The Canucks have spent much of training camp trying to figure out which young players are ready to take the next step.
That just became a little more difficult.
The NHL has introduced a new preseason rule that limits how many games certain players can play before the regular season begins. The idea is fairly straightforward. The league wants to give younger players and prospects more opportunities instead of allowing established NHLers to dominate preseason lineups.
That sounds good in theory.
For the Canucks, however, it creates an unexpected problem.
Vancouver only has four preseason games to begin with, and certain players can appear in no more than two of them. That means Manny Malhotra and his coaching staff have considerably less time to evaluate some players who are competing for NHL jobs.
The Canucks are trying to establish a foundation under a new coaching staff, while several younger players are trying to force their way onto the roster.
Now they have less runway to figure everything out.
Canucks Have Almost No Time to Evaluate Bubble Players
The new NHL rule defines a preseason “veteran” much more broadly than simply someone with a long NHL career.
Players with at least 100 NHL games qualify, as do players with 400 combined NHL and AHL games. Forwards and defensemen who played at least 30 NHL games last season also qualify. First-round picks from the previous five drafts and second-rounders from the previous three drafts are included as well.
Those players cannot play more than two preseason games.
There is also a requirement that teams dress at least eight veterans in each game.
That combination makes roster management considerably more complicated.
Malhotra acknowledged that the Canucks have been thinking about the issue all summer. He estimated players might have only eight to 10 ice sessions and two games to make their case.
That is not much time.
Aatu Räty is already one example. After playing his second preseason game, he became ineligible for the final two. Other Canucks who had only appeared once through Tuesday included Kevin Lankinen, Tom Willander, Victor Mancini, Arshdeep Bains and Max Sasson.
That matters because preseason games are different from practices.
A player can look excellent in drills and still struggle when the pace increases, the checking gets heavier and mistakes actually cost the team something.
The Canucks now have fewer opportunities to find out who can handle that environment.
And with the regular season beginning September 29, there isn’t much time to make up for it.
Vancouver Could Pay for the Shorter Preseason
The biggest issue for the Canucks may not be the veterans themselves.
It is everything happening underneath them.
Vancouver has openly talked about developing younger players and allowing them to earn opportunities. Malhotra has already said there are young players “knocking on the door” and that playing time will be earned.
That makes every preseason game valuable.
But the new rule effectively forces the Canucks to distribute those games more carefully.
There is a legitimate benefit. Prospects who might otherwise spend most of September watching NHL veterans will receive opportunities. That could accelerate evaluations and give some players a chance to surprise the organization.
The problem is that the Canucks also need to know what they have.
This is not a veteran roster with every position already settled. Vancouver is trying to establish its identity while figuring out which young players belong in the NHL now and which ones need more time.
That becomes harder when some of those players get only two games.
It also puts more pressure on practices, scrimmages and preseason preparation. Malhotra specifically noted that players need to show their attention to detail away from games because there simply isn’t much “runway” before the regular season.
That could make this one of the strangest training camps the Canucks have experienced.
The new rule may ultimately accomplish exactly what the NHL intended by giving younger players more opportunities.
But for Vancouver, it also means the organization has to make important roster decisions with less information than it would normally have.
And if one of those decisions turns out to be wrong, the Canucks won’t have many preseason games left to blame.
Canucks Face Unexpected Problem Because of New NHL Rule