The bumpy preseason dwindles the start of the Canucks’ high-stakes campaign

VANCOUVER — The second biggest change for the Vancouver Canucks this summer was a complete renovation of their facility beneath Rogers Arena.

The organization has spent millions renovating the dressing rooms, building a new lounge, medical room and gym for players, and expanding the coaching and staff offices. Not much space was available in the arena’s compact footprint, but at least the media workroom was cheap and easy to claim and repurpose. Like, who’s gonna complain?

Unfortunately, the impressive construction project is not quite finished yet, so that nobody has seen the finished product. The same applies to the ice hockey team.

The Canucks’ preseason ended Friday with a win and a trade. But after seven National Hockey League exhibition games and a 2-3-2 record, we still haven’t seen the new-and-improved Canucks.

Their big summer spends on Russian free agents Ilya Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko should greatly improve Vancouver’s top-nine forwards, bringing more speed, skill and goal depth to the team.

But on the third day of training camp two weeks ago, reigning first-line player Brock Boeser mysteriously injured his hand, necessitating minor surgery that forced him to miss all preparation. And the next day, in the Canucks’ first draft game, Mikheyev suffered a lower-body injury in a hit against the Calgary Flames. He hasn’t played since then.

The good news is that coach Bruce Boudreau said Friday morning that both wingers will travel with the team to Edmonton for next Wednesday’s season opener against the Oilers, though they may not play until later in the challenging five-game road trip that at least dealers allows time to finish their work at the Canucks headquarters.

Those early injuries, however, dampened much of the excitement the Canucks brought to training camp after finishing last season 32-15-10 under Boudreau. They also set a discouraging precedent when Boeser and Mikheyev were followed to the infirmary by defensemen Travis Dermott (concussion) and Tyler Myers (undisclosed), who will miss the first two to four weeks of the regular season, Boudreau said.

In Friday’s 4-0 win over the deeply dismal-looking Arizona Coyotes, who managed just seven shots in 60 minutes against Canucks starter Thatcher Demko, top-six Vancouver winger Conor Garland left the game injured after he Dauphin had been hit by Laurent in the second half.

This comes shortly after the Canucks announced on Twitter that they were dropping bottom-six forward Jason Dickinson and his $2.65 million salary and a second-round pick in exchange for budget-friendly defenseman Riley Stillman from the Chicago Blackhawks fired.

The transaction will save the Canucks $1.3 million in cap space this season and next. It also gives the team experienced depth and strength on defense – which will likely come into play next week due to Dermott and Myers’ absences.

“We see him as a defender of the third pairing,” Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin told reporters on the second break. “Character type, difficult to play. He will help us with our depth.

“Dermott and Myers are out here, hopefully week to week, or in Myers’ case, two to four weeks. But we are examining all options to make our team better in depth. Having a guy like Riley Stillman come in here helps us play a little harder and also get a younger defender.”

Stillman, 24, has spent most of the past three years in the NHL, having started his career in 2016 as the fourth-round draft pick for the Florida Panthers. Last season at Chicago in 52 games, he had 12 points and 36 penalty minutes, averaging a 15:04 ice time, and managing just a 39.2 percent shot percentage for the poor Blackhawks.

Stillman’s salary of $1.35 million is barely half what Dickinson is entitled to.

When asked about the cap savings and the cost of doing business (the second-round election), Allvin said, “It’s part of the league. And if you’re working in LTIR like we’re doing right now, you’ll want to make sure you have flexibility moving forward here. (saving capacity space) was part of it, but we were also happy to get Riley back.

“It’s something me and my staff always talk about — the value of cash, the value of picks and you see across the league what it costs in today’s cap world.”

The savings at Dickinson give the Canucks enough flexibility to add another player before Wednesday if Allvin finds an upgrade.

“We’ll see,” he said. “We’ve got a few more days here to keep you busy.”

Stillman will get a chance with the Canucks. Swedish rookie Nils Aman could do the same.

With the trade from Dickenson, who bombed in his only season with the Canucks and had just five goals and 11 points in 62 games in what he called a “garbage” season last year, Aman, 22, or Minor- League Sheldon Dries out Likely to start the season as the center of the fourth line alongside newcomers Curtis Lazar and Dakota Joshua.

It was a disappointing preseason for many potential Canucks, but Aman and fellow countryman Linus Karlsson, both signed by Allvin last spring, have done well and survived with the NHL squad through Friday’s preseason finals.

On defense, top pick Jack Rathbone has been solid and should start the season on the Canucks’ roster, although his waiver status could make him a chip Allvin plays to meet the team cap by Monday’s deadline.

Other NHL depth players like defenseman Kyle Burroughs and winger Nils Hoglander, who opened fifth-row training camp, also performed well in the preseason and cemented their places with the Canucks. Defenseman Tucker Poolman, who only played four minutes in the final three months of last season due to complications from a migraine headache, improved as the preseason progressed and appears to be back as part of the management plan for the team.

Kuzmenko and young stars Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes were excellent. Kuzmenko, the 26-year-old Continental Hockey League free agent who attracted the interest of at least 20 NHL teams before settling on the Canucks on a one-year contract, had one goal and one assist against the Coyotes and finished the Pre-season with three goals and three assists in four games.

He’s part of a dynamic power play that could help Pettersson build a monster season. Pettersson has been the Canucks’ best player since camp opened.

But all of that has been overshadowed by injuries, five games without a win early in the preseason and the troubling reality that the Canucks head into opening night without a full lineup or proper dress rehearsal.

“The good thing is we saw a lot of our deep players,” Allvin said. “I’m really happy to see the younger players pushing the older guys forward in training and having us some tough discussions about the squad on opening night. It’s a fine balance. I think the coaching staff knows what’s going on with the older players… but we were very happy to see a lot of younger players.”

Boudreau has said the season will be a “disaster” if the Canucks fail to make the playoffs again. Their slogan, which can be seen on players’ t-shirts every day, is “Unfinished Business”. Rarely has so much been expected of a team that has achieved so little.