Canucks News & Rumours: Ohgren, Merilainen, Cotter, Pettersson, Lekkerimaki & Lankinen

That’s a pretty nice collection of names. Not all of them will become stars, but this is how a team starts to build something. You need players who can step into a game and matter without everybody having to wait for the biggest names to do everything.

Ohgren, in particular, has been around long enough now that the Canucks need to find out what he can really become. A goal and an assist in his 100th game is a nice little milestone, but the bigger question is whether he can turn these moments into something more consistent. And that’s one of the things I’ll be watching as this season develops.

Sunday Was a Reminder That the Canucks Can’t Always Play a Track Meet

Thursday’s 9-7 loss to the Edmonton Oilers was chaos. Saturday’s game against Calgary was much more controlled. Then Vegas came along and reminded Vancouver that some nights you simply won’t get many chances. The Canucks managed only 19 shots against the Golden Knights after scoring 17 goals in their first three games. That’s quite a change.

Paul Cotter kept his remarkable start going, scoring on the power play to give him four goals and two assists through four games. Jonathan Lekkerimaki also scored. But Vancouver couldn’t generate enough offence to keep up with Vegas, and the Golden Knights took a 3-2 lead into the third period.

There’s something useful in that loss. It’s easy to get excited when a team scores four, five or seven goals. But eventually you’ll play a team that takes away space, blocks things, gets its sticks into passing lanes, and makes you work for everything. That’s when the Canucks have to show they can win differently.

Kevin Lankinen also deserves credit. After giving up eight goals on 20 shots against the Oilers, he bounced back with 25 saves against Vegas. He didn’t get the win, but this was a much better performance.

What’s Next for the Canucks?

Now comes the interesting part. Vancouver starts a six-game road trip Thursday against the Carolina Hurricanes, and that trip should tell us a little more about what the team actually is.

The Canucks have already shown they can score. They’ve shown they can come back from adversity. They’ve also shown that their goaltending can have a bad night and then respond the next time out. What I want to see now is whether the younger players can keep contributing as the games get harder and opportunities get fewer.

That’s the biggest lesson from this weekend. The Canucks need more players to become useful, reliable pieces of the team. If that starts happening, this could become a much more interesting season than most expected.