5 under the radar observations from a successful Canucks preseason

You know by now that Braeden Cootes, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and Victor Mancini all had terrific preseasons for the Vancouver Canucks. You also know that Quinn Hughes looks like he’s in midseason form in the first week of October. You’ve heard about the good vibes, the turning of the page from last season’s dysfunction, the new coaching staff and even the fact that Jim Rutherford is more optimistic than ever that a practice facility may some day get built in this city. Those are just a few of the storylines that have had people talking since the Canucks opened training camp two weeks ago. 

Here are five stories from the preseason that haven’t gotten the attention they deserve:

Get your Fil

Filip Hronek very quietly looked like he meant business from the first day of camp. The quiet Czech defenceman was in battle mode from the first on-ice session in Penticton. He played in four preseason games, registered a goal and four assists, finished second on the team in preseason scoring and settled in seamlessly once again with partner Quinn Hughes. There’s little fanfare around Hronek – and that’s exactly how he likes it – but he just looked sharp in practices and games. He scored on a heavy blast from the point in a 4-2 win over Seattle. He was a big part of a preseason penalty kill that successfully defended 17 of 20 shorthanded situations (85%). The guy is a pro through and through so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he had a strong camp. But with the focus elsewhere on the blueline for good reason, Hronek effectively went about his business and looks ready to hit the ground running when the season begins on Thursday.

Guardians of the galaxy

Canucks goaltending was exceptional through training camp and the preseason. And that is in stark contrast to where the Canucks were at this time one year ago. Thatcher Demko looked good in all three of his starts. Kevin Lankinen was sharp in his appearances. And Nikita Tolopilo stood tall in the periods of game action he saw through the exhibition season. Preseason goaltending generally only makes headlines when it’s shaky. So it’s understandable that the focus was elsewhere during Canucks camp. But it should be pointed out that the Canucks surrendered just 15 goals in six exhibition outings – and one of them was wildly offside and wouldn’t have stood up to a regular season coach’s challenge. There is a widely held belief that the Canucks should have one of the best goaltending tandems in the NHL this season and based on the evidence presented in the preseason, fans should feel good about the starting point for both Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen as the team prepares to start playing for keeps.

Speed demons

The Canucks look quick. Or quicker than in recent years. Perhaps part of that is that for too long now, the hockey club has lacked overall team speed. But the pace and temp in Penticton was both notable and impressive and that seemed to carry through the preseason. Practice drills were conducted at a high rate of speed and the Canucks were able to apply that in game action, too. The defence was encouraged to jump into the rush to get up ice. We saw numerous examples of that through the preseason. Even guys like Derek Forbort – not known for his offensive exploits – found himself joining the rush. Some of it may be as simple as the team has built a credible defensive group capable of moving the puck effectively and efficiently, allowing forwards to attack with speed.

Up front, the additions of Filip Chytil and Drew O’Connor have unquestionably made the Canucks faster. Jake DeBrusk, Conor Garland, and Kiefer Sherwood can all scoot. And we saw hopefuls like Max Sasson, Arshdeep Bains, and Braeden Cootes all put their wheels on display over the past few weeks. We’ll start to get a better picture of where the Canucks stack up against league-wide competition when NHL Edge data is charted and available beginning with Game 1 of the regular season. So right now, it’s all based on eye tests, but dare I suggest the Vancouver Canucks are becoming a fast hockey team before our eyes.

Youth movement

We’ll see where they stand when final roster moves are made and the team’s season-opening 23-man roster is released on Monday, but at the moment, the Vancouver Canucks are the sixth youngest team in the NHL according to league data with an average age of 26.98 years. Having the likes of Cootes (18), Willander (20), Lekkerimäki (21), Elias Pettersson (21), Aatu Räty (22) and Victor Mancini (23) all pushing for jobs has certainly helped bring the team’s average age down considerably. We’ll see how many of those players are still here after Monday’s 2pm PT roster deadline. Regardless, the Canucks have done a nice job of drafting and developing young players that look ready to contribute at the NHL level. The only teams younger than the Canucks at the moment? San Jose (5), St. Louis (4), Buffalo (3), Chicago (2) and the Montreal Canadiens are the youngest team in the league at this point in time. Oh, and in case you were wondering, nine of the 29 players still on the Canucks camp roster were born in 2000 or beyond.

Call it a Comeback

Something or nothing? We’ll soon find out. But not only did the Canucks win both of their games at Rogers Arena in the preseason, they battled back from 2-1 third period deficits to prevail in both. They were down 2-1 to Seattle before a big third period led to a 4-2 victory a week ago, and on Friday, they trailed Edmonton 2-1 before tying the game and then winning in overtime. The Canucks home ice record was dreadful last season (17 wins in 41 games), and they managed just one victory in overtime at home last season. So fully mindful that it was just two games – and two preseason games at that – perhaps it signals that things will be better on Rogers Arena ice this time around. They will have to be if the Canucks are going to be a playoff team. It’s hard to argue with the results, albeit in a tiny sample size of ultimately meaningless outcomes. Or were they?