2023-24 Training Camp Thread

[Slegr]

3 minutes ago, RWJC said:

 

 

Canucks training camp scrimmage: 3 players who helped themselves and 3 who didn’t

 

VICTORIA, B.C. — The Vancouver Canucks have held an idiosyncratic, systems-work-heavy training camp at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre this week.

There have been battle drills and flow drills, of course, but the emphasis has been on breakouts, retrievals, regroups and other structural elements. There’s been more time spent huddling around the whiteboard than what’s typical for NHL teams at this time of year, and accordingly, fewer opportunities for those more competitive environments that are often so telling in shaping the outcome of the various training camp battles for what open jobs exist on a 23-man roster.

 

On Saturday morning, however, that changed, as the Canucks held their first scrimmage of training camp, with Team Blue — led by J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes — coming out with a 3-1 victory over Elias Pettersson’s Team White.

 

The first scrimmage of training camp is an essential battleground for those depth players jockeying for roster spots. It’s less crucial for veteran players, who will ramp up in the final week of preseason and at this point in camp tend to still be finding their feet and hands. Pettersson, for example, was quiet at Saturday’s scrimmage, but that’s zero cause for concern. A roster hopeful having a quiet game, however, is more troubling given how fine the margin can be between earning that 12th or 13th forward job and ending up on waivers over Canadian Thanksgiving weekend.

 

Here are notes on three players who stood out and helped their cause at Saturday’s scrimmage, and three who probably didn’t.

 

 

Players who helped themselves:

 

 

Jack Studnicka

 

Jack Studnicka struggled mightily to ingratiate himself to new Canucks coach Rick Tocchet down the stretch last season. After Tocchet took over, in fact, Studnicka was a healthy scratch in 16 of Tocchet’s 36 games.

Given that first impression, Studnicka appeared to be in tough coming into training camp. He’s responded, however, with the urgency that any coach would hope for.

“A lot of guys were maybe forgetting about me, so I took it personal,” Studnicka said after Saturday’s on-ice session. “I’ve put it upon myself to make some noise here.

“I was just honest with myself, yeah I didn’t play well down the stretch after the All-Star break, but I’m capable of a lot more and I’m looking forward to showing that.”

In terms of making noise, Studnicka hit a high decibel level during Saturday’s scrimmage, during which he was Vancouver’s most active and noticeable forward. He threw a couple of heavy hits — and smartly pulled up on another that could’ve been devastating on Filip Johansson — was a handful on the forecheck, had a good defensive stick along the wall to clear the zone and aggressively looked to take the puck to the net.

 

For Studnicka, the recipe is a simple game, a “north-south game,” and that’s by design.

 

“You look at the makeup of our roster, and we have guys that are going to put the puck in the net, we have our power-play guys and we have our skill guys,” Studnicka said. “I think we need a bit of meat and potatoes. Everyone has to start somewhere, so if I can form that identity then hopefully there’s more layers to my game that come out later on. I see the situation. I’ve got to be a good forechecker, I’ve got to be a heavy presence and I’ve got to win my battles.”

Studnicka’s performance didn’t just turn our heads, either. After the scrimmage ended, Miller, who was playing for the other side, sought out Studnicka to offer him praise for how he’d competed.

 

“Yeah, I just went over to him and said, ‘Great practice,'” Miller said.

 

“Studsy has looked good. He came in in great shape, he’s been here for a while and you can tell he’s hungry. … He’s looked great and he’s dead serious about filling a role for us.”

Make no mistake, through the first three days of training camp, Studnicka has perhaps surprisingly put himself squarely into the mix in the battle for a fourth-line or depth forward role to open the season.

 

 

 

Jett Woo

 

Jett Woo was rock solid during Saturday’s scrimmage.

 

His skating played and he won battles on retrievals and evaded forechecking pressure effectively — most notably winning a 50/50 battle with Miller off of a dump-in in the early portion of the game. His shot selection was solid, and although he’s unlikely to ever be a real offensive threat from the offensive blue line, he did very well to get his shot past the first defender on multiple occasions in Saturday’s scrimmage.

 

To our eyes, his playmaking looked pretty close to NHL level, too. On one sequence, he made a clever play to hold the blue line with his feet, kicking the puck to keep his team’s possession onside Kevin Bieksa-style. Later on that same sequence, he marauded down the right-side half wall and, when pressure arrived and took away his options, made a clever backhand pass into space down low that permitted a teammate to retain possession as the heavy shift continued.

 

If the club is going to be steadfast in preferring to play defenders on their strong side, then opportunity knocks in a major way for Woo given Vancouver’s relative shortage of right-handed options. To this point at camp, he’s made a strong case to get a longer look once preseason begins.

“There’s competition there, and he’s trying to climb that depth chart, and I think he has a little bit,” Tocchet said after Saturday’s practice.

“Now it’s about the NHL level can he think (about) the game fast? The puck gets to him, does he know where to put it?” Tocchet continued. “In the minors, you get maybe an extra second, here you don’t. He’s got to fast-track that, so we’ve got to get him into exhibition games and things like that. And he’s got to practice like that, and I think he’s trying really hard out there.”

 

 

Nils Höglander

 

 

It’s funny how drastically a player’s opportunity can change from one training camp to the next.

In 2022, Höglander opened camp at Whistler with two projected AHL players, Linus Karlsson and Nils Åman. That surprising decision foreshadowed the limited minutes and difficult season he’d have under Bruce Boudreau, before eventually being demoted to Abbotsford.

 

This year, he’s opened with the best role any Canucks winger could ask for, getting the first look on the top line alongside Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko.

 

Höglander had a strong showing on the Pettersson line in Saturday’s scrimmage. It started from the first shift where Höglander made a quick, decisive bump pass along the boards in the defensive zone on the breakout. He made the play fast enough to catch the opposing team’s pinching defenceman, which sprung Pettersson and Kuzmenko for a two-on-one rush that resulted in a terrific scoring chance.

 

The sequence was very similar to this wall play we saw from Höglander in his rookie season.

 

One of the noticeable differences between Höglander’s successful rookie campaign versus his struggles the last two seasons was his ability to make those quick passes under pressure on the breakout. When Höglander’s at his best, he cleanly moves the puck in those situations along the boards, which is instrumental for driving play and helping his line transition the puck. But over the last two seasons, he seemed to struggle in that department — there were too many plays where opposing defencemen were successful with their pinches and able to hem Höglander and his line in the defensive zone.

 

Höglander looked fast and annoying as the first man in on the forecheck. He generated a couple of high-danger scoring chances, including a slick pop pass to Tyler Myers on the rush. And the key is that Höglander’s success wasn’t dependent on Pettersson, who looked rusty in the scrimmage. Höglander looked good on his own accord, he wasn’t riding anybody’s coattails.

 

A big question that still needs to be answered is whether Höglander has the finishing ability to mesh with that line, and we did see a rush one-timer that he flubbed. But Tocchet’s commentary has made it clear that Höglander’s role on that line is to create havoc with his speed, make plays and not make any big turnovers or defensive mistakes. Höglander clearly checked those boxes in his first look next to Pettersson and Kuzmenko.

 

 

 

Players who didn’t

 

 

Carson Soucy

 

Soucy isn’t competing for a roster spot, but he didn’t exactly make a meal of his first look on the top pair Saturday.

Now, this isn’t cause for real concern or anything. One scrimmage isn’t enough time for anyone to make judgments on what combinations can and can’t work together over the course of the season. It was, however, a tough debut for the Hughes-Soucy pair.

 

Soucy was the defender who pinched in the offensive zone and got caught out of position on Höglander’s quick wall pass, which resulted in a two-on-one rush against Hughes. The biggest problem, however, was that the pair seemed to get hemmed in the defensive zone nearly every time Soucy had to go back to retrieve a dump-in and start a breakout. He consistently lost races to the puck and even got pickpocketed by the first forechecker on some occasions. One of those failed retrieval sequences led to Teddy Blueger’s goal against them. The D-to-D passes Soucy made when under pressure were sometimes launched too hard for Hughes to cleanly and quickly corral.

 

The pair came on in the second half of the scrimmage, but that’s because Hughes started handling all the retrievals and breakouts. It’s probably not sustainable for Hughes to be responsible for every transition play considering the huge minutes he’s going to log every game.

 

There was a clear difference between how uncomfortable Soucy looked handling the puck and making plays compared to another defensive defenceman like Ian Cole, who was really solid next to Filip Hronek while playing on his strong side.

 

 

 

Vasili Podkolzin

 

Vasili Podkolzin was given the premium spot on Miller and Brock Boeser’s wing in Saturday’s scrimmage and didn’t do much with the opportunity.

There weren’t too many glaring errors necessarily — he was beaten a bit too easily by Myers after taking a suspect lane on the forecheck and stickhandled into traffic on a rush chance sprung by Akito Hirose — it’s more that Podkolzin wasn’t nearly as physically assertive as Studnicka and didn’t have as many productive, play-driving touches as Höglander, Arshdeep Bains or Åman did on their lines.

 

Although Team Blue won 3-1, Podkolzin didn’t combine much in the way of heavy shifts or productive rush chances with Boeser and Miller on Saturday. He’ll presumably have more opportunities to complement skilled forwards in the preseason, but in a plum spot in the lineup and with a chance to really kick the door down, Podkolzin wasn’t a standout Saturday.

 

 

Christian Wolanin

 

 

Christian Wolanin didn’t play poorly in the scrimmage. He was totally fine. The reason he’s listed here has less to do with his play and more to do with how strong the depth defence competition around him has looked.

 

Hirose was calm and poised making plays with the puck. He used his stick really intelligently to make defensive stops, too. There was a clear two-way impact with his game.

Guillaume Brisebois was his usual reliable self defensively. The cherry on top is that he made some sweet outlet passes, including a stretch one that sprung Danila Klimovich for a breakaway. Puck moving is the clear advantage Wolanin needs to have on Brisebois because when it comes to physicality and defensive prowess, Brisebois probably has the edge in the eyes of the coaching staff. With that context in mind, the fact Brisebois looked comfortable making plays with the puck is a promising sign for him.

Even Jack Rathbone looked dynamic and confident at driving play.

 

Wolanin, in comparison, didn’t really stand out at all. He was beaten once on a rush chance sequence by Åman, but there weren’t any concerning moments. It’s just that you were still left wanting a bit more from him, especially considering how excellent his competitors have come out looking in the early part of camp.

 

 

By Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal
 

https://theathletic.com/4892623/2023/09/23/canucks-training-camp-scrimmage/

I’d agree with this. Another guy who helped himself, not that he needed to, was Desmith, who played very solid in net. I don’t believe he let in a goal in the scrimmage, and looked very cool and calm out there.

[Dank]

1 hour ago, BlockerHigh said:

Thanks for your views,

 
Good to hear about Woo in particular. We really need him to get back to the guy we drafted (from those who watched him in abby last year, it appears he was getting there). If he can be one of those guys who develops from within beyond just a 'depth guy' it's a huge win given he brings alot of what we lack. He kind of seems like a young Schenn who's a better skater, or a young Bieka without as much offense. Either way. a hard nosed RD who can skate would be great! I am really pulling for him!

 

On a side note, thank you for not calling them things like "Millsy, Meysey, Garly, etc etc, as if you play with them. I find that terribly annoying on these sites LOL

 

 

 

Woo-zy 

 

I'm rooting for this kid. Would be a perfect steady, physical, drama-free 5/6 RHD we've been looking for since forever. I'm hoping a few of these young guys can make Myzey expendable sometime THIS season.

 

Woold help sell a crapload of jerseys for Aqua.

[Truefan99]

5 hours ago, Dankmemes187 said:

im not sure how to embed the tweet on phone, but with pc open the tweet and then copy the link, then just paste it in the comments and it will auto load

 

How underwhelming. For two guys who don’t have a guaranteed spot on the team it’s sad they didn’t drop the gloves. Bunch of pansy’s

 

[The Arrogant Worms]

Canucks Notebook: Special teams units start to take shape on third day of camp

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/canucks-notebook-special-teams-units-start-to-take-shape-on-third-day-of-camp/

[Ghostsof1915]

1 hour ago, Barnstorm said:

Different proposed message though. Apparently it’s super effective in conveying messages and gets the desired results.

 

Yeah, and our thin skinned owner, decides to close down our message board.

 

Real effective strategy.

[Grinch]

18 minutes ago, Truefan99 said:

How underwhelming. For two guys who don’t have a guaranteed spot on the team it’s sad they didn’t drop the gloves. Bunch of pansy’s

 

[Rip The Mesh]

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Rip The Mesh

[Knucklhd]

I agree with some, and disagree with others.

I feel Hogs and Pods didn't impress much.  Pods didn't really impress himself on the game/ camp like he can and has in the past.  Hogs was fast and seemed to be everywhere, but again didn't seem to use the people around him. Always seems to be a 1 man show.

Boeser, looking fast and strong on the boards. I am thinking we will see a good year from him.

Hughes and Miller, the clear leaders out there.

Patterson looked disinterested, maybe just pacing himself. The guys can flip a switch when needed.

Lots of choice for the bottom 6.

Defence, only really 1 choice to make...who plays the 6 role.  I think Irwin is the 7th D.

DeSmith looked solid, should provide a stable back up presence.

Really liked Tocchets practices. Very purposeful, and demanded pace in all things.

 

[Captain Kirk]

On 9/21/2023 at 7:42 PM, MeanSeanBean said:

For real? That's awesome. Call me old fashioned, but I think it's the right thing to do. I met a couple Canucks, in particular I remember Linden, when I was young and it was such a huge moment for me. I've been fortunate enough to meet Linden a few times, and he's always been so kind. Like it or not, these guys are idolized by kids and a half minute can become a core memory.

Linden is the real deal, very kind and down to earth, always has time for everyone, same with Kirk Mclean.

Edited September 24, 2023 by Captain Kirk

[Jester13]

2 hours ago, BlockerHigh said:

Garland was borderline top 6 production 5 on 5 last year. and I believe he was the year before. The fact no one wanted to trade for him unless it was a cap dump really surprised me. Perhaps it was teams playing hardball. But I would have expected teams with cap and a need for some decent 2 way vets would have loved him, particularly given his ability to play anywhere in the top 9. The fact Chicago or Anaheim didn't offer something of value is odd. I think many teams will regret not taking him for a very low cost last year, as I also think he is a pretty good player and will have a solid year.

Almost top 6 5 on 5, playing 3rd line minutes and barely any PP is impressive.

 

I've always felt Garland is underrated. I think he was being shopped so much was due to him having the most value out of our wingers, but the flat cap meant there were no takers, and those who could likely tried to squeeze us to give him away with a sweetener. Glad he's still with us.

 

6 minutes ago, Knucklhd said:

I agree with some, and disagree with others.

I feel Hogs and Pods didn't impress much.  Pods didn't really impress himself on the game/ camp like he can and has in the past.  Hogs was fast and seemed to be everywhere, but again didn't seem to use the people around him. Always seems to be a 1 man show.

Boeser, looking fast and strong on the boards. I am thinking we will see a good year from him.

Hughes and Miller, the clear leaders out there.

Patterson looked disinterested, maybe just pacing himself. The guys can flip a switch when needed.

Lots of choice for the bottom 6.

Defence, only really 1 choice to make...who plays the 6 role.  I think Irwin is the 7th D.

DeSmith looked solid, should provide a stable back up presence.

Really liked Tocchets practices. Very purposeful, and demanded pace in all things.

 

 

I love that Tocc is running his camp like this this year. It's about learning right away the things we need to to start strong and win games. It's essentially a bunch of hard and focused practices rather than a camp.

 

Tomorrow will be very interesting to see who plays, as I've also been wondering if Tocc is going to give role players the most looks like the last few years, or is he going to have more of our top guys play more games in the pre-season to start building chemistry early and allow even more time to practice the new structure while we have the time to do so. We won't have much practice time in the early road trip, so I'm hoping to see more of a regular lineup with a few impressers mixed in, such as Woo and Studs, rather than a lineup of Miller and then a bunch of Abbotsford guys. Obviously, it's only the first pre-season game, but a win would sure be a nice boost to morale than yet another loss. 

[VegasCanuck]

49 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

 

Yeah, and our thin skinned owner, decides to close down our message board.

 

Real effective strategy.

Directive didn't come from Aquilini, about 95% sure of where it came from, but the fact it happened, doesn't really matter at this point. If we can establish here and define our relationship with the Canucks, we might be better off in the long run.

 

I've said it before, this is the team's loss.

[Barn Burner]

18 minutes ago, Captain Kirk said:

Linden is the real deal, very kind and down to earth, always has time for everyone, same with Kirk Mclean.

Yeah, it's for real. I've talked to Trevor a few times and he always makes you feel welcome. Awesome person. 

 

Edit: Same with Steamer. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Barn Burner

[HIWATT]

8 hours ago, SISMIM said:

 

I read that Studnicka had added 10 lbs of muscle and that he was training for pretty much the entire off-season, right from locker clean-out day through to this current training camp.

He apparently stuck around Vancouver for a bit and trained with some teammates, and then he moved over to Michigan for the summer to train at the USNTDP facilities, alongside Quinn Hughes and other notables.

 

I hadn’t heard that he’d scored tops on the training camp fitness testing, but that would be a great result. If he’s both been able to add 10 lbs of muscle (which has been reported in some recent articles), and also improved his fitness, that would be a really impressive off-season of training.

 

One of the quotes I read said that Studnicka felt he was quicker and more explosive now, after the hard work he’d put in over the summer. If that’s true, and he’s also gotten significantly bigger and stronger, he could prove to be a much improved overall player, and one with a real shot at grabbing an NHL lineup spot.

This is the kind of player I wanted to see paired up with Joshua.

He's listed at 6'1" 187lbs. Has that been updated this year yet? Is he pushing 200 now?

Joshua's 6'3" 206. 

I wanna see a smash n grab line!  (maybe not the grab) 



 

[Barnstorm]

1 hour ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

 

Yeah, and our thin skinned owner, decides to close down our message board.

 

Real effective strategy.

It was sarcasm and in reference to gaining some exposure for CFF. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Barnstorm

[Dr. Crossbar]

After the third day of training camp, there was some talk that a goalie had an allergic reaction. Tocchet feared one of our goalies might not be able to join the scrimmage today due to a peanut allergy reaction but wasn't sure what was causing the reaction.

 

Demko, on the bench, said to Tocchet, "Coach, that's nuts."

[RWJC]

2 minutes ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

After the third day of training camp, there was some talk that a goalie had an allergic reaction. Tocchet feared one of our goalies might not be able to join the scrimmage today due to a peanut allergy reaction but wasn't sure what was causing the reaction.

 

Demko, on the bench, said to Tocchet, "Coach, that's nuts."

You need your own section on the site. Dr. Crossbar’s Comedy Corner. 

[RomanPer]

11 minutes ago, RWJC said:

You need your own section on the site. Dr. Crossbar’s Comedy Corner. 

 

I’m worried he will be the only visitor there lol

[RWJC]

9 minutes ago, RomanPer said:

 

I’m worried he will be the only visitor there lol

Be really interesting when he begins to heckle himself 

[Dr. Crossbar]

24 minutes ago, RWJC said:

You need your own section on the site. Dr. Crossbar’s Comedy Corner. 

 

That would be too punny!

[RWJC]

18 minutes ago, Dr. Crossbar said:

 

That would be too punny!

You are out of control, Doc!

[xMagnus]

7 hours ago, Slegr said:

• Myers was jumping into rushes quite a bit - I wonder if he feels more daring to jump into plays now that he's likely on the 5-6 spot

Dear lord. I was hoping to see less of that this year. Or none of it at all.

[Conscience]

16 minutes ago, xMagnus said:

Dear lord. I was hoping to see less of that this year. Or none of it at all.

For real, the guy cant read the play at all in time to get back, I don't think he should be allowed past the redline. 

[Dr. Crossbar]

1 hour ago, RWJC said:

You are out of control, Doc!

 

It's kinda like my keyboard ... it lost a key tonight. Now it's out of ctrl.

 

 

 

Ok ... I'm going ... bye.

 

 

 

Edited September 24, 2023 by Dr. Crossbar

[JamesB]

Brisebois. There has been a lot of discussion about most of the guys on the bubble, but Brisebois has been under the radar.

 

However, he has been paired with Myers all three days on what looks like the projected third pairing, at least for the early pre-season games.

He appears to have the inside track for the 3LD slot.

 

Many people (including me) thought that Wolanin was favored for this spot. There has also been a lot of talk about Hirose, and Irwin seemed like a good candidate for 7th D.

 

Comparing Brisebois and Wolanin, last year Briser played 36 games for Abby and picked up only 6 points. His +/- was a respectable +8. But Wolanin picked up 55 pts in 49 games and was +12, and he was named the top D-man in the NHL. At the NHL level Briser has 3 pts in 17 games and was -2. Wolanin had 3 pts in 16 games and was +5.

 

But the coaches seem to be favoring Brisebois at this stage.  I guess the coaches are willing to let Myers be the puck carrier on the 3rd pairing and have Briser as a pure defensive D-man. I thought it might be better to let Wolanin be the puck carrier and get Myers to play a very defensive game and avoid giving up too much defensively.  But obviously the Canucks have excellent defensive coaches so I am hoping for the best. 

 

Of course, things could change. And if Tocchet does decide to go with 3 right shots on the right side, then Hughes, Cole and Soucy would handle the left side. Apparently Soucy has not looked great when partnered with Hughes. He might do better as a third pairing LD.

 

At this point, it would not surprise me to see Brisebois make the 23 man roster, but it would also not surprise me to see Juulsen play with Hughes, which would probably push Briser down to Abby. 

Edited September 24, 2023 by JamesB

[R3aL]

15 hours ago, SISMIM said:

 

I read that Studnicka had added 10 lbs of muscle and that he was training for pretty much the entire off-season, right from locker clean-out day through to this current training camp.

He apparently stuck around Vancouver for a bit and trained with some teammates, and then he moved over to Michigan for the summer to train at the USNTDP facilities, alongside Quinn Hughes and other notables.

 

I hadn’t heard that he’d scored tops on the training camp fitness testing, but that would be a great result. If he’s both been able to add 10 lbs of muscle (which has been reported in some recent articles), and also improved his fitness, that would be a really impressive off-season of training.

 

One of the quotes I read said that Studnicka felt he was quicker and more explosive now, after the hard work he’d put in over the summer. If that’s true, and he’s also gotten significantly bigger and stronger, he could prove to be a much improved overall player, and one with a real shot at grabbing an NHL lineup spot.

Looking like I wrongfully wrote him off to some extent. Sounds like he’s earning himself a spot really interesting camp we have here