When it comes to sports, there's only one surefire way to silence rumours and speculation: just win, baby.
There has been all kinds of smoke surrounding the Vancouver Canucks this season and it's unclear how much of it is being caused by real fires and how much is being spewed out by the machinery in Rogers Arena's ancient refrigeration system as it struggles to try to keep the ice cold.
There are rumours of rifts in the room, complaints about coaching, said coach calling out the players for not being "emotionally invested," and even Elias Pettersson trade proposals being lobbed like an incendiary grenade into the tinderbox that is the Canucks fanbase. It's a lot.
Let's keep in mind that the Canucks are 15-9-5 for the season, a 60.3% points percentage that still has them comfortably in the hunt for a top-two spot in the Pacific Division and home-ice advantage in the playoffs. Also, they only just played their first game of the season with all four members of their core — Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, J.T. Miller, and Thatcher Demko — in the lineup.
With that in mind, the hand-wringing and pool-flipping all seem a little bit over the top. The Canucks have had to navigate some pretty difficult obstacles to start the season and they've done pretty well under the circumstances.
Don't get me wrong, the Canucks clearly have some significant problems, as illustrated by their inconsistency, going from arguably their best game of the season on Thursday to arguably their worst on Saturday. To me, however, the biggest cause of that inconsistency — and the root of so many of their other problems — is that outside of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek, their defence corps is dire and desperately in need of an upgrade.
There's an argument to be made that Quinn Hughes is the best player in the NHL right now but the Canucks are relying so heavily on him that they're going to grind him into dust before the end of the season. And when Hughes isn't on the ice, the Canucks look like a team that belongs in the basement of the NHL. Until the defence is fixed, it's impossible to accurately identify the other issues with the team. To whit, there's only so much the forwards can do if their defence can't get them the puck.
But even that storyline could be extinguished by the Canucks winning. The biggest reason these rumours and storylines persist is that the Canucks are 5-7-4 on home ice, where the fans are paying big money to see their favourite team fall flat on their faces. The negativity outside and inside the room tends to disappear when you win.
Of course, winning won't be easy on Monday night when the best player in the NHL will face the consensus Norris Trophy pick, as Quinn Hughes' Vancouver Canucks take on Cale Makar's Colorado Avalanche.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
After the team's ugly performance on Saturday night, head coach Rick Tocchet made some adjustments to the lineup.
Here are the Canucks' projected lines:
Conor Garland was bumped up to a line with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser on Saturday and that move will stick.
Max Sasson, who has impressed in his call-up from the Abbotsford Canucks, will get a chance to play with Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk. That's a pretty significant promotion for Sasson, who has played primarily on the fourth line, but Sasson has 5 points in 10 games in a fourth-line role, so giving him a chance to play up the lineup isn't too surprising.
That means Kiefer Sherwood will return to the third line with Pius Suter and Danton Heinen, while Nils Höglander will move to the fourth line with Dakota Joshua and Teddy Blueger.
The defence also sees a shakeup, as Quinn Hughes is expected to play with Noah Juulsen. That's a pairing that saw some success a couple of seasons ago, with Juulsen playing a simple stay-at-home role behind the swashbuckling Hughes.
Carson Soucy and Tyler Myers will reunite on the second pairing, while Vincent Desharnais will return to the lineup on the third pairing with Erik Brännström.
The Canucks' starting goaltender will be Thatcher Demko, with Arturs Silovs expected to backup as Kevin Lankinen continues to recover from the flu.
Colorado Avalanche projected lines
The Avalanche are one point ahead of the Canucks but have played three more games, meaning they're a little ways back by points percentage. That's largely because they've been undone by goaltending, an issue they believe they've rectified.
Nathan MacKinnon leads the Avalanche in scoring with 50 points in 32 games, with Mikko Rantanen leading the way in goals with 18. Makar still leads all NHL defencemen in scoring but he's only three points ahead of Hughes with 37 points in 32 games.
Artturi Lehkonen - Nathan MacKinnon - Mikko Rantanen
Ross Colton - Casey Mittelstadt - Valeri Nichushkin
Joel Kiviranta - Parker Kelly - Logan O’Connor
Tye Felhaber - Ivan Ivan - Chris Wagner
Devon Toews - Cale Makar
Samuel Girard - Sam Malinski
Calvin de Haan - Keaton Middleton
Mackenzie Blackwood
Scott Wedgewood
Tye Felhaber, recently signed out of the Avalanche's AHL affiliate, will make his NHL debut on the fourth line.
The Avalanche's starting goaltender will be Mackenzie Blackwood, who the Avalanche acquired a week ago in a trade with the San Jose Sharks. Blackwood made 37 saves on 39 shots to beat the Nashville Predators in his first start with the Avalanche.
