Canucks have bigger issues than depleted defence

The Vancouver Canucks are 0-3 to start the season and their injury-hit defence has conceded an alarming 14 goals. Should head coach Bruce Boudreau be worried about this job and should Vancouver already be worried for the season ahead?

Video Transcript

SAM CHANG: I was actually going to say earlier-- we were talking about how I'm the only person on this show that Julian hasn't met in person, and--

JULIAN MCKENZIE: Yes.

SAM CHANG: --how he's going to come meet me and Baby Zone Time. And Omar thought he was going to say meet Bruce Boudreau. And when you said that, I actually was going to say, if he wants to meet Bruce Boudreau, he should probably come sooner rather than later, the way things are going.

[LAUGHTER]

And Bruce, sorry, that's not a knock against Bruce Boudreau. I actually think he did an incredible job the last half of the season last year with the team he's been given. And I think, if it were up to the fans, he's incredibly popular. Like, he is a coach who has the right sense of humor and right temperament for a market like Vancouver.

And so in some ways, I think that helps a lot. I think the obvious issue is he was hired before they hired Rutherford or Alvin, and he is not the president or the GM's coach. And so that's the easiest guy to jettison when you're not doing well.

That being said, the players obviously like him. They all spoke super highly of him last year. And I'm not sure, looking at this roster, that a different coach would have done better. Like, their issue right now isn't the systems. It's not the coaching. It's that JT Miller has been on the ice for all eight goals against in both games.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: I saw that.

SAM CHANG: He himself has conceded that his defensive game has been trash. Their special teams have been atrocious, although I think there's nothing really to worry about on the power play. That'll shake itself out over 82 games. But the biggest issue is they have no defensemen.

Like, Jim Rutherford started the season with a quote that is going to stick around forever, which was, this defense is quote, certainly adequate if healthy. We are two games in.

JULIAN MCKENZIE: What?

SAM CHANG: Yeah, he said this is a blue line that is, quote, certainly adequate if healthy.

- I love when GMs are honest.

[LAUGHTER]

AVRY LEWIS-MCDOUGALL: That is so blunt.

- That's exactly what you want to hear about your defense core.

SAM CHANG: And we're two games in. They don't have Tyler Myers. They don't have Travis Dermott. Tucker Poolman is now out. So you're down to Quinn Hughes, OEL, Luke Schenn, and-- I mean, it-- it's kind of like-- I'm kind of on the fence about it because it's like, OK, yeah, you lost those three guys. And if they're healthy, they're serviceable.

And it is bad that you're down to three regular defensemen, but also if your team's success is dependent on Tucker Poolman, Travis Dermott, and Tyler Myers, there are bigger issues here than the coach. [LAUGHS]