If Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson catch up any further, they’re going to be ahead.
The Vancouver Canucks’ foundational stars were mostly excellent in Thursday’s 3-2 pre-season loss to the Edmonton Oilers, playing for the first time since signing new contracts last weekend worth a combined $15.2-million annually.
That settlement brought Pettersson and Hughes back to the National Hockey League team halfway through training camp and the pre-season. The centre and defencemen will get another tuneup game Saturday, the last for the Canucks before Vancouver opens the regular season in Edmonton next Wednesday.
Hughes easily led Canucks skaters with 25:24 of ice time, scored with a power-play blast in the second period and looked comfortable with Tucker Poolman on a new defence pairing that actually won its matchup at even strength against the Connor McDavid-Leon Draisaitl line.
And Pettersson, playing for the first time since a wrist injury last March 2 scuttled his pandemic season, led the Canucks with six shots and eight attempts in 19:08 of ice time. His shot-pass was directed in by Nic Petan for one of two power-play goals scored by the Canucks.
“I thought they both got better as the game went on,” coach Travis Green said. “Not surprising; they're great young players. I thought they both played really well.”
Green was even more complimentary when asked about the Hughes-Poolman tandem. Poolman had looked good partnering veteran workhorse Oliver Ekman-Larsson during Hughes’ contractual standoff but is expected to play with the 21-year-old dynamo as a defensive-minded complement to Hughes’ speed and offensive might.
“I liked a lot of it,” Green said of the new pairing. “(They were) playing, really, the best line in the league. I thought Quinn, he looked sharp tonight. Probably a couple passes he'd probably want back, but that's to be expected. Poolman’s had a really good camp for us. He looked good with Oliver, he looked good again tonight. He's a strong skater, he's long, his hockey sense is good.”
The Canucks hope Poolman might evolve into Chris Tanev 2.0, replacing the elite defender who left Vancouver as a free agent before last season after mentoring and partnering Hughes.
Travis Hamonic, Hughes’ partner last season, remains home in Manitoba on a personal leave and is indefinitely unavailable to the team.
“I felt pretty good, to be honest,” Hughes said. “Jitters at the start, just because, you know, we haven't played in a while and it's exciting to go out there and play in front of fans, too. I felt that I went into the game nicely, did what I needed to do, got my feet going, made some plays. I really enjoyed playing with Poolman. It was a good start for me, and then getting one more game (Saturday against the Oilers) and then I think I should be ready to go.”
BALLISTIC SHOT
After one-timing a point shot post-and-in to start the Canucks back from a 2-0 deficit, Hughes said he worked on his shot during the off-season and feels it is “heavier.” The velocity of his slapshot was once considered the weak link in Hughes’ otherwise world-class offensive game.
The defenceman had 41 points in 56 games last season, but scored only three times. Hughes has 11 goals and 97 points in his first 129 games in the NHL.
“It's definitely heavier,” he said of his shot. “I changed my curve and flex. I definitely wasn't satisfied with last year, so I was really hungry going into the year, and I worked on a bunch of different things. I think my shot was a big one. I want to be pretty dangerous there. And, obviously, my D-game too, just boxing out and stuff, which I think I did a really good job at today. That's going to be a work in progress. I think that's more of a mindset than anything. But the shot, for sure, it's probably a little heavier this year.”
CONTINUING TO CHIASS-ON
Now in the final days of his tryout with the Canucks, former Oiler Alex Chiasson was given the chance to play Thursday with Pettersson and Conor Garland, and he kept his spot as the net-front jammer on the first-unit power play. Chiasson screened Edmonton goalie Mike Smith on Hughes’ goal, and is expected to get one final audition on Saturday before the team must decide whether to sign the 31-year-old power forward.
“I thought tonight was a big step, was a big game for me,” Chiasson said. “I liked my game tonight, I was around the net. I think I can help this team. I've just got to go out, play well and have good habits every day in practice. I think that group knows me pretty well.”
Chiasson became emotional in his post-game press conference on Zoom when asked about ex-teammate Zack Kassian, who sickeningly smashed his face on the ice in a third-period fight with the Canucks' Zack MacEwen.
MacEwen, among others, immediately called for medical attention for Kassian, who appeared to be briefly unconscious before being helped off the ice.
“That's tough to see,” Chiasson said, his words slowing as he tried to control his emotions. “Obviously, you played there for three years, you make a lot of friendships. He was just one of my good buddies there. I hope he's doing alright.”
With just four minutes remaining, Kassian appeared during a faceoff to challenge MacEwen to fight, likely due to an entanglement the Canuck had earlier in the third period with the highly combustible and snappable Smith.
“It's scary, it's terrible,” Hughes said. “It's not cool. Hopefully he is okay. It's not what you want to see in a pre-season game for sure. Probably didn't need to happen but it did, so hopefully he's alright.”
