Canucks in desperate need of a right-shot defence partner for Hughes

With nine days to go before opening night, the Vancouver Canucks have one giant hole in their lineup.

And it’s located right next to Quinn Hughes.

The Canucks captain has been without a partner that instills much confidence throughout training camp, and judging by head coach Rick Tocchet’s comments after practice today, that may be the plan going forward.

Hughes began training camp paired with right-shot defenceman Noah Juulsen before getting a turn with lefty Carson Soucy.

Soucy and Ian Cole were free-agent additions by the Canucks, and most observers assumed that one of them would get paired with Hughes. They’re both left-shot defencemen who have experience playing the right side.

But Tocchet said in Victoria that he prefers to pair lefties and righties together on defence, and that probably helps explain why Cole McWard has been given such a long look with Hughes of late.

That’s a surprise because not many people had McWard making the Canucks’ opening night roster, never mind a top-pairing role. A college free agent signing by the Canucks last April, McWard is 22 years old and has just five games of NHL experience.

Cole has been paired with Filip Hronek throughout camp, while right-shot defenceman Tyler Myers seems destined for the third pair. Myers will play with Soucy if Tocchet stays true to his lefty-righty mantra.

So who does that leave for Hughes? McWard or Juulsen, it seems.

Tocchet told reporters today that it’s going to be a “committee” for defence.

interesting quote today from #Canucks Tocchet on shifting D men around in practice and preseason:
"We're a committee and I want them to get used to it. I don't think we're going to have true partners the whole year so might as well get used to playing with different guys."

— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) October 2, 2023

Will it work? Maybe.

But it’s clearly not ideal.

Best case scenario would involve three left-shot defencemen pairing with three right-shot blueliners before the season starts. Build chemistry, and start gelling.

In order to do that, unless McWard really surprises us, is to find another right-shot defenceman.

Ethan Bear could be an option, but the free agent defenceman is still injured and won’t be available until December. Perhaps the Canucks will find an undervalued blueliner through a trade or waivers, but NHL teams don’t generally give away right-shot defencemen with the ability to play top-pairing minutes.

Hughes’ former partner Chris Tanev would be perfect, and the 33-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent. But would the Flames trade him to a rival? Calgary is gunning for a playoff spot, but GM Craig Conroy has expressed a desire not to lose players for nothing in free agency.

It was only one year ago that Hughes put his hand up to play the right side, but that seems like a long time ago now.

Otherwise, the Canucks could try Myers with Hughes. It’s not ideal given Myers’ penchant for high-risk plays, but perhaps the 33-year-old veteran could embrace a defence-first role.

There’s a lot of wishing and hoping in these options, but that just underlines the problem.

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