On paper, the Canucks’ decision to strengthen themselves on the wings at the expense of what had become a key strength
made logical sense. In practice, Lindholm’s departure still leaves a vacancy for Vancouver down the middle of their forward group and takes away a key attribute — a right-handed faceoff winner — that it is surely going to require in May (even if the Canucks can get by without it in the regular season).
We asked Tocchet about this a few weeks ago, and this is another one of his answers that didn’t make it into our July one-on-one with the Canucks bench boss:
“The first half of the year, I think our centremen did a really nice job committee-wise. With guys like Blueger and Suter, you can move them around the lineup and play the hot hand. So whoever plays with Conor Garland and
Dakota Joshua, it’s a situation where there may be some moving parts. What’s sustainable? Can either guy hold down that position for a long time?
“Having that right-handed luxury on faceoffs, it’s something we may have to toy with. People might laugh, but I know Boeser took a few draws last year, and I might see if he takes some faceoffs at training camp. We may have to experiment and not be afraid of it. The depth down the middle, with Pettersson and Miller, I think we’re going to be OK there. It’s a situation where we’ll lean on Teddy and Pius to be interchangeable.”