We caught up with Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin as we sit at the halfway point of the 2023-24 NHL season.
The Canucks hold a 28-11-3 record and are second in the overall league standings.
What are you most proud of at the halfway point?
“I’m proud of how the coaches have been able to implement the system and structure of how we want to play and how to practice every day. I'm happy to see the level of trust and communication between the coaches and the players. That the players are trusting the system and trust in the way we want to operate. Rick Tocchet and I are process-driven people so for us, it's just not about the wins and losses. It's about doing the right thing and learning how to play the right way every day.”
What is your approach to the trade market with where this team is currently in the standings?
“We are always looking to improve our team. The players will dictate what direction we're going here and if the players are buying in and playing the right way, I'm definitely open to support them and provide them with an opportunity to make a push. We're still only at the halfway point here and we have a lot of things to learn and improve on. We're not satisfied or anything like that. We're just taking it the same, and it sounds boring, but we're taking it as a day-by-day approach and trying to get better every day. That's our mindset.”
How does the pro scouting group play a part at this point in the season with the deadline less than a couple of months away?
“Since I got in here, my message to pro scouts is that they have to be the experts out there. They have got to know their region, they have got to know their teams and then we trust them. It's important that they know the players they have been assigned to and the teams that have been assigned to them. We try to stay ahead of things and just see what's available. If anything makes sense for us we will certainly discuss it.”
You’ve been relatively healthy this season but there’s a lot of good things going on in Abbotsford this season. How do you feel right now if the team did see some injuries and you needed to make some call-ups from Abby?
“I'm very confident based on the reports I get all the time from Ryan Johnson and the staff down there in Abbotsford that several players are in the discussions for a call-up whenever that situation comes up. We're excited to see those guys get a game or more up here. Absolutely.”
Do you think you have some guys on the farm who are ready to be full-time NHLers right now?
“It's hard to say before you get them into an NHL game, but it's definitely a young group down there. I think the third or fourth youngest team in the league. I’ve said this before, our job is not just to get one or two games. Our job is to get them 100+ games. We're excited to see what they can do in the NHL but again, there's no rush for us. We’re really happy with how Jeremy [Colliton] and the entire Abbotsford staff operate and work with the players every day.”
Rick Tocchet has been rotating between defencemen in and out of his lineup lately and at this point in the season, you’ve got a fully healthy defence corps. What does that feel like for a GM?
“We feel good, I think this is the internal competition that we are going to have being a good team. It gives the coaches something to think about how they want to have the matchups and the pairs. Having our defence fully healthy pushes the competition level. That's nothing but a good thing to have.”
What are you seeing from your captain this season?
“Quinn has matured in the first forty games. His 200-foot game has really been impressive. And we saw it last year. It started to trend this way when Adam Foote and Sergei Gonchar came in and started to work with him. I think the trust factor between the coaches and the player just shows that Quinn is capable of being a really good two-way defenceman. The consistency in his game and the way he leads by example has really impressed me up to this point."
What’s your message to fans at the halfway point of the season?
“I can't say enough to thank them for their support. The fans have been showing up every game and I don't think they take anything for granted but it sure means a lot to us. The players love to have that. That support every home game and getting the building loud and then cheering for our team. That means a lot.”
The Canucks now look ahead to the final 40 games of the season.
22 of those 40 games will be on home ice, including a nine-game homestand in March.
There’s a lot to be excited about this season and the feeling around the team is that they still haven’t accomplished anything. Head Coach Rick Tocchet called this next part of the season, “the fun part,” and if the Canucks continue to build and grow Tocchet is bang-on. These next few months could be really fun.
