[Article] Allvin: Canucks saw “big momentum boost” from Tocchet’s hiring

[RWJC]

 

Allvin: Canucks saw “big momentum boost” from Tocchet’s hiring 

 

By Josh Wegman

The Score 
 

Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin is hoping his club can ride last season's strong finish into a hot start for the 2023-24 campaign.

"It definitely feels different because I feel that we're more aligned from the top to the bottom," Allvin told Sportsnet's Iain MacIntyre Friday when asked about the organizational changes over the last year. "I think we're all preaching the same message. We know the players. And there was definitely a big momentum boost after last year when we did the coaching change."

The Canucks were a long shot to make the previous postseason after an 18-25-3 start to the 2022-23 campaign under head coach Bruce Boudreau. Vancouver missed the playoffs by 15 points, but Allvin took solace in the club's strong finish, going 20-12-4 after Rick Tocchet replaced Boudreau.

 

Allvin said he believes that a full training camp under Tocchet will prepare the team better to avoid the poor starts that torpedoed them in past seasons.

"The approach Toc has and how he wants to play the game, you need to be fit to play," he said. "And I think that's what he emphasized to the players - the fitness level in order to be able to play the right way. That's where I give the leadership group a lot of credit because the players came together and sent out the texts, and everybody showed up earlier than ever before."

After the Canucks finished 25th in the league in goals against and owned the NHL's worst penalty kill last season, Allvin made a cognizant effort to improve the club's defensive play for the upcoming campaign.

In addition to signing Carson Soucy and Ian Cole to help shore up the blue line, Vancouver also brought in defensive-minded centers Pius Suter and Teddy Blueger to improve the overall team defense.

Allvin said those additions and a full season under Tocchet will help the Canucks win the close, low-scoring games they couldn't last season.

"You don't need to win games 6-5, 7-5," he said. "You can win games 2-1 by playing the right way and being a very, very consistent team. I think that's what we (strive for), being very consistent in detail."
 

https://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/2715464

Edited September 19, 2023 by RWJC

[Canucks-12]

We all once again have high hopes for the season. Only the bottom line results will determine how we see management, coaching staff and the players. 
 

We’ll continue to stay hopeful until then. 

[RWJC]

1 minute ago, Canucks-12 said:

We all once again have high hopes for the season. Only the bottom line results will determine how we see management, coaching staff and the players. 
 

We’ll continue to stay hopeful until then. 

Totally. But key players showing up early pre-camp is a really good sign. Major improvement in mentality and commitment. 

[Jeremy Hronek]

It's a typical "new coach" bump but we'll have to see if it translates to long term success.  We saw what happened with Bruce B during his first 60 games here and then what followed with the 22/23 season.  

My personal feeling is that the Canucks should have blown it up in January by moving all of Pettersson, Hughes, Demko, and Kuzmenko for 1st round picks and prospects.  Tank naturally for a Top 3 2023 1st, bring in elite prospects on top of that (which Petey and Hughes would have gotten us), and weaponize cap space by bringing in more picks/prospects.

I know my above idea won't be popular but the truth of the matter is that keeping Petey is risky given his stance on whether he wants to re-sign or not.  If the Canucks aren't competitive this season, his chances of signing long term are not high.  Will Kuzmenko be here long term after two seasons?  

Even though both Hughes and Demko have some term left, how many years will actually be left on their contracts once the Canucks become an elite team?  

Looking at our current team, I'm not feeling kind of..........'meh.'   While I like the depth we have up front, I think our defense still has a lot of questions.  Can Hronek stay healthy?   Can Soucy be more than a #4 if we have some injuries?  He had good underlying numbers as a 3rd pairing guy and as a #4 at times, but what will happen if he needs to play higher up?  Ian Cole is solid but he's 34 years old now.  What happens if he needs to play higher up?

And then of course, you have Demko. Demko is an elite goalie when he's healthy, but we've seen how he's been the past 2-3 seasons....and if we're being honest, the majority of his career.  Demko is quite injury prone. What happens if he gets injured again?  Will Silovs be ready or does he need more time in the A? We saw what Spencer Martin did last year when became our #1 for an extended period of time.  

So in conclusion - while I like the structure, accountability, and energy that Tocchet has brought to the position, I think our team will be in a bit of trouble with injuries to the back-end and goaltending..........which will ultimately leads us to either narrowly missing the playoffs or being 1st round fodder......which ultimately means Petey exploring other options.  I hope I'm wrong here and will gladly eat shit on here if I am.  

[RWJC]

6 minutes ago, Jeremy Hronek said:

It's a typical "new coach" bump but we'll have to see if it translates to long term success.  We saw what happened with Bruce B during his first 60 games here and then what followed with the 22/23 season.  

My personal feeling is that the Canucks should have blown it up in January by moving all of Pettersson, Hughes, Demko, and Kuzmenko for 1st round picks and prospects.  Tank naturally for a Top 3 2023 1st, bring in elite prospects on top of that (which Petey and Hughes would have gotten us), and weaponize cap space by bringing in more picks/prospects.

I know my above idea won't be popular but the truth of the matter is that keeping Petey is risky given his stance on whether he wants to re-sign or not.  If the Canucks aren't competitive this season, his chances of signing long term are not high.  Will Kuzmenko be here long term after two seasons?  

Even though both Hughes and Demko have some term left, how many years will actually be left on their contracts once the Canucks become an elite team?  

Looking at our current team, I'm not feeling kind of..........'meh.'   While I like the depth we have up front, I think our defense still has a lot of questions.  Can Hronek stay healthy?   Can Soucy be more than a #4 if we have some injuries?  He had good underlying numbers as a 3rd pairing guy and as a #4 at times, but what will happen if he needs to play higher up?  Ian Cole is solid but he's 34 years old now.  What happens if he needs to play higher up?

And then of course, you have Demko. Demko is an elite goalie when he's healthy, but we've seen how he's been the past 2-3 seasons....and if we're being honest, the majority of his career.  Demko is quite injury prone. What happens if he gets injured again?  Will Silovs be ready or does he need more time in the A? We saw what Spencer Martin did last year when became our #1 for an extended period of time.  

So in conclusion - while I like the structure, accountability, and energy that Tocchet has brought to the position, I think our team will be in a bit of trouble with injuries to the back-end and goaltending..........which will ultimately leads us to either narrowly missing the playoffs or being 1st round fodder......which ultimately means Petey exploring other options.  I hope I'm wrong here and will gladly eat shit on here if I am.  

Allvin seemed pretty confident the other day that EP wants to stay and that a deal will be done by mid season.

If not, I think you’ll have a good number of folks in agreement with you.

[NucksRuleYou]

3 minutes ago, Jeremy Hronek said:

It's a typical "new coach" bump but we'll have to see if it translates to long term success.  We saw what happened with Bruce B during his first 60 games here and then what followed with the 22/23 season. 

Umm, no. It wasn't a new coach bump. Under Tocchet, we finally started to change the way we played into something more sustainable. We actually have some structure. People can laugh and mock the "structure" all they want, but it is true. We had no structure before. The way we played under Bruce was totally unsustainable.

[Jeremy Hronek]

4 minutes ago, NucksRuleYou said:

Umm, no. It wasn't a new coach bump. Under Tocchet, we finally started to change the way we played into something more sustainable. We actually have some structure. People can laugh and mock the "structure" all they want, but it is true. We had no structure before. The way we played under Bruce was totally unsustainable.

You're probably right but again, time will tell. The Canucks were playing with more structure but it's also entirely possible that other teams weren't taking us all that seriously at that point. I will completely agree with what you're saying here if the Canucks have a strong season.  

[Jaimito]

we also thought Bruce with a full training camp last summer will result in a better season.

The difference here is that the GM now has his guy, and so he doesn't have any more excuses.  

The management needs to be fully aligned, from owner to prez, GM, AGM to the coaches.  Let's hope they finally got it together. 

A true new start.   New captain, new culture.  

[Jeremy Hronek]

34 minutes ago, RWJC said:

Allvin seemed pretty confident the other day that EP wants to stay and that a deal will be done by mid season.

If not, I think you’ll have a good number of folks in agreement with you.

It's great if EP wants to stay here but when will the Canucks truly be elite again?  I think that's the thing that doesn't quite have me sold on our current plan.

By the time the Canucks actually become a 2nd round++ calibre team again,

1) Will Kuzmenko still be on the books?

2) Both Demko and Hughes would likely be at or near contract expiration (Demko will be 30 when his contract expires). Quinn, an American, is VERY tight-knit with his family and brothers.  How likely is it that both these guys extend with us at that time?

So, I don't know.......like I said before, I like the energy, accountability, and structure that Tocchet is building here but post bubble 2020 is when this team and core really needed to take off in my opinion. Unfortunately, that post bubble 2020 off-season was extremely disastrous. 

I hate to be a downer but I can't see us being anything more than 1st round fodder this season at best, and I can't see us *possibly* being elite again for another 3 years (at which point, all/most our current core will either be gone or will be close to contract expiration).   

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Jeremy Hronek

[RWJC]

6 minutes ago, Jeremy Hronek said:

It's great if EP wants to stay here but when will the Canucks truly be elite again?  I think that's the thing that doesn't quite have me solid on our current plan.

By the time the Canucks actually become a 2nd round++ calibre team again,

1) Will Kuzmenko still be on the books?

2) Both Demko and Hughes would likely be at or near contract expiration (Demko will be 30 when his contract expires). Quinn, an American, is VERY tight-knit with his family and brothers.  How likely is it that both these guys extend with us at that time?

So, I don't know.......like I said before, I like the energy, accountability, and structure that Tocchet is building here but post bubble 2020 is when this team and core really needed to take off in my opinion. Unfortunately, that post bubble 2020 off-season was extremely disastrous. 

I hate to be a downer but I can't see us being anything more than 1st round fodder this season at best, and I can't see us *possibly* being elite again for another 3 years (at which point, all/most our current core will either be gone or will be close to contract expiration).   

 

I understand where you’re coming from, but you’re also approaching that angle from right now. A few shrewd trades during the season, some roster re-alignment and we could see a truly balanced roster. A high powered top 6, a strong defensive 3rd line and a more experienced 4th that can hopefully play a larger role/mins. The players we have to fill those bottom two lines are much better at and will likely excel in PK roles too. 
 

We still need to improve the D a bit imho. I can envision us picking up another defender by Xmas. Potentially a top 4 two way guy. 
 

Demko will likely have an easier time bouncing back with a stronger more responsible team in front of him. If Martin doesn’t show well, there’s are still a few experienced/journeyman backup G available at likely league min.

It’s a lot of ifs, but at least they are more probable this season, imho. 
Team discipline and accountability will go a long way to creating the right attitude, and if Tocchet and the bench can really instil that blue collar approach and get buy in, I think there’s not just a chance for the playoffs, but a potential run. Again, caveat is the roster will still require tweaking and improvement by Allvin throughout the year to get us there. Like I say far too often, the season is fluid. Let’s see how mgmt responds and what comes available in the marketplace.

[Jeremy Hronek]

6 minutes ago, RWJC said:

 I can envision us picking up another defender by Xmas. Potentially a top 4 two way guy. 
 

At what cost?  Top 4 two way guys are not easy to acquire.  Boeser and Garland won't fetch you that piece.  Do we move yet another 1st for said piece?

p.s. - I agree with your arguments on Demko.

Edited September 18, 2023 by Jeremy Hronek

[RWJC]

6 minutes ago, Jeremy Hronek said:

At what cost?  Top 4 two way guys are not easy to acquire.  Boeser and Garland won't fetch you that piece.  Do we move yet another 1st for said piece?

p.s. - I agree with your arguments on Demko.

I definitely think our 1st would be in play. 
And a top prospect (as well).

I have a feeling we’re going to make a run for another Hronek type (but slightly lesser).
Really build a solid D corps that we can carry for the next 3 seasons or more. 
 

Hronek will have to re-sign to continue that process but at least he’s RFA this time around which affords some protection while the D corps is re-built around him QH and Soucy.

 

A lot of folks here would love to see a Pesce come to Van but I can envision him being re-upped in CAR because he really wants to stay there. On the flip side, Skjei might be a guy that mgmt feels could slide into our top 4 as well and his price point could also be more affordable. 
 

https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=130995

 

 

 

Edited September 18, 2023 by RWJC

[Coconuts]

Well, they did wait to give him the cushier part of the remainder of the season.