Sam Lafferty skated in his first Canucks practice two days after he was traded from the Maple Leafs.
The last 48 hours have been filled with excitement. The 28-year-old has fielded a flurry of calls congratulating him on the move to Vancouver and the energy continued in his first practice at Rogers Arena.
“It was a good intense practice; I think there’s that anticipation for the home opener tomorrow night. Everyone’s got that extra gear in their step,” Lafferty said.
“Speaking to Patrik Allvin when I got traded, he told me what he’s trying to build here and the culture that he’s trying to build and I’m just really excited for that.”
He felt good about his Training Camp in Toronto and with the work that he put in this offseason, he’s ready to do whatever task he’s assigned in Vancouver. Canucks’ Hockey Operations took stock of his preseason play and felt they needed more speed and physicality in the lineup. Patrik Allvin said the 6'2”, 205-pound Lafferty brings added depth to the lineup and strength to the penalty kill.
“Going through discussions with coaching staff this summer, the options of line combinations, and how we performed early on in preseason I wanted to be a little bit harder to play against, a little bit stiffer with the puck. When Sam became available, we talked and we felt that he’s another guy that can play in different positions in the bottom six and brings that speed, grit, versatility to the team,” Allvin said.
Lafferty came up the ranks of Wilkes-Barre, Scranton Penguins to the Pittsburgh Penguins with Teddy Blueger and Casey DeSmith.
“When the trade happened, I believe Sam reached out to Teddy and was extremely happy to rejoin Teddy and Casey. That should be a pretty good combination,” Allvin said.
The transition to a new team is smoother for Lafferty knowing a few of the players on the team. He spoke highly of the Canucks coaching staff and he’s looking forward to continuing to improve his game under their direction.
Developing consistency in his game over last season has given way for his confidence to grow. He tallied the most points of his four-year NHL career last season. In 70 games between Chicago and Toronto, 51 and 19 respectively, he scored 27 points (12-15-27). He’s done a lot of work to become a force on the PK throughout the years and his success is backed up by his process.
“I think it’s just your reads, some experience, studying film has helped me over the years. A lot of experience and I think skating speed helps a lot to be able to pressure pucks and sometimes turn that into offense,” he said.
Lafferty will get in another rep with his new team during Wednesday morning’s game day skate before the home opener that night.
