LATEST | Three standouts highlighted from Canucks training camp so far
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Training camps around the National Hockey League are in full swing, including in Vancouver, where expectations are pretty high heading into the 2023-24 season.
The Canucks have been on the ice in Victoria, British Columbia the last few days and on Saturday, held a scrimmage followed by a special teams practice.
Their scrimmage ended with Team Blue defeating Team White by a score of 3 to 1, with three of the four goals coming from Josh Bloom, Teddy Blueger, Chase Wouters.
On Sunday, Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal of The Athletic shared their three standouts from Saturday's team scrimmage - Jack Studnicka, Jett Woo and Nils Hoglander.
For Jack Studnicka, Drance and Dayal believe he's performed well enough in the early part of training camp to be considered for a spot on the team's fourth line to start the season.
"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." Drance and Dayal said.
The Canucks have plenty of depth on the blue line, there's no doubt about that, especially on the left side, but on the right side, there could be an opportunity for Jett Woo to make the team and he'll certainly be given plenty of chances during preseason games to prove himself.
Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet spoke to the media after Saturday's scrimmage and was pleased with what he was seeing from Jett Woo.
"There's competition there, and he's trying to climb that depth chart, and I think he has a little bit," Tocchet said.
He added, "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."
He added, "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."
The third and final named that Drance and Dayal mentioned was 22-year-old Swedish forward Nils Hoglander.
After spending the entire 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons on the Canucks roster, Hoglander didn't perform all that well last year and ended up spending the majority of his time with AHL Abbotsford where he had 32 points in 45 games.
Hoglander will be needing to have a great camp and play well in preseason games, when given the opportunity, in order to make the team's opening night roster. So far, Hoglander has shown that he's capable of making this team and is hungry to return to the NHL roster as quickly as possible. After a strong 2022-23 regular season and playoffs with Abbotsford, there's no doubt he'll be considered by Tocchet to be on their roster to start the year.
Who do you think of the three names mentioned by Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal will make Vancouver's roster out of training camp? Let us know what you think in the poll below!
Source: The Athletic
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 24 | 443 ANSWERS LATEST | Three standouts highlighted from Canucks training camp so far Which player mentioned by Drance and Dayal has the best chance of making the opening night roster? | ||
| Jack Studnicka | 68 | 15.3 % |
| Jett Woo | 47 | 10.6 % |
| Nils Hoglander | 278 | 62.8 % |
| See Results | 50 | 11.3 % |
| List of polls | ||
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