We asked and you responded. Boy, did you ever. The call went out for questions for the Monday Mailbag and after spending the weekend sifting through the many queries that were submitted, we have come up with a handful of questions to tackle on a wide variety of topics. 
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Many of you had questions about Nils Höglander and Vasily Podkolzin. I feel like those have been addressed in recent issues of the Mailbag. So we steered clear of those ones this week. But there were still plenty of other questions that caught our attention. So let’s get on with it:
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Other teams saw how hard the Canucks came out of the gate last year. Most of the players trained extra hard over the summer. Many, if not most, were early arrivals back to Vancouver. By the time of game one Tochett had them flying. Could the above become a trend in the nhl?
&mdash; The BiPolar Guide (@ARamblin_Man) <a href="https://twitter.com/ARamblin_Man/status/1811916932544864429?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2024</a></blockquote>
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The National Hockey League is a copycat league, so if something works for one team, there is a solid chance others will latch on. I think it’s fair to link the Canucks&#8217; quick start to the dedication of the players arriving in town earlier than usual and putting in the hours to be ready for the start of the season. 
I think it’s important to caution against the idea that the Canucks will now win every season opener 8-1. More than anything, I think there was an excitement and desire in the group to return to Vancouver and pick up on all the good things the Canucks had established after Rick Tocchet took over midway through the 2022-23 season. The players may reassemble early once again, but make no mistake, the Canucks are not sneaking up on anybody next season.
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Given the emphasis on the players&#39; performance last off-season, particularly focusing on players like Boeser, what do you think the message and emphasis were for this year, considering their success in the 2nd round has elevated expectations?
&mdash; Will Anderson (@willanderson393) <a href="https://twitter.com/willanderson393/status/1811886512805728316?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
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This question seems to serve as a solid follow to the previous one. Without a doubt, the Canucks reignited the passion in the fan base with their 50 wins, 109 points and taking Edmonton to Game 7 in the second round. I think a couple of things are possible: I believe the Canucks could very well take a step back in the regular season and still be better positioned to be a more complete and well-rounded team come playoff time. We saw last season that home ice really didn’t serve the Canucks all that well in the playoffs (1-2 vs Nashville and 2-2 vs the Oilers). 
It’s clearly far more important to have key players healthy and at the tops of their games than it is to go all out to win the division. Neither Florida nor Edmonton finished atop their conferences and both advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. I thought it was interesting to hear Patrik Allvin, at his season-ending media availability, suggest that he felt in the past, some of the core members of the Canucks trained as if the season would always end in April. The thrust of his message seemed to be the mindset needs to be one of preparing to play deep into May and, hopefully, June. As some key Canucks faded down the stretch, it will be interesting to see if the right players took those comments to heart in the offseason.
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Did anyone go to Bali?
&mdash; Intergalactic Potato (@arcticroosterz) <a href="https://twitter.com/arcticroosterz/status/1811832219956289935?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
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From the Canucks, to the best of my knowledge, no. Which is a shame, really. I think we all have to admit the off-season hasn’t been nearly as much fun without social media posts of Andrei Kuzmenko finding unique ways to train in the hockey hotbed of Indonesia. The summer of 2023 will always stand the test of time for the content it produced. In hindsight, thought, it may not have been the best move for Kuzy when it came to being ready to hit the ground running at the start of the season. 
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If you were a player for thr canucks, which position would you want to play? F,D,G?
&mdash; Chris The Manager (@ChrisTheManage) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisTheManage/status/1811821605158552027?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
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I’d want to be the third line centre. I was basically a Pius Suter type in my playing days. By that I mean, I was pretty versatile with some offensive chops. I also enjoyed killing penalties. But it’s one thing for me to relive my glory days in a mailbag, it’s another to be honest enough with myself to know that playing professional hockey was never in my future. Unlike Suter, my skating and my shot were never good enough. 
Those are both important components of playing high-level hockey. I played minor hockey all through my high school years. I also somehow got involved with a twice-weekly group of first responders, law enforcement agents and jail guards who played Tuesdays and Thursdays mornings when I lived and worked in Kamloops. Many of them had played junior hockey in their day and it reinforced what I already knew &#8212; that I simply didn’t measure up. But that didn&#8217;t stop me from dreaming the dream. I&#8217;m pretty sure, though, that the opportunity has passed me by.
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Odds that the Canucks first pick in the 2025 draft is in fourth round or later?
&mdash; Jay (@TheHeartPlumber) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheHeartPlumber/status/1811857437496082713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Weeks removed from a draft in which the Canucks didn’t pick until the third round, now we’re looking at the team upping the ante. As it stands right now, the Canucks own their own 2025 first and second round picks, but traded their third to Montreal in the Tanner Pearson for Casey DeSmith deal on the eve of training camp last September. 
With the club in ‘win now’ mode, those first two selections in next year’s draft have to be considered among the Canucks best trade chips. If Patrik Allvin wants to make a deal to upgrade the club, it’s going to come at a cost. And that cost very well may be one, or both, of those early picks in next year’s draft. In fact, I won’t be the least bit surprised to see those picks in play. I’m going to say it’s a toss-up and peg the odds at 50/50 that the Canucks first pick in next year’s draft is in the fourth round or later. I say that with apologies to the scouting staff that works hard all season only to watch opportunities to draft fly off the shelf.
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What’s the delay on the Silovs extension?
&mdash; Don Starr (@DonStar64344325) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonStar64344325/status/1811896663424008675?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
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You say delay, I say what’s the hurry? If Arturs Silovs knows the Canucks have all the leverage and that the two sides have discussed numbers in the ballpark of what he will ultimately have to accept as a restricted free agent without arbitration rights, then truly what is the hurry? It certainly looks like Silovs is tabbed to be the back-up to Thatcher Demko next season. But he’ll have to do it on a contract that fits into the limited salary cap space the club has remaining. 
If you’re Silovs, why not leave the door open to an offer sheet? It’s unlikely, but it stands as the only path to a significant raise in the short term. The Canucks would almost certainly match in order to retain the 23-year-old Latvian. There is no indication that talks have become contentious or there is any animosity at play here. This is all part of the negotiation process. If it gets to mid-August and Silovs remains unsigned, then it’s probably fair to characterize this as a delay of some sort.
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Would like to see a breakdown of the PK. Obviously Bleuger and Joshua are back, but losing guys like Zadorov and Lindholm could ve a significant blow
&mdash; CSWC Andy (@CswcAndy) <a href="https://twitter.com/CswcAndy/status/1811832276105461968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 12, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Technically, not a question Andy, but we&#8217;ll let it slide. This time! But it is a topic that interests me, so I&#8217;m glad you floated it. Much more will be written about the Canucks&#8217; penalty kill closer to training camp and the start of the season. Based on the personnel in place, I think you&#8217;re looking at Teddy Blueger and Dakota Joshua as first over the boards options up front.
I think both Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen will be looked at as PK guys after serving in that role in Boston. The Canucks may need JT Miller to step and log some tough minutes especially for face-off duties. Beyond that, Elias Pettersson, Pius Suter, Phil Di Giuseppe, Nils Aman and possibly Kiefer Sherwood will round out of the penalty killing forwards.
On defence, expect Derek Forbort and Vincent Desharnais to log significant minutes in that role followed by Carson Soucy, Tyler Myers and Filip Hronek. There is no question the loss of Lindholm, Zadorov and Cole will be felt and it&#8217;s going to bear monitoring to see if the Canucks can make strides in the penalty killing department with the personnel in place. The Canucks finished last regular season 17th in the league at 79.1% on the PK. They managed to bump that up to 81.0% in the playoffs.
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&nbsp;

We asked and you responded. Boy, did you ever. The call went out for questions for the Monday Mailbag and after spending the weekend sifting through the many queries that were submitted, we have come up with a handful of questions to tackle on a wide variety of topics. 
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2111" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="329"></div>
&nbsp;

Many of you had questions about Nils Höglander and Vasily Podkolzin. I feel like those have been addressed in recent issues of the Mailbag. So we steered clear of those ones this week. But there were still plenty of other questions that caught our attention. So let’s get on with it:

https://twitter.com/ARamblin_Man/status/1811916932544864429

The National Hockey League is a copycat league, so if something works for one team, there is a solid chance others will latch on. I think it’s fair to link the Canucks' quick start to the dedication of the players arriving in town earlier than usual and putting in the hours to be ready for the start of the season. 

I think it’s important to caution against the idea that the Canucks will now win every season opener 8-1. More than anything, I think there was an excitement and desire in the group to return to Vancouver and pick up on all the good things the Canucks had established after Rick Tocchet took over midway through the 2022-23 season. The players may reassemble early once again, but make no mistake, the Canucks are not sneaking up on anybody next season.

https://twitter.com/willanderson393/status/1811886512805728316

This question seems to serve as a solid follow to the previous one. Without a doubt, the Canucks reignited the passion in the fan base with their 50 wins, 109 points and taking Edmonton to Game 7 in the second round. I think a couple of things are possible: I believe the Canucks could very well take a step back in the regular season and still be better positioned to be a more complete and well-rounded team come playoff time. We saw last season that home ice really didn’t serve the Canucks all that well in the playoffs (1-2 vs Nashville and 2-2 vs the Oilers). 

It’s clearly far more important to have key players healthy and at the tops of their games than it is to go all out to win the division. Neither Florida nor Edmonton finished atop their conferences and both advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. I thought it was interesting to hear Patrik Allvin, at his season-ending media availability, suggest that he felt in the past, some of the core members of the Canucks trained as if the season would always end in April. The thrust of his message seemed to be the mindset needs to be one of preparing to play deep into May and, hopefully, June. As some key Canucks faded down the stretch, it will be interesting to see if the right players took those comments to heart in the offseason.

https://twitter.com/arcticroosterz/status/1811832219956289935

From the Canucks, to the best of my knowledge, no. Which is a shame, really. I think we all have to admit the off-season hasn’t been nearly as much fun without social media posts of Andrei Kuzmenko finding unique ways to train in the hockey hotbed of Indonesia. The summer of 2023 will always stand the test of time for the content it produced. In hindsight, thought, it may not have been the best move for Kuzy when it came to being ready to hit the ground running at the start of the season. 

https://twitter.com/ChrisTheManage/status/1811821605158552027

I’d want to be the third line centre. I was basically a Pius Suter type in my playing days. By that I mean, I was pretty versatile with some offensive chops. I also enjoyed killing penalties. But it’s one thing for me to relive my glory days in a mailbag, it’s another to be honest enough with myself to know that playing professional hockey was never in my future. Unlike Suter, my skating and my shot were never good enough. 

Those are both important components of playing high-level hockey. I played minor hockey all through my high school years. I also somehow got involved with a twice-weekly group of first responders, law enforcement agents and jail guards who played Tuesdays and Thursdays mornings when I lived and worked in Kamloops. Many of them had played junior hockey in their day and it reinforced what I already knew -- that I simply didn’t measure up. But that didn't stop me from dreaming the dream. I'm pretty sure, though, that the opportunity has passed me by.

https://twitter.com/TheHeartPlumber/status/1811857437496082713

Weeks removed from a draft in which the Canucks didn’t pick until the third round, now we’re looking at the team upping the ante. As it stands right now, the Canucks own their own 2025 first and second round picks, but traded their third to Montreal in the Tanner Pearson for Casey DeSmith deal on the eve of training camp last September. 

With the club in ‘win now’ mode, those first two selections in next year’s draft have to be considered among the Canucks best trade chips. If Patrik Allvin wants to make a deal to upgrade the club, it’s going to come at a cost. And that cost very well may be one, or both, of those early picks in next year’s draft. In fact, I won’t be the least bit surprised to see those picks in play. I’m going to say it’s a toss-up and peg the odds at 50/50 that the Canucks first pick in next year’s draft is in the fourth round or later. I say that with apologies to the scouting staff that works hard all season only to watch opportunities to draft fly off the shelf.

https://twitter.com/DonStar64344325/status/1811896663424008675

You say delay, I say what’s the hurry? If Arturs Silovs knows the Canucks have all the leverage and that the two sides have discussed numbers in the ballpark of what he will ultimately have to accept as a restricted free agent without arbitration rights, then truly what is the hurry? It certainly looks like Silovs is tabbed to be the back-up to Thatcher Demko next season. But he’ll have to do it on a contract that fits into the limited salary cap space the club has remaining. 

If you’re Silovs, why not leave the door open to an offer sheet? It’s unlikely, but it stands as the only path to a significant raise in the short term. The Canucks would almost certainly match in order to retain the 23-year-old Latvian. There is no indication that talks have become contentious or there is any animosity at play here. This is all part of the negotiation process. If it gets to mid-August and Silovs remains unsigned, then it’s probably fair to characterize this as a delay of some sort.

https://twitter.com/CswcAndy/status/1811832276105461968

&nbsp;

Technically, not a question Andy, but we'll let it slide. This time! But it is a topic that interests me, so I'm glad you floated it. Much more will be written about the Canucks' penalty kill closer to training camp and the start of the season. Based on the personnel in place, I think you're looking at Teddy Blueger and Dakota Joshua as first over the boards options up front.

I think both Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen will be looked at as PK guys after serving in that role in Boston. The Canucks may need JT Miller to step and log some tough minutes especially for face-off duties. Beyond that, Elias Pettersson, Pius Suter, Phil Di Giuseppe, Nils Aman and possibly Kiefer Sherwood will round out of the penalty killing forwards.

On defence, expect Derek Forbort and Vincent Desharnais to log significant minutes in that role followed by Carson Soucy, Tyler Myers and Filip Hronek. There is no question the loss of Lindholm, Zadorov and Cole will be felt and it's going to bear monitoring to see if the Canucks can make strides in the penalty killing department with the personnel in place. The Canucks finished last regular season 17th in the league at 79.1% on the PK. They managed to bump that up to 81.0% in the playoffs.

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JPat’s Monday Canucks mailbag: Expectations for next season, trading away more draft picks, and why doesn’t Silovs have a contract yet?

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