It’s been a somewhat busy time for Canucks management with the NHL Draft Combine wrapping up and the draft itself and free agency forthcoming. Combine that with happy, sunny skies over Vancouver and you’ve got the perfect time for a “Simmer’s 9”.
1) Ex-Canucks are gracing the stage of the Stanley Cup Final. Winger Vasili Podkolzin, Vancouver’s 10th-overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, sent to Edmonton for a 4th-round pick last summer, has been a highly effective 4th-liner who’s created a surprising number of scoring chances for the Oilers.
The always-smiling-about-something, 23-year-old Russian was a media favourite in BC.
31-year-old, right-shot D-man Troy Stecher, a Richmond native, is the club’s 7th defenceman at the moment, having been bumped from the regular line-up with the return of a healthy Mattias Ekholm up top. Stecher spent four seasons with Vancouver after signing as an undrafted free agent out of the University of North Dakota in the spring of 2016.
Panthers lefty defenceman Nate Schmidt played one season with the Canucks. He came in via trade from the Vegas Golden Knights in the fall of 2020 for a 3rd-rounder and he left the following summer to the Winnipeg Jets for the same thing.
The pick Vancouver acquired became D-man Elias Pettersson at the 2022 draft.
Jonah Gadjovich, a 2nd-rounder for the Canucks in 2017, sent packing via waivers in the fall of 2021 after playing one game for Vancouver, has found his niche in Florida. He’s a physical pest on the 4th-line.
2) Time to lose the Canucks goal song and move on to something tougher, more energetic and vigorous. The atmosphere in the building and the energy created by Vancouver fans at the Rogers Arena is second to none, but the goal song is lame.
Not sure which part of the demographic they’re attempting to appeal to, but there’s no reason to continue playing the pansy-ass goal song “Don’t You” from Simple Minds, made famous in the movie “Breakfast Club”.
There’s no comparison between neighbour Seattle and Vancouver in this regard. Not only have the Kraken taken the edge in the rivalry — going 3-0-and-1 head-to-head against the Canucks this past season — they own it when it comes to goal celebrations.
Nirvana’s “Lithium” kicks some ass and allows for a solid “let’s go Kraken” chant-along.
VAN doesn’t have to go to an ACDC-esque level of intensity, but something along the lines of a Stone Temple Pilots. Anything with a gutsy edge that keeps the building a-rockin’.
3) The Abbotsford Canucks begin their first trip to the Calder Cup Final on Friday against the Charlotte Checkers in North Carolina.
4) With the 2025 NHL Draft being a bit shallower compared to most, will the Canucks stick with a “take the best player available” mentality regardless of position? The initial impulse is to think center all the way, as there are numerous available, and then D-man.
As Bruce Boudreau often says, “quite frankly”, Vancouver might be best off taking the player they think has the greatest likelihood for success regardless of where he skates on the ice. This is particularly appropriate considering the club is picking at 15th-overall.
5) Outside of NHL D-man Derek Forbort signing a one-year extension, it’s been quiet in the contract department lately for Vancouver. Near the end of May, GM Patrik Allvin inked a Latvian free agent project named Anri Ravinskis. He played juniors in the Quebec League before moving on to professional hockey in Finland.
The right winger brings size at 6-foot-3, 200-pounds. He played this past season in the top Finnish SM-liiga, and finished with 17 points in 27 games as a 22-year-old.
6) Trivia Time: Who is the 4th leading scorer in Canucks history? (answer below number-9)
7) Speaking of Elias Pettersson, the blueliner from item-1, we’re not sure who ordained the moniker “D-Petey”, someone from the local media cabal we reckon, but “Petey-D” rolls off the tongue way more fluently and simply sounds better, so we’ll be sticking with that on our end.
8) In your opinion, what happens to GM Allvin and President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford if the Canucks don’t make the playoffs under head coach Adam Foote in 2026?? Respond with thoughts via e-mail below or in X/Twitter.
9) Sam Reinhart grew up in West Vancouver and played youth hockey there. He later joined the Vancouver Northwest Giants for midgets and the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League in major juniors. His path in professional hockey began as the 2nd-overall pick of the Buffalo Sabres at the 2014 NHL Draft.
Sam, the son of former NHL defenceman Paul Reinhart, who played the last two of his 11 seasons in Vancouver, has gone on to do great things since being traded to the Florida Panthers in the summer of 2021.
Coming off last season’s Stanley Cup win, he completed his third point-a-game-plus regular season and has five goals and 10 assists in 18 playoff games this time around.
Put it this way, the local kid has lived up to expectations.
Trivia Answer: Trevor Linden is Vancouver’s 4th all-time leading scorer with 733 points. That’s behind the Sedins, Henrik and Daniel, 23 points behind 3rd place Markus Näslund and 60 ahead of 5th place Stan Smyl.
