped.

 

[JM_]

1 minute ago, khay said:

It seems like WD sees Etem and Granlund as top 9 guy and with Rodin very close to securing a spot (if hasn't already), it comes down to Etem vs Granlund for one spot. And Granlund is winning based on last night's game. 

 

Top 9: Daniel, Henrik, Eriksson, Horvat, Sutter, Hansen, Baertschi, Rodin, Granlund.

 

And why is Sbisa not playing? WCH has been over for nearly a week and Sbisa didn't even play much in the final.

 

Very likely that those two are being shopped.

 

 

If its between Granlund and Etem then its over, Granlund does have more tools to work with. 

 

Replace Virtanen with Hansen and I think you've got the top 9.

[ruilin96]

Sutter just played his first game in 236 days, he needs some time to get the rust off him. When Carey Price played his first game in almost a year in that exhibition game for the World Cup he looked shaky as well but he just needed that one game to get back into it. Sutter should be fine. I expect him to play both of the remaining pre-season games to get him game ready by opening night.

[mll]

1 hour ago, S'all Good Man said:

 

I think they're just easing Sutter in. He'll probably get full minutes on thursday. 

 

 

He played over 21min - tied with Granlund for most among all forwards.   They played as many minutes as Hutton. 

[mll]

39 minutes ago, PhillipBlunt said:

Last game of the preseason, most likely.

 

Thursday - home game against Calgary - is expected to be the closest to the opening night line-up.  

The last game is on the road and it's unlikely for most of the vets to travel.

[PhillipBlunt]

1 minute ago, mll said:

 

Thursday - home game against Calgary - is expected to be the closest to the opening night line-up.  

The last game is on the road and it's unlikely for most of the vets to travel.

Even better. Thank you, mll.