RWJC Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Canucks: It's time for Nils Höglander and Vasily Podkolzin to step up to the plate VICTORIA — To stick as a winger on a top line with J.T. Miller or Elias Pettersson as your centre, Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet has made it very clear: he wants to see energy, recklessness and smarts. Step up to the plate, Nils Höglander and Vasily Podkolzin. The two young wingers have been skating alongside Pettersson and Miller, respectively, in the first two days of camp and both have been showing well. To Höglander, the equation for him is simple: forecheck hard, play hard and win lots of puck battles. “Just play my style,” he said. It’s a style that got Höglander drafted in 2019 in the first place. Judd Brackett, the Canucks’ director of amateur scouting at the time, said two things excited him about Höglander: his scoring hands and his “motor,” as he called it. Höglander the prospect never stopped moving, never stopped getting himself right into the action. In his rookie season, that energy won him an NHL job. But the two seasons since have seen plenty of dips; last season all the way back to the minors. To get back from the AHL, his coach has made it clear. When you’re on the puck, be reckless, he said. When you don’t have the puck, know what to do and do it. Every time. “Now he’s go to know where to go in certain situations. Who’s his man. In the slot, is that my man or not? That’s the stuff he’s really got to dial up,” Tocchet said. “I think that’s the hardest thing, to play without the puck.” For Podkolzin, as much as anything, it’s about confidence as much as anything. “Be more confident with myself and be a little easier on myself,” the 22-year-old Russian said. “Like Hughesy (Quinn Hughes) says, just come to the rink everyday with a smile on my face.” Podkolzin needs to learn to let go, Tocchet said. “He’s a great kid, but he takes everything literally though. You tell him something and that’s all he thinks about,” the head coach said. Like Höglander, Tocchet wants Podkolzin playing a little reckless, when the time is right. “When he thinks too much, that’s when he gets into trouble. So that’s on me, to get him to relax. But I’ve liked him so far.” Miller said he’s always liked the fit of having Podkolzin on his wing — an up-and-down-the-rink winger he called Podkolzin. “He’s so young but he’s still getting better and better. I think he’s learned a lot the last year,” Miller said. “We’ve got a great relationship. If I have some problems, I can just call him and … ask about advice or something like that. And yeah, he said to me his history and that’s what I want to learn, like for him it was like a hard and a long way,” Podkolzin said. Miller can also dole out advice about how to be a good father — Podkolzin and his wife Sasha welcomed their first child in July. “Probably the best part of his life,” new dad Podkolzin said, with a smile. “I’m happy.” Defensive committee On Friday, Hughes had his second defence partner in two days. On Thursday he was paired with the right-shot Noah Juulsen, who he skated with for a stretch last season. On Friday he was with left-shot Carson Soucy, who has plenty of experience playing on the right despite his left-handedness. Tocchet isn’t a big fan of playing a defenceman on his off-side, especially with Hughes, but said he needed to take a few looks at the options in front of him. “It’s a situation where … especially early, if you want to try things do it now,” he said. “I’m not going to experiment for three weeks.” Hughes will be playing 23 or 24 minutes per game, so his partner — or maybe it will be a couple of different options in the game — will have to be up to the demands of such a role, as well as having the skill set, Tocchet said. “It’s hard to just go here to another … right hand shot that can play 26, 28 minutes. Like it’s hard to find those but we have capable defencemen that can do that by committee,” he said. pjohnston@postmedia.com twitter.com/risingaction https://apple.news/A2WyVG29_S-qhEcp0r1l1kQ 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WSAcanuck Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 It will be a huge thing for the Canucks if Hoglander and Podkolzin can step up. That’s where the coaches need to help rebuild their confidence to do so as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Makes sense that Hughes could potentially see a few different partners in different situations. We don't have a 1-2RD to play with him, not one that compliments his play style anyway. And those guys are hard to find, there's a good chance we may never have the "perfect" partner for him. Shame Hughes isn't an RD like Makar, it'd make it easier to find him a partner. As for Hogs and Podz, yeah, sooner or later they've gotta be more than just potential. Particularly if some players see a bit of point regression. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canuck You Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 Man it seems like as soon as Kuz came on the scene we forgot about Podz! Dude is still a beast and a huge threat! And Hogz had a killer yr in the minors, Looking forward to these 2 in the line-up! 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBatch Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 If both make the team and stick, that for sure gives us 3 lines and puts the screws on Allvin to make a trade as we'd be waiving one serviceable vet. Joshua is safe. Beau could be waived or traded. He's the easiest guy of the mid-expense level to create more room on the roster with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostsof1915 Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 45 minutes ago, IBatch said: If both make the team and stick, that for sure gives us 3 lines and puts the screws on Allvin to make a trade as we'd be waiving one serviceable vet. Joshua is safe. Beau could be waived or traded. He's the easiest guy of the mid-expense level to create more room on the roster with. I doubt anyone is moving until the trade deadline. There's like 7 teams that can take $4.1+ million (At least right now) Toronto has to shed almost $3 million, and they will be in tough moving players up and down the lineup. (Kiss that 1st round pick bye,bye?) Unless Marner slips on a cracker, and is out for 50% of the season. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IBatch Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 (edited) 2 minutes ago, Ghostsof1915 said: I doubt anyone is moving until the trade deadline. There's like 7 teams that can take $4.1+ million (At least right now) Toronto has to shed almost $3 million, and they will be in tough moving players up and down the lineup. (Kiss that 1st round pick bye,bye?) Unless Marner slips on a cracker, and is out for 50% of the season. I doubt it too. I also doubt both Hogs and Podz make the opening night roster. Tochett will go with the BPA. Unless they both rip it up before the start of the season, one is getting waived (Hogs) or going down (Podz). And that's ok. I'm pretty sure Beau would also clear waivers, but doubt Tochett goes there. Mikheyev, if he's not on the opening night roster because he needs more time ... or a conditioning stint. Might change things a little. Studnicka being our only RHC could also make things hard for Hogs and Podz as well. Ideally for cap reasons, both make the team and of course hope they do and excel. It won't be easy for them. I also doubt Garland is going anywhere. He's a better player then both of them as of right now. Edited September 23, 2023 by IBatch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RawkDrummer Posted September 23, 2023 Share Posted September 23, 2023 (edited) Pod is very young, you can't give up on a potential power forward early. Regardless I think he'll be fine. Hogs is different, he needs to put the biscuit in the basket. Edited September 23, 2023 by RawkDrummer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BestCanuck Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 Hogs is good trade bait for young defensive stud. I’ll I expect him to do is fill in depth role & fish some trades to build the blue line. Him and Garland I doubt will be Canucks next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Crossbar Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 (edited) I'm rooting for both but don't think either are ready for the big league just yet. I would love nothing more than to be surprised but ... Both are 22 and really need to put their heads down and play regularly in the A while allowing themselves to mature. They're both entering that stage where they'll benefit by getting called up, going up and down. Edited September 24, 2023 by Dr. Crossbar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goal_thecup Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 5 hours ago, Dr. Crossbar said: I'm rooting for both but don't think either are ready for the big league just yet. I would love nothing more than to be surprised but ... Both are 22 and really need to put their heads down and play regularly in the A while allowing themselves to mature. They're both entering that stage where they'll benefit by getting called up, going up and down. Don't we have to keep Hogz up to avoid losing him on waivers? I think Podz can go down w/o waivers. I think the opening lineups are more set than is being put out there. Who don't we want to lose, and who can be safely hidden somewhere? Two key assets in the NHL: time(trade deadlines, free agency, roster limits, etc) and money(cap space). We're open to trades but they are difficult and take time as most teams are up against the cap. We have to wait and can't waste any chips before the dealing starts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Crossbar Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 42 minutes ago, Goal_thecup said: Don't we have to keep Hogz up to avoid losing him on waivers? I think Podz can go down w/o waivers. I think the opening lineups are more set than is being put out there. Who don't we want to lose, and who can be safely hidden somewhere? Two key assets in the NHL: time(trade deadlines, free agency, roster limits, etc) and money(cap space). We're open to trades but they are difficult and take time as most teams are up against the cap. We have to wait and can't waste any chips before the dealing starts. Yeah, you're right about Hoglander. I keep forgetting he now requires waivers. That forces him to step up I was speaking more in how I feel about the two but the reality is it's more do or die for Hoglander. Will be interesting to see how his game has evolved at this level. Agree, I do think the opening lineups are more set. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goal_thecup Posted September 24, 2023 Share Posted September 24, 2023 Hoglander needs to play like a fearless pit bull; take a few penalties, drop the mitts, dig in the corners, behind the net, etc. He has a very good skill set; add some snarl and go to the front of the net. And for coach: backcheck, stay with your man, hit, and skate, skate, skate. Love the guy but if he can't do it, he's gonna join a rather lengthy list of 'could-be-trade'-eds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.