hockeyfan-observer

I think your assessments are pretty bang on - team has several very good pieces, good surrounding cast along with a discipline coach - hopefully, they can keep the injuries to the minimum and with "solid and consistent" work effort each night to at least match their opponent, they may be a surprise team in the division.

Totally agree - look at difference in Vegas from 2022 vs 2023 - for the Canucks to be successful, the players really need to be dialed in each night - too much parity in the conference and any bad game against beatable teams can be damaging at season's end. Then there's injuries either to key players or the D - just seems like they never have a healthy D for ages - maybe the previous playing styles did not place enough emphasis on "entire team defense concept", I looked at the Western Conference 16 teams and have them around 7th on "paper" to start the year - so the margin is very thin - several bad games here / injuries there and we are right out again. If I had anything to say to management and the players, it is a very very fine margin in this league and you really need to "want it" more than the OTHER team each night.

I think the team has enough ingredients to make the playoffs - a demanding / detailed coach, SC winning assistant coaches and pretty hardworking-hungry third-fourth lines that can hopefully play a high tempo tight checking style. However, there is a lot of parity around this league and one-two injuries in key positions will derail most teams including the Canucks. Their schedule after the coaching change was relatively weaker than most teams - though, they did play pretty decent against some of the better teams. Hopefully with already full 6 months exposure to RT's system, this team is more prepared this year.

I have not figured out who may / may not be here on Opening night yet but did have a question - if the Canucks are not cap compliant on opening night - what happens - do they have to sit out a player based on certain value or are they fined etc...Thanks

Glad to hear they picked up another D for depth in Irwin - hopefully maybe get another D plus forward and I think they are moving in the right direction. Given the injuries some teams face during the season - having 6D, 2 additional for depth and 2-3 on the farm is a good setup. Hopefully all the D they picked up today can all play the "Tocchet" style - would be a good starting point for next year. Think the goal next year is to be competitive and still in the playoff race into mid April. With the D picked up today, hope also that Foote and Gonchar had some say and are to work to make this team's D more cohesive than in the past.

Good to see they are bringing in more D into the organization - with the 4 draft picks and now 2 free agents - lets see if they can acquire even more D depth in the next few months. This team has decent scoring but will not overwhelm teams so they need to look at making themselves a tougher team to play against with a grittier defensive style. I hope Tocchet has some say in the player acquisition process - can't dictate a style of play if you don't have the necessary type of players to handle it. I think losing Burroughs was tough as he is the type of player for RT's systems. Perhaps, they will now take a look at Jett Woo and see if he is ready for the 6-8th grouping. After watching this years playoffs where everything seems to be fair game, a grittier team will help down the road even during the playoff drives in March and April.

Little bit surprise they left Benson and Wood on the board as I thought both of them could have had an impact, though many observers had Willander going here at 11th. Hopefully Willander is a defensive Dman - unless you're Makar or Hughes, that should always be your main function - too many times Dmen get caught up in the play just to be shorthanded on the counter attack. I hope he turns into another Mattias Ohlund down the road.

I think picks 5-10 are wide open - so we will see how everything plays out - always amazed why teams would make it a bit public who went out with which team for dinner - maybe its a red herring given you are picking 4-5 spots behind other teams. Anyway, from what I have read - Davosky, Barlow, Wood, Willander, Danielson, Simashev, ASP, Reinbacher, Benson could all potentially be drafted. I think the Canucks will pick the best player in this group (unless someone in top 6 drop) who will have most impact for their given position - so not necessarily just points - maybe they'll even surprise us a pick and choose a Sale or Cristall. Interesting choices ahead.

So very true in your assessment about prospects - factors such as quality of supporting cast, player development, team identity and team culture play such vital role, I would suspect even McD would not have had the astronomical point total he had without Draisatil and / or if he was playing in a defensive structure like the old J. Lemaire coaching days.. From playing against peers in your age+2 group, to against men fighting for jobs and salary - its a significant jump.. Also, most of the roster players in the NHL have had some success in the junior ranks so now its the cream at the top battling each other. I hope the Canucks pick the BPA on Wednesday - almost all the potential picks they are considering will take 2-3 years before they "may" play here so might as well go the BPA route. Be careful of Michkov's if he is available though - don't want any further contract factors holding up his career. For this season, success will probably depend on who's ready from Abby, college and some FAs on July 1st I think.

Congrats to the Golden Knights for their championship - Not a huge fan of Vegas nor do I dislike them either - cuz they have not been in the league long enough - the team simply worked hard all year to get the home ice seedings and worked and executed as a TEAM in the playoffs though I thought OIlers could have forced game 7 - just hope Canucks can learn from them a bit - good team defense + goaltending and work harder than your opponent can produce some good results. There is a certain edge to Playoff Hockey and hope the Canucks can be built to withstand that. Regardless LV pretty fun city to visit sometimes for a few days . Guess this is how they celebrate.

I would say JB has had his moments - The selection of Petey caught everyone off guard (other than Canuck insiders) - we all had thought it would be Cody Glass or even Mittelstadt - QH was a no-brainer that even I would not have hesitated just with the skating alone. Jury is still out on Podkolzin but for a 10th pick, current production not great considering the way Caulfield and Matt Boldy have performed. McCann was a good selection but impatience from mgmt cost them Juolevi - a poor pick because for what thiey missed in Tkachuk.. JB probably picked by need rather than BPA in that draft and the injuries/character matters did not help Olli. When Virtanen was selected, I actually liked the pick - size and with speed and a local kid - but again some character matters probably hurt more than anything. I think JTM was a good trade but others signing have been okay to poor over the years. Personally I liked JB as an evaluator of talent, Gillis in trade matters, Gilman in cap issues. Think you really need to start splitting up the GM job. Regardless, mgmt should look carefully at character in the draft process as well as stats just to get an overall picture.

As the draft approaches, I am more inclined to keep the pick now - there are bunch of prospects around the 8-14th mark who can really help out our team in the next 3-4 years and just "giving" the player away to the Hawks or Red Wings so that we can shed some salary is starting not to look so great - guess there is a reason the Hawks and Red Wings not targeting teams around 20-25th mark and after our 11th pick. Also, its not as if the Hawks need another potential impact player in the same draft having already gotten lucky on the draw. Unless the Canucks are feeling a bit charitable now in speeding up their competitors rebuilds - probably best to keep the pick and draft a vast array of potential players including ASP, Reinbacher, Danielson etc and even look at of some local kids. To help out with salary issue, hope they start looking at working with 2nd - 3rd rounders and not first rounders, especially for such a high selection.

I would say no at this time that the current Canucks D would make them a playoff team - watching the playoffs so far, the single most important factor though has been goaltending - I don't think you can say there is any team that has a perfect D - its a combination of good team defense and having the netminder bail you out when it breaks down usually 5+ times each game (FLA has Ekblad and still need Brobovsky to constantly bail them out). Canucks has some core pieces on the D with Hughes and Hronek - but do need to get a bit tougher and more mobile as the D is getting hammered every playoff game Having Foote and Gonchar assisting the process is huge - so for this off season, hopefully they can get some bigger pieces on the D and work out their team systems - Unfortunately, no matter how good your team D is, you will still need Demko, Silov or Delia to bail you out some nights. Personally I would like to see Jett Woo and Burroughs have some more games next year. Definitely true that playoff hockey is a totally different animal than the regular season.

The Blackhawk Canuck rumours I have been hearing does make some sense. The Hawks want to field a competitive team sooner and not wait for 3-5 years for all their prospects to develop - Canucks need to clear cap space as they have spent way too much already. Unless there is someone Canucks really like at 11th - switching to 19th +2nd rounder and the Hawks taking say a Myers + Garland and is not the worst deal - as long as we don't get the same money back which was the case with the OEL trade few years ago. Alternatively, if first rounders are too critical, can always look at working with 2nd-3rd rounders in trades. (eg. Schenn for 3rd rounder). Hopefully the Canucks + Aquaman have learned from this and watch their finances more carefully in the future. You do not need a team full of superstars (eg. Leafs) but a more complete team that fits the coaching style. Teams like the Kraken proved it this year and the Panthers have a bunch of players like Bennett and Duclair.that were under performing on other teams and now also contributing to their success.

Will be shocked if Michkov gets past 7-8 considering most of these lottery teams are in for the long haul and can wait a bit for their picks to develop - even for the teams closer to contention (eg. Detroit) they are already competitive so adding a Michkov in the next few years just strengthens their roster as well in 2026 For the Canucks, I would like them to just take the BPA in the draft regardless of position - once they start tinkering with position, may end up with the Juolevi - Tkachuk scenario again. Players they need for their position will be obtained by free agency, PTO and trades anyway. I feel right now with their current roster, they are around the 20-22rd range overall so still some work to do to get them closer to the playoff line.