[Canucks on Twitter] “You’ve got to spread the minutes and having a guy like him come in here, he’s going to take a piece of the pie. Then Quinn and Hronek will be fresher.” 🗣 Coach Tocchet speaks on how Zadorov can help the team, the lineup combinations last night, the penalty kill, and more.
by 21marvel1
8 Comments
Yup, good point.
Also, I wonder what pie Tocchet likes 🤔
Yea that kinda matches what I was thinking and saying. Zadorov is a huge upgrade on Friedman but most NHL players would be. The extra benefit is everyone else has been playing too much as well so having Cole Hronek Myers and Hughes all get to take a bit of a load off means you likely get a bit more out of every pair. Really looked the last few games like Cole was burning out a bit.
The team REALLY felt the loss of Soucy.
Is Zad a legit top 4 or more of a bottom pairing guy who can play up if injuries happen? What’s the best role for him?
What’s the timeline on soucy return
Unpopular opinion but I believe he’ll blossom into a #3 and at worst a solid #4. Don’t consider him a bottom 6 guy. It’s amazing what happens when a stable of top-tier defensive coaches work with you and you play a structured system under Tocchet.
This is why the 2010/2011 Canucks were so fucking good. Their D was so stacked with NHL caliber players that when one went down it didn’t seem like an emergency. We had Alberts, Ballard, Bieksa, Edler, Ehrhoff, Hamhuis, Rome, Salo, and Tanev.
Hughes – Hronek
Soucy – Bear
Zadorov – Myers
Let’s hope Allvin can cook up something along those lines, as it makes perfect sense purely from a LHD – RHD pairing perspective. I guess Friedman works in place of Myers should salary cap flexibility be needed to fit in Bear.
Add: Cole will fit in as #7 to provide solid depth for a deep run.