Vancouver Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford, General Manager Patrik Allvin, and Head Coach Rick Tocchet met with the media on Wednesday evening ahead of day one of training camp for the 2024-25 season.
We will dive into what was said and get you all set for this upcoming week.
Let’s begin with the coach.
Rick Tocchet
Tocchet discussed his excitement level for this time of the year with the season just on the horizon.
“This time of year, you're really excited,” said Tocchet about training camp. “I think the last 10 days are probably the hardest for coaches or players because you're anxious, you still have 10 days. But just getting the coaches together the last two, three weeks, periodically, talking to some of the players, I know they're excited.”
He added that the coaching staff has themes for every day and that he and his staff are excited about implementing those themes over the coming days.
Tocchet then spoke about higher expectations and how his group can build on what they accomplished last season.
“We made strides. And I commend the players,” said Tocchet. “We asked them to do some things, and I thought they passed the grade. Now, to get to the next plateau, the higher expectations, it's going to be hard. We know that. So that's the next level. It starts day one tomorrow. My thing is don't waste a rep out there. Let's make sure that we make each other accountable like we did last year.”
Tocchet spoke about the players' understanding of the learning process and how that will help them this season. He also mentioned that it’s not going to be a cakewalk because of the success last season.
“It's going to be harder, and it's not going to be easier. So, you might as well condition your mind right now. It's going to be hard,” Tocchet said.
The coach spoke about the focus of his group at this year’s training camp.
“It's important to grow myself as a coach, and the players, like I said [in the] last half of [last] year, I didn't have to say half the stuff, they were saying it. We talked about our pillars and staples, that's our foundation, but we'll never get away from that. But I think especially the first two days of camp, I really want to stress a transition game. A lot of regroups, a lot of odd-man rushes. Just a lot of speed. I’d like to really put that into place,” said Tocchet.
“When you want to play a certain way, it's got to be almost like you eat, sleep, and drink it every night, and that's the way we have to approach this training camp, so guys are ready to go, where we're going to play a lot faster.”
Tocchet wants to see his leaders be the ones who set the tempo at camp and as he previously mentioned, he wants to see them play faster, even on day one of training camp.
“I really want to see our leaders, especially from the first drill, takeover and start the pace. I think last year, they did a pretty good job, but I think there's another level there. So, I need them to do that, because we spent a lot of time as coaches with these different types of drills. The reason why we're doing these drills is to make our team better. I talked to some of the veterans, [and said] ‘Hey, I need you to be ready from the first drill.’”
Tocchet also spoke about how he was impressed with Vilmer Alriksson’s improvement from last year to this past Young Stars tournament. He mentioned Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Elias Pettersson (D-Petey) as players whom he liked in the Young Stars but wants to see what they can do in the pro camp with NHL players around them.
He talked about not reading too much into his lines from training camp but did shoutout the J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser duo as a pairing that has great chemistry together and he later mentioned that he wants to see what Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson look like together.
“Nothing is set in stone,” said Tocchet. “I think it's important that you have different puzzles at different times. I wouldn't read too much into the lines off the start.”
Jim Rutherford
Rutherford talked about his expectations for the 2024-25 season.
“I'll say the same thing [as last year]. Everything has to go right. It's like Tocc pointed out, the challenges will be greater, certainly, but I believe that the team that we started with last year, that we have just as good a team that the start of the season this year as we did last year, and probably better,” said Rutherford.
“Now that's not saying a whole lot, because we have to get to that step at the trade deadline and prepare for playoffs and be a good enough team to contend. So, we'll see where this team is as we go along during the season. We get into January, and February, and make those decisions to what adjustments have to be made, but as long as the team builds off of what they did last year, stick to what the coach is telling them, stick to the system through good times and bad times, this team has a chance to do pretty well.”
Rutherford was asked about Elias Pettersson, and he spoke about being impressed by the conversations the president had with his star centre over the summer.
“I'm really impressed with how he's come back in the offseason. He seems to be a guy that's more relaxed and more comfortable. And for obvious reasons, last year, whether players say they think about their contracts or not, deep down, they do. Everybody does, okay? And this is a guy that I believe worked really hard this summer. He's done everything he can to play as a top-line player. And everybody here has seen him play, we all know how good he is. So, the expectation for him is to be one of the top players on our team."
Patrik Allvin
Allvin began with a statement about players who will not be attending day one of training camp due to injuries.
He said that Teddy Blueger and Cole McWard had minor surgeries on their lower bodies. Blueger is expected to miss one week while McWard was ruled out as week-to-week.
Dakota Joshua will not be in attendance due to his recovery from doctors successfully removing a cancerous tumour.
Thatcher Demko will not be in attendance for day one of camp, but he will speak to the media on Thursday to address his current health situation.
Allvin spoke about the young players coming in and making this camp competitive.
“As Tocc said, with the amount of depth and young players that performed well here [at Young Stars], I'm as excited as him to see those guys and how it translates here to being with the bigger teams and better players with better structure, and I think that's why we have training camp here; to see our depth players [and] our young players, taking the steps, [and] making decisions hard for Rick and his coaching staff and for myself,” said Allvin.
He continued by talking about the depth of the organization, how it has improved in the past year, and if he is looking to improve his roster to address any weaknesses.
“I believe that sitting here today, we definitely have more depth in the overall part of the organization. I am very pleased with the coaching staff, and Rick has mentioned the teachers that will make our players get better. And I think that was a big thing last year, where the players trusted the coaches and allowed themselves to be coached, and we became a team, and that's where you have success. So, I think my job is always to keep my ears open and see what's available and if it makes sense, but not as of now in any particular area.”
Day one of training camp begins on Thursday, September 19th with ice time from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Day two is Friday, September 20th with the same ice time.
Day three is Saturday, September 21st with the same 9:30-1:30 ice time.
Sunday, September 22nd will see the doors to the arena open at 9:00 am and the scrimmage scheduled for noon. The scrimmage will be live-streamed on Canucks.com.
