The noise around the Vancouver Canucks continues to increase.
Some confusing power-play deployment has caused a closer examination of the relationship between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. Rick Tocchet took turns playing them on the first unit but wouldn’t use them together.
The reasoning behind Tocchet’s decision is unclear but it’s led to chatter about the relationship between the two players, which hasn’t always been perfect and could be a potential factor.
There’s a history between the two and it’s a situation previous head coaches have had to navigate. Just ask former bench boss Bruce Boudreau.
“The easy [thing] would be to say yes, it is a problem and I knew they had a little bit of a problem between them before I got there but I thought that was all straightened out,” said Boudreau on TSN’s OverDrive.
The two players had seemingly put everything in the past. Last year, the team seemed extremely close as they embarked on one of their most successful campaigns in franchise history.
While there’s no guarantee that’s what’s causing the weird power-play deployment, or even that a rift still exists, it’s the talk of the league right now, as evidenced by Boudreau weighing in. If true, it’s an issue that the Canucks need to find a solution for quickly.
“I’m hoping that it’s not a situation. I haven’t phoned anybody and I don’t want to. People have been asking me to phone and get the nitty-gritty going here. I don’t want to phone and I don’t want to find out whether they’re having a problem with each other because I think they’re both great players.”
“It shouldn’t be happening. I’m one of those guys that wants to dig my head in the sand right now and not know if they hate each other… I like both the guys a lot and I don’t want to see one’s being a real butthead to the other one.”
Both Pettersson and Miller are elite players. With a centre duo like that, the Canucks should strike fear into the other team and be able to ice a top power-play unit. Not having them on the ice together makes them a worse team.
This whole issue could blow over quickly if the Canucks put their regular top unit back together. Until that happens, the noise will stay at an elevated level.