Vigneault enhances the Canucks’ future
No matter how this series turns out, and no matter what the coaching situation may end up becoming after the playoffs have evolved, you have to hand it to coach Alain Vigneault.
He has prepared for these playoffs as professionally as ever, paying little heed to all the speculation surrounding his future.
Adjustments aside, the play of Jonathan Quick and the no-show by several Canucks players, most notably Alex Edler, is mostly out of his control. However, even while the pressure mounts, he still works with an eye to development for the team’s future.
Kassian was never supposed to be an instant offensive force like Hodgson
Zack Kassian was traded for not as a salve for this year alone, but as an ongoing project, both short and long term.
For those in some corners still howling for Cody Hodgson’s loss, you need to realize he would not have been a difference maker in these playoffs against such a physical team as the LA Kings.
Coho was a +8 when he left the Canucks and ended up posting a season ending +1 mark, registering a -7 score with the Buffalo Sabres even as they made a late, strong push for the playoffs.
Kassian has been no better or worse than the other fourth liners such as Byron Bitz (suspended) or Dale Weise.
He is playing under 5 minutes a game, but the advantages he is gaining from this exposure to the intensity of the playoffs, and the exposure to the spotlight that it brings, will help pay off in the long term for his maturation as a future impact player.
It has been a wise move on AV’s part to provide this type of education.
The burly forward will benefit from it as will the team years from now.
Experience is everything in the NHL, and provided the promise that GM Mike Gillis sees in Kassian is real, it will aid him in developing a growing role with the Canucks.
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