I Watched This Awkward Pandemic Exhibition Game: Canucks can’t ground the Jets

So we’re actually doing this, are we?

You have to give the NHL credit for getting games going seemingly without major incident. A few positive COVID-19 cases were reported back in Phase 1, but the NHL’s strategy seems to have worked: putting everyone in a bubble like Jake Gyllenhaal to create individualized hypoallergenic environments for each player, then sending them out on the ice like bubble soccer players.

Wait, that’s not what they did? The “bubbles” they’re talking about are just two quarantined areas in Toronto and Edmonton? Well, that’s way less fun.

After a training camp redux in Vancouver, Wednesday’s exhibition game against the Jets was a chance for the Canucks to get back up to game speed in a ridiculous hurry. Starting Sunday, they’ll face a five-game play-in series against the Wild. Win that series and they’re in the playoffs; lose and they have a 12.5% chance at the first overall pick, ceded to one of the play-in teams by the draft lottery.

It’s an absurd situation for an absurd time.

The results will matter against the Wild; this game was a lot more about testing the waters, albeit by jumping in with a massive cannonball rather than dipping a toe in. There’s no time to fiddle with line combinations, experiment with power play set ups, or mess with defence pairings. The Canucks need to play like a playoff team immediately.

Expecting playoff-caliber hockey after a near five-month layoff is a tough ask, and we certainly didn’t get it on Wednesday. But absence makes the heart grow fonder and any Canucks hockey is good hockey after that much time without it. It was a balm to the soul when I watched this game.

Despite Pettersson, Horvat, and Gaudette, the Canucks are not set at centre

Embed from Getty Images

There’s a sentiment floating around the Canucks fandom that I find concerning. It’s the idea that the Canucks are set at centre for the foreseeable future and shouldn’t worry about acquiring more young centre prospects, either at the draft or via trade.

It’s why many Canucks fans were fine with the team moving Tyler Madden to the Los Angeles Kings in the Tyler Toffoli trade, even before Toffoli quickly clicked with Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller on the top line. It’s why many Canucks fans are eager to see the team draft defencemen and scoring wingers ahead of centres when the NHL Entry Draft finally arrives.

On the surface, it’s not an unreasonable stance. At the NHL level, Pettersson is a legitimate franchise forward, Bo Horvat is a strong two-way second-line centre, and Adam Gaudette is an up-and-coming scoring threat from the third line. With that youth up the middle and a veteran fourth-line centre, the Canucks should be set for years, right?

The truth is, the Canucks depth at centre is nearly nonexistent.