With the Vancouver Canucks’ 2022 training camp set to begin little over a month from now in beautiful Whistler, B.C., much of the roster is firmly set in place.

Barring any last-minute trades, the Canucks look to have their strongest forward group in years and a true franchise goaltender. If you only heard those two pieces of information, you might think that the Canucks are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.

Instead, the Canucks are expected to have to battle for a playoff spot because of a weak defence corps filled with a mix of overpaid veterans and unproven players. Despite significant salary commitments, there isn’t a commensurate amount of talent on the Canucks’ blueline.

Not only do the Canucks not have a lot of high-end NHL talent, but they also don’t have a lot of organizational depth. This leads to a situation where the Canucks have below-average NHL players pencilled into the lineup with little to push them.

However, there is one training camp battle that will be interesting to keep an eye on, and that’s Jack Rathbone and Travis Dermott both vying to be the left-side defenceman on the Canucks’ third pairing.

As it stands right now, Quinn Hughes and Oliver Ekman-Larsson will hold the left-side spots in the top four for years to come. This arrangement leaves hopefuls like Dermott and Rathbone to battle it out for just one spot.

Of course, there’s a very real possibility that the Canucks try Ekman-Larsson or Dermott on the right side to even out the defensive group. However, just for today, we’re just looking at the Canucks’ left-handed defenders in a vacuum.

The case for Travis Dermott

The Canucks acquired Dermott from the Toronto Maple Leafs earlier this year in exchange for a 2022 third-round selection.