Q&A: Canucks GM Patrik Allvin expects more from top players in 2025
Posted December 31, 2024 6:31 am.
In the calendar year 2024, the Vancouver Canucks are 44-23-14, tied for sixth in the National Hockey League with a .630 points percentage.
They also won the Pacific Division title and a non-pandemic playoff round last spring for the first time since the 2011 Stanley Cup Final. As their year closes with a road game on New Year’s Eve in Calgary, the Canucks and their fans have much to be thankful for the last 12 months.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!But the Canucks are also the team that, through a variety of lineup challenges in the first half of this season, has failed many nights to play to the standard and identity of last year’s team. At 17-10-8, the Canucks have been able to scrounge points in the standings and maintain a wildcard playoff position despite winning just five of 13 games in December (5-3-5). And they have yet to win consecutive home games this season.
So, as the year closes Tuesday and we look ahead to 2025, we asked general manager Patrik Allvin whether his champagne glass is half-full or half-empty. He talked about the struggle for identity, his top players’ failure so far to be elite, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Rick Tocchet, the possibility of a changing landscape in goal, and waiting to make the right trade to improve, or at least rouse, the team.
With an organization headed by deal-making president Jim Rutherford, almost everything seems to be on the table as the Canucks head into the New Year.
Our interview with Allvin has been edited slightly for clarity and brevity.
Sportsnet: Was 2024 a good year for the Canucks?
Allvin: I don’t think you ever could use the word happy or satisfied. What I do like with this staff is that we are always striving to get better. And I think that’s the hardest thing in this league — to find that consistency and push the players to get better, and value the two points more than the individual points.
Sportsnet: So, glass half-full or half-empty?
Allvin: I think that’s a tricky question. If you take away the standings and the points and just look at the games. . . I think there is a lot of frustration (this season) where we have seen in games that we play really well, but you’ve also seen in the same games, giving it away. So, why is it? Why is it that we can’t find a stretch of consistency? You’re losing points here, which we all know is going to be hard to make up in the second half. So I guess it’s more half-empty.
Sportsnet: Was Saturday’s 5-4 overtime loss to Seattle, in which you blew a three-goal lead in the final five minutes or regulation time, the toughest one so far?
Allvin: Yes, 100 per cent the hardest one. We’re up 4-1 with five minutes to play. Like, why is it? Is it the pressure that hits the players? That’s something that Toc always talks about, meeting pressure with pressure. And I think in those environments, you should thrive, like, ‘Let’s lock down the game here.’
Sportsnet: Tocchet told us recently that with all the challenges the team has faced, missing each of its best players at some point, it has been a weird season, a ‘roller coaster.’ Beyond that, he said it has been hard to explain the team’s inconsistency. What do you think?
Allvin: I think it’s fair to say that you expect your best players to be the difference-makers, and the best players when you need them. And unfortunately, I think we haven’t got the most out of those specific guys. If those guys would have performed to their capability, I think. . . we probably would have won a couple of more games. So it’s hard. Do I expect more from them? Absolutely. I think we’ve been very fortunate up to this point that some of the other players have actually chipped in and helped us out a lot.
Sportsnet: The positive story no one talks about is the contributions from your depth forwards, like 12 goals from Kiefer Sherwood, 17 points from Teddy Blueger, 15 points from Danton Heinen, 11 goals and 19 points from Pius Suter. Are the depth players the main reason you’re not lower in the standings?
Allvin: I definitely think that’s fair. I think those guys that you mentioned have performed well, understanding how we need to play. But you still need a final punch with the top players being there to close out a game.
Sportsnet: Regarding those top players, Quinn Hughes has been fabulous on defence. Goaltender Thatcher Demko and forwards J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser all missed significant time, and then struggled to regain top form. And Filip Hronek is still out. But what about Elias Pettersson, who didn’t miss a game until Saturday?
Allvin: I think, again, it comes back to expectations and preparation, how you prepare yourself. I don’t believe that he was aware of just how hard it was going to be. Just because you achieve one thing to get a long-term extension (the $92.8-million contract Pettersson signed in March). . . life just gets harder. You haven’t really accomplished anything. You’re not even halfway there (to winning a Stanley Cup). And then obviously the mental part comes in there, too, and suddenly you feel the pressure.
Sportsnet: You do have an out on that contract because Pettersson’s trade protection doesn’t start until next season. But is moving your 26-year-old star actually possible?
Allvin (smiling): Well, you know Jim’s history.
We want to build a team that sets us up for long-term success. Building around the long-term deals with Miller and Petey, having Quinn and Demko locked up, Filip Hronek and Jake DeBrusk, I mean, those are big pieces. Petey has shown up to this point that he is an extremely talented, quality player that could and should be a No. 1 centre. I believe in him. I believe that he’s capable. (But) he needs to mature and understand that there are certain expectations and it does not get easier. And you need to face the music when things don’t go well. Is it (a trade) possible? I guess I would say anything is possible.
Sportsnet: What about your coach? How much responsibility does Rick Tocchet bear for the team’s inconsistent first half?
Allvin: I think it goes hand in hand with the players, right? I believe that Rick is a great coach and a great communicator. And I believe that the players have responded really well. But again, I think his job — and I know that he’s working on it every day — is to find solutions to be more consistent. It’s tough. . . if your home record isn’t better. I do know that Rick is well-respected by the players, and I know how hard he works, and I know that he doesn’t shy away from the ownership of not being at the level where he expects the team to be at.
Sportsnet: Is it difficult as a GM to be patient and wait for the right trade when the team is scuffling?
Allvin: From a GM perspective, look at how there are hardly any trades. Even lateral (trades), it’s just hard. So it’s more like: How do you work and fix the players that we have? Do I want to see if I could shake things up and send a message to the players? Sometimes that is what’s needed.
Sportsnet: At this stage last season, you had already acquired Nikita Zadorov, and were closing on the blockbuster for Elias Lindholm. Have you been close so far this season to getting a deal that you want?
Allvin: There’s been some very in-depth conversations around the league. I think the parity of the league makes it harder because a lot of teams probably feel that they’re still in it. Other teams are in the same boat as us. We play tremendous games against Florida and Colorado, and then in between, it’s just like, what happened here? What are we?
Sportsnet: Rutherford recently told Hockey Night in Canada’s Scott Oake that there is a difference of opinion between the two sides over what Brock Boeser is worth on his next contract. With Boeser eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1 and the NHL trade deadline a little more than two months away, is the clock ticking on a decision?
Allvin: I still think there is time. I think those things. . . it could happen quickly. But again, we’re trying to figure out where we are as a team and what we need to be more consistent. I’m happy that Brock is scoring goals here lately. But I would have him in the same boat as Petey and Miller in terms of giving us more when we need more. There is more to give, absolutely.
Sportsnet: Has Kevin Lankinen changed your long-term outlook on Canuck goaltending? Is there a way you can keep both Lankinen and Demko beyond this season?
Allvin: There are ways to afford both if we want to go down that path. I think Kevin has been really good for us up to this point. Obviously, looking at his past career in the National Hockey League, this is the most he has played. It’s a very small sample size of what he is. But no doubt he has been very good for us.
Sportsnet: Besides a Stanley Cup, what do you want to see from your team in 2025?
Allvin: Our identity has been very vague this (season). It hasn’t been a clear path. If you don’t have that, success is not sustainable long term. So what I would say is, I would like to see us playing our style and brand of hockey on a more consistent basis. I don’t like to drive to the game and I don’t know what I’m going to get. We need to play a certain way every night to be successful, and when we do, we’re a good team. I would like to see us find our identity and consistency more. And then everything else will take care of itself.
The Canucks play the Calgary Flames Tuesday night to round out the year. You can listen to the play-by-play on Sportsnet 650 or watch live on Sportsnet+.
