BIGGEST LAUGH

Antoine Roussel has been missed.

Maybe not him exactly, but the organizations sure as hell have missed someone like him.

On a Canucks list of questionable, and regrettable, free-agent decisions, Roussel was always among the most defensible.

With a hint of Alex Burrows regularly twinkling from him, he has energy that can give the Canucks both attitude and passion.

Yes, he gets called for penalties, like Burrows did, and by that I mean often unfairly.

But he is among the best players in the league at drawing them, and with 16 of those he ranks ninth in the NHL, tied with Elias Pettersson.

If you’re wondering, and I know you are, Connor McDavid has 12.

Roussel is often a lifeblood for this group, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that Travis Green went up to him at the start of the third and asked him for a temperature read of his squad.

The conversation followed an intermission where the coach acknowledged he didn’t know whether to yell at his guys or feel sorry for them because they were that bad against a terrible collection of Red Wings.

Roussel assured Green he had nothing to worry about. He was right.

But it was some ride getting there.

Roussel would go on to get the game-winning goal, but only after he missed a chance on a breakaway.

For that, the Wings let him have it. The Canucks listened as Detroit openly mocked Roussel. They laughed at his attempt, which they called “a muffin.” They told him he had pathetically blown his chance at winning the game.

It wouldn’t be The Athletties if we didn’t have some of this in a GIF.

Tyler Bertuzzi and Andreas Athanasiou made sure Roussel knew how funny they thought it was just after his breakaway miss.

I’m pretty sure at this point Roussel wanted to slash their knees off.

He showed his restraint first and got the last laugh later.

And when he tipped in the winner, he let Detroit have it with his over-the-top celly.

From what I heard, the Wings weren’t too pleased with that one.

But, hey, the Canucks essentially let them skate around for two periods like Detroit was icing a team with Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg in their prime. If the Wings still couldn’t win this game, and they didn’t, they have serious problems.

And they do.

BEST PLAY

This play wasn’t designed to be devious. It just looks that way.

Frans Nielsen came for Jake Virtanen, but it was JV18 who sent the Wings centre for a waterski tour of his crease.

Virtanen bullied Nielsen into the ice with a cross-check, after getting one first. Nielsen never recovered and had a better chance of locating a Pettersson jersey in the stands than finding the puck and Roussel.

VIRTANEN: “He gave me the first cross-check and I gave him one back to let him know I was there.

“And then we scored. It was a nice ending for that sequence.

“It definitely helped that goal. And it gave me extra time and space so it was nice to see.”

BEST QUOTE

This Roussel quote is something else.

ROUSSEL: “If we win the next couple of games, we maybe show we are in the chase to be buyers (at the deadline).

“We might need another winger. We might need another D. Or some depth.

“I’m excited for that.”

You may be.

I’m not sure, however, that this market is equipped to handle a take like this.

BEST RETURN

Let’s see, Pettersson scored a goal on a beautiful tip, added an assist, nearly scored on a wraparound, energized the Canucks’ power play and was third on the team in controlling shot attempts (46.88 differential) in what was a pretty brutal game despite the win.

Pettersson may not have had it, but he had enough magic to produce two points and seven shot attempts, and he didn’t even get to 16 minutes in ice time.

“It’s huge, and to understand how huge just look at our power play with him,” Roussel said.

“It reminds me of Chicago. You take Patrick Kane off and they don’t have that same creativity.

“For us, having him back it makes everything for the other team tougher. It makes it tougher for them to match up against us.

“It is pretty exciting, but we still have to find our identity.”

EP’s tip was “The Eye” play the Canucks have been working on in practice for some time.

It was designed to be one of the plays to help improve an offence that has scored the fewest goals in the NHL in the three seasons leading up to this one.

GREEN: “It feels like there was so much talk at the start of the year about us not being able to score.

“We’ve gone to work on that (tip play). To see them get rewarded, that’s part of it.

“You try to install certain things on your team. If it doesn’t pay off, then it’s not as effective.

“It was good tonight for sure.”

The tip was great. The fist bump that followed it was even better.

Hard not to like this:

BEST DEFENCE

Why do players respect Pettersson so much?

Because he lays out like this in the slot:

He also defends net front better than most of their defencemen.

BEST IMAGERY

Hard to beat Bo Horvat spitting blood after a game in which he had six shots on net, scoring a goal.

Since the start of November, Horvat has averaged 21:34 a game, which is 11th among NHL forwards.

Call him Bull. Call him captain. He’s been a warrior.

But have the minutes been too much?

It’s possible.

GREEN: “I was worried we were running him hot for a while there, and it may have had an effect on him.

“His minutes have been cut back here lately.

“What was it? Nineteen tonight? (18:24).

“(Being healthy) will allow us to not play him so many minutes.

“We ran him so hard there for a while, it may have had an effect.

“But as coaches, sometimes you think now and react later and see how it goes.”

BEST COACHING

I know people are worked up about the Nikolay Goldobin scratches, and I have a lot of time for them even if his numbers with Horvat are beyond awful this season.

Are there players still in the lineup whom Goldy is better than?

Uh, yes. There sure are.

Does it appear — sometimes — that there are different rules for him?

It can feel that way.

Like these times:

@botchford How many games would Goldy have to sit if he just did what Motte did at the blue line. Wonder how many Motte will sit. — DM37 (@dmacgreg37) January 20, 2019

I’m no expert on what gets Goldy scratched, but it seems like this would be the type of play that would make Green’s list if it were him.

We’ll see how Green handles all of this moving forward because the Canucks keep telling people they haven’t given up on Goldobin.

But with this regime, it’s usually the healthy scratches they try to move on from.

I do think Green has proven adaptable. The past two games, he’s got Gudbraonson down to the 14-minute range.

He’s been playing him like a No. 6, and I promise you there are still general managers who think he can be the difference between living and dying, so the chance is there to, in short, do this thing that needs to be done.

Plus, needing offence, Green also put together a Brock Boeser, Horvat and Pettersson line, and I’m here for that.

BEST POLL

Better weapon? — Jason Botchford (@botchford) January 20, 2019

BIGGEST DILEMMA

Man. I don’t want the Canucks to win, but I don’t Iike when we lose either 😕

What a life. — Aarowneeus (@AaronDengis) January 20, 2019

BEST WAIT WHAT?

Wait … this is legit looking like the game plan now lol — Warren Hales (@warrenhales) January 20, 2019

BIGGEST SHOWDOWN

Yes, that’s right, Svech is coming to town.

@botchford I bet you and everyone else is already preparing for the huge rookie battle on Wednesday! #Svech #EP40 #calderrace — Russ Bullock (@russ_bullock) January 21, 2019

HOTTEST TAKE 1.0

It certainly is bold.

Pettersson has 23 goals in 39 games.

Kotkaniemi has six in 50.

HOTTEST TAKE 2.0

If he saw play and minutes with either 91 or 86 he’d be giving Elias Peterson a strong challenge for Calder Trophy — Dan Herrejon (@DanHerrejon) January 20, 2019

He’s talking about Tampa’s Mathieu Joseph.

Guy, you cover Tampa. The team is incredible.

Do you have to have everything?

Joseph has 17 points in 41 games.

Or the same as Ben Hutton.

Pettersson has 44 in 39.

HOTTEST TAKE 3.0

Elias Pettersson will win more Hart Trophies than Connor McDavid. @botchford — Chris Conte (@ChrisConte79) January 20, 2019

Someone needs to drop this one on Boat Capn’s show.

BEST NEVER FORGET

Kelly Hrudey laughed when the idea was presented Pettersson was having a season worthy of Hart consideration.

He said, “maybe in three years.”

You sure it’s going to take that long?

BIGGEST WTF

⁦@botchford⁩ this dude lost a bet 4 sure!! pic.twitter.com/3XMgw1M8wz — Chad Hedrick (@AgassizChad) January 20, 2019

BEST BILL TO BE POSTED

BEST COMPARISON

Rasmussen, 19, is 6-foot-6, 221 pounds, but just 13 points — Harman Dayal (@harmandayal2) January 20, 2019

BEST EL-OH-EL

BEST FIND

@botchford @TheStanchion Guddy jersey on ferry over from Vic. Wonder what more regretful, this guy buying the jersey or Bennning giving Guddy 3x$4M? #obscurejersey pic.twitter.com/SzeQX0AjAr — Brendan Cliff (@CliffBrendan) January 20, 2019

BEST IDEA

@botchford oh man. Add a zero and call him Petey pic.twitter.com/aJsYAP4zYw — Mw (@Canucks_Wilson) January 20, 2019

BEST QUESTION

Zack MacEwen is 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds.

He is scoring in the AHL at a 0.36-goals-per-game rate.

He is big, has improved skating and is able to do things like this:

As Comets Cory pointed out, “It’s not even just the goal, though it’s a nice snipe.

“It’s the awareness to jump in that outlet pass and the confidence to just dance in like that.

“He is right on the cusp. They have been feeding him a lot more PK time in his last half dozen or so games. He’s a regular on the PK now, and that’s something they did with Goldy last year right before they brought him up.”

He has the potential, if any of this is transferable, to be exactly the type of player the Canucks need.

How long will they really wait to find out?

BEST COUNTER-ARGUMENT

I’m still a big fan of The Province even when they refuse to say my name out loud when bringing me up on their podcasts.

I’m a fan of their sports department, notably Ed.

But I can’t help but feel the need to respond to this one:

It includes this:

This is a fairly common conclusion reached by many Hockey Men.

At its core is this thought: “There are no guarantees with getting high picks. Nothing is absolutely certain. Therefore, everything is equal.”

If building through the draft is the only real way to get a contender, and it is, what exactly is the alternative to high draft picks?

If high picks don’t work, what does?

Low draft picks?

You don’t really see this in other sports.

People don’t say, “Look at the Cleveland Browns, high picks didn’t work for them. It’s a cautionary tale.”

No. They say, “Look at the Cleveland Browns. They were dumb. Don’t be dumb.”

As someone said to me about this Sabres take:

“This is literally the anti-vaccination argument.

“Don’t need to vaccinate our kids because there’s some kid out there who still got sick.”

The answer to any rebuilding question can’t be “high picks don’t work.”

Decades of evidence that show definitively in all sports better players are taken earlier in drafts.

There’s just no getting around this fact.

So instead of looking at where the Sabres picked, why not look at their scouting?

Why not focus on why they missed and why they whiffed?

Maybe get better scouts? A better tracking and data system? Stop using Stathletes? (OK, that last one is only a joke, Meghan.)

I find all of it troubling in Vancouver because where the Canucks sit now and how they look going forward has been re-shaped by one Elias Pettersson.

He is an elite player. Full stop. The Canucks got him by tanking. Full stop.

In the 2017 season, the Canucks traded veterans and they shut down veterans who would have played if the team was any good. They added kids. They let Willie Desjardins do whatever he wanted, including playing the shit out of Chaput and Megna, and he did that when they needed goals and no one cared.

The team tanked. There was literally nothing more they could have done to be worse. They were the worst team in hockey. They went 4-14-2 after the deadline and finished the season with eight consecutive losses.

They finished with 69 points. Two teams ahead of them had 70. There was also Vegas in the mix. One more win and they could have dropped two spots.

They had the second-worst record in hockey.

What do people say?

You need high picks, and you need luck, too.

It’s well known by now the Canucks would not have taken the so-called big two at the 2017 draft because the Canucks admitted it.

Linden said canucks wouldn't have picked Hischier or Patrick 1st OA had they won the lottery #wow — RD (@BuckFoston_) August 25, 2017

There is one player who they may have taken ahead of Pettersson, and it’s Makar.

But the draft fell their way. They lost the lottery and still had a top-five pick.

Everyone says you need to bad and lucky. They were both. It was a tanker’s dream come true.

Without Pettersson, the rebuild is dead in the water, over before it really started.

He is that kind of difference-maker.

Without him, I could easily see the Canucks getting to the point where they’d have to consider trading Horvat to re-start things.

Interestingly, Blashill was asked yesterday about the stage the Wings are in during this rebuild cycle and he said this:

“I think the biggest thing is, to be a team that’s in the playoffs, you have to have elite players.

“Can some of our young guys become elite?

“The quicker they can become elite, the quicker we’re back in the mix.

“I think a guy like Dylan Larkin on a night-by-night basis is an elite player.

“I think on the Canucks, Boeser and Pettersson, I would say the same thing.

“You probably have to get to three (elite players) to be a playoff team.

“You probably have to get to four or five to be a real Stanley Cup contender.”

I’m not going to go through every team, but look at the one at the top.

Tampa has Stamkos, Point, Kucherov and Hedman as elite players and then maybe five or six players at the Horvat level.

I’m not sure where Boeser would slot in on that team, but you can debate whether he’d be included as elite or not.

The Canucks do have Quinn Hughes, and he has the potential to be elite.

BEST HOPE

Quinn Hughes is Vancouver’s next big thing.

Watching reviews come in after his performance at the World Junior Championship was like watching Chayka try to rebuild the Coyotes.

It was all over the planet.

Some told me he was too small. Some told me him he was going to be a turnover machine in the NHL and would take years to develop. Others, however, gushed about his skating and controlled transition game.

To them, he is ideal for the modern NHL and a style the Canucks’ woeful defence could use, a point that was really brought home by a report that the Canucks thought about trying to sign him this month after the WJC.

If he were to play 11 games for Vancouver this year, he becomes a player the Canucks need to protect in the next expansion draft. So for them, consideration that it could be worth it to risk that and sign him now says everything about where the Canucks stand and what they think of both Hughes and their current defence.

The size thing is fascinating because we just went through this with Pettersson and the hive mind concluded not that long ago that he would be too small to play centre in the Pacific Division.

(It brings the lulz now.)

I asked Stecher what he thought about this and what he would tell Hughes.

“I would tell him not to engage in battles,” Stecher said. “At the end of the day, he’s not going to out-muscle a lot of guys, so there’s not much point to confrontation.

“Using his stick to take away time and space, or pushing players into an area you know you’re going to have more success is something that you definitely learn about quickly in this league.

“In college and in juniors, the higher-end players can do things that you won’t get away with at this level.

“Positional defence is something I’ve learned a lot about since I got to the NHL, and I think my numbers have started to reflect that.”

Stecher said Hughes can learn from trial and error but also from watching other undersized NHL defencemen.

“I watched Spurgeon a lot in Minnesota. He and I do defend differently on the boards and in open ice.

“But net front, I’ve taken a lot of his tendencies.

“It’s the same thing I was telling you, and this may sound counter-productive, but you let the guy get set and then when the puck comes, they’re so focused on tipping it they forget about their ground.

“That’s when you can get leverage and move them.

“It’s little details like that you can pick up on.”

As an aside, there’s honestly not much better in this line of work than talking hockey with Stecher. What a great sounding board he’s going to be for Hughes.

Whatever the Canucks do, they cannot trade this guy.

Beacher has spent a lot of time watching Hughes play and this is his take:

BEACHER: “There is risk and reward to a player like Quinn Hughes.

“Sometimes, he is going to do too much or force something and cause a turnover that looks really bad.

“On the flip side, he is a player that will make 10 great plays throughout the course of the game but we’ll all remember that bad turnover that cost the game.

“Look no further than the game against Sweden at the World Juniors — he makes a subtle play that creates so much space for his forward, he threads a perfect pass and Cates hits the side of the net.

“But a few moments later, he is stripped of the puck in his zone on a retrieval and Sweden scores.

“It’s going to be a delicate balance through his development that will need to limit those turnovers but still allowing him to do what he does so positively.

“The high-end upside to be a dynamic power-play quarterback is there but there will be risk every time he does his rushes.

“When he is on his game — he is ridiculous. (The game at LEC vs. Czech as an example.)

“To suggest that he is a turnover machine is too extreme simply because the turnovers look bad and you’ll remember them and it’s not fair to expect him to come in and make a major impact in all situations right away.

“But Hughes is exactly what the Canucks so desperately need and what the NHL is all about, so you can’t smash that creativity out of his game.”

Preach.

(Top photo of Antoine Roussel celebrating his winner: Anne-Marie Sorvin / USA Today)