Patrik Allvin talks Canucks’ work in NHL free agency, centre depth, and more

It appears that the Vancouver Canucks‘ work on day one of free agency is finished.

In total, the Canucks signed two contract extensions with Conor Garland and Thatcher Demko, and managed to pull off a Brock Boeser re-signing at the 11th hour.

Canucks GM Patrik Allvin spoke with reporters at Rogers Arena and talked about their moves, along with next steps for his club.

On re-signings

“We’ve been talking to Connor and Demko here over the last couple of weeks. Since they left here, they actually expressed high interest of coming back. Brock has been the same thing. We had an open conversation, and I respect him. He earned his way to get to UFA, but he was always open to see the fit and the role. After talking to Adam Foote here a couple of weeks ago, the expectations and what he thought that he could contribute more to and how we wanted to play, he [Boeser] was excited with those other guys coming back. We re-engaged and got the deal done. I’m very happy.”

On a last minute contract for Boeser

“Well, I think that’s where the realization of becoming a UFA [comes in], and you start thinking about, ‘Should I leave?’ I also think he had a vacation trip overseas, then he got back here the other day and we got into talking again. But the conversation between me and Ben Hankinson has always been good. Ben is very professional, very transparent. And I know probably a couple of players reached out and talked to Brock over the time here. And he was aware that we were getting closer on Demko and Garland as well.”

On the goaltending and a busy schedule requiring two good goalies

“With the schedule coming out here, you guys will see with the Olympics how tight it is. I mean, it’s going to definitely be a challenge moving forward, with 84 games. I think we have, in my opinion, the best goalie tandem in the league here. So I think this is definitely a strength of our team.”

Allvin also talked about the $8.5 million cap hit for Demko, which will make him the fourth-highest paid goaltender in the league.

“I think that was part of where we were settling on the three-year deal, and I think that was part of it for Thatcher as well. At the end of it, Thatcher is going to be 33 years old. The combined [total] of what Lankinen and Thatcher are making, I think a lot of teams are up towards that same amount. Again, having those two quality goalies locked in here definitely makes our team competitive.”

On free agency as a whole and internal improvement

“You never know [how things are going to go on July 1st]. I mean, free agency, there [weren’t] a whole lot of players available. Commitment to term and dollar is always a fine balance, and you’ve also got to be careful and listen to your staff about what you have in-house. I do believe that a lot of players winning the Championship in Abbotsford deserve an opportunity, too.”

“What we we’ve gone through here meeting with the coaches, we do believe there is ways for us to play better. Part of it is, I don’t think we had our D-Core intact starting last year. I think with the addition of Marcus Pettersson and some of the younger players, I believe we are able to probably move the puck a little bit quicker and spend less time in our own end. I know the coaching staff are working on different ways and definitely adding Evander to the mix gives us more options to become a better team and being better in the power play as well.

On not adding a centre

“Part of the decisions here are communicating with Adam [Foote], and Adam felt very confident starting the season with Petey and Chtyil as the number one and two centres. We have a couple of younger centres, Raty, Sasson, and Mueller that are playing really well in Abbotsford and deserve a chance, too. But absolutely, this is something we will continue to look at and see what’s available. Obviously, I don’t know if it was… Was it one centre available at the free agent market there today and no trades? So obviously, teams are holding on to centres, so we’ll see where it goes. But again, Adam felt really confident in Petey and Chytil being the number one and two centres.”