Phat Fingers

I would argue the primary requirement in a Center is getting and maintaining possession of the puck. Faceoffs are the biggest metric to take possession of the puck. If Brock can learn to dominate the dot, he already has the skills to distribute the puck and is excellent at screening goalies and plays from the half dot in in the offensive zone and he can win puck battles when his anticipation is better than the speed of the other players. My other main concern is can Brock be mid to med decent without the puck on the back check and who does he skate with. He isn’t meant to be a shut down centre in my scheme. He needs to play with two faster and better in the zones Brock isn’t and the be the beneficiaries of Brock’s commitment to the team, and his offensive puck distribution and net front presence. Its a 6 million dollar contract and he has more to give than Galrand and he can win face offs against our top Center and 100 point player who plays often in the Right wing half wall, in the offensive zone when Brock goes to the front of the net. It’s really hard to win the game if you lose over 50 % of the draws. maybe that Brick that Brock is physically is actually an attribute in the dot, plus the shorter legs. I can’t see his offensive game dropping off significantly and if it gives us a back up Center if who ever is our third this year goes down and or the team thinks a third line that plays a more in the Ozone than the second line. I see getting back to the face off dominance that was the core strength of the Offence with Hank, Kesler, Manny and Lapiere. Until the best face off team in the last ten years beat us in the finals, it looked unstoppable. Phats.

Mono, injuries and he was as young as we could draft. How about we don’t compare his stats to others and look to the trend lines. The grounds for his poor play and over lax production is understandable. it happened to McCann.. anyone complaining about he turned out? only those that traded him away…. Like us… The playoff scoring was where a lot expected his seasonal production to be, at a PPG. That’s a great up turn in alot of positive metrics. With the recovery from Mono, injuries and he is a bit older too. Lekker is Lekker.

Ask him… me I was happy to see Horvat go. Great pick at nine, considering VN was the favourite.. But in the waste land of the MG drafting, he was never the single player that we could build around and personally, I think Bo has a lot more potential than he has lived up too as a Leader and clutch player. take away his London Days in Jr, he has done nothing in clutch games, short of the play down the stretch last year, when he got hurt. This year I saw him taking the Puck more that dishing it. I also think that Bruce was favouring Bo and it wasn’t good for the locker room and team play. Bo has to be pushed to be a better player when it counts atm. not sure what did it to him.

WTF you call a Karen!?! You have a soft spot for Human Trafficking that you care to share? I get a 420 buzz thought on a Sunday, and some people Karen… But dude, call a dude Karen and where I come from teeth get lost. Troll on.

The deal was for the long term. Hard to score with 62% D zone starts. The Islanders have a 1-2 punch down the middle. Gotta say, JT Miller would have scored more, especially in the play offs.

I have a great idea for human traffickers. We put them into a ship and sail them back to their country of origin where the crime originated, and have that criminal spend their sentence in country where the crime started. Pay the country what we would have paid to house that prisoner in our system and those funds are then supporting the conditions in the entire prison system. Ala the child charities where you sponsor a child for so much per day. we sponsor imprisoning Human traffickers. And we also pay the same amount of money to the victims for the same period of time as the prisoner is in custody, And they can choose to stay without the sponsorship and have all the assistance given to all refugees and victims of crime in Canada. or take the sponsorship and return to their county of origin and put that direct income into local economies that are clearly in dire need of support. And reverse the flow, by fixing the problems at their source. If I had the support most on this page have, I would have stayed in BC and not live on the less nice Coast in Canada. By the time I was ready to have a home, it was too late. so I moved to where I could afford to live. That’s a type of relocation that is a choice and also a reluctance in part. to get caught in human trafficking and or be at risk of it, your society is in complete breakdown and or dire famine or drought. If the ‘dollar per day per child can lift entire families and villages out of poverty and famine and drought’ then what would my scheme do if suddenly cash flow, a mere drip of a leaky tap to our country is suddenly appearing in Haiti and supporting basic business and services in having customers again? If the outside influences on law enforcement for financial reasons is to law abiding countries that respect the rule of law Vs the drug cartels and human traffickers. that if a person was to be used for criminal intent in our country as a slave and or indentured servant in the sex trade, should we not want to help that person and those like them and their families? We do, when forced to by the news and courts. But we always ignore the starting point. Most of the destabilizing forces that started this pandemic of forced immigration and global food shortages, was by the wealthiest countries. We eat slave bananas all the time. Slave Chocolate and we are using slave phones to take pictures of our slave Amazon purchases… Slave is what the woman in VN’ room was, and she came from a place that needs our help.

IDK. Anyone getting hurt will impact the team. but if they are hurt, that frees up cap space, so one at least has an opportunity to get replacement into the lineup that has a similar cap value. the cap value is a metric that does usually indicate the quality of the player and minutes. unless your JB… lol. not money ball, LTIR. But if we buy him out, like the other posters argue, we get to start with the highest cost per minute option, paying two players for the same minutes played. one just plays for another team. or golf’s. With a cap penalty that has been plaguing this club more than most in the league and it’s the very trouble that brough down the last management group. There is a time and place to Buyout a player. OEL is simply not at that point, And his contract is onerous. But not as onerous if he is playing for us Vs us finding a cheaper option that also declines and we have to buy out that FA band aid pay high sell low players as well. I am personally optimistic that OEL is more of a whipping boy than actual liability and for the sake of logic, he should be healthy at the start of this coming season, his is not named Salo, and he is a very smart player with good skating and good intelligence. With Hronek, OEL is now our 3rd best defender. Exactly where he should be, behind the first pairing LHD Hughes. Myers is a costly defender and his contract is going to radically change in its value to other teams in the league. he does play a lot of minutes, but is not capable of consistently playing at against top Six lines attacking. At 1m cost in actual dollars to a club after 09-15, I think he is the guy to move, and any player coming back in cap dump, could be useful based on position. Having Hronek in the line up allows a skilled guy like OEL switch sides and give Rathbone a chance to play the second LHD attacking D, and focus the off-season in finding a serviceable defender who is a RHD guy that plays a solid defensive game and can take the physical play, and be a presence on the ice that makes taking liberties and or running or goalie or star players a bit more risky, Cough Luke Schenn, Cough. Lose Myers, give Schenn a two year deal with a raise and make Quinn Hughes happy, Then give Woo a ride with the big club with guys like Schenn and Buroughs with Tochett and Foote to teach Woo how to be the Stay at home physical player that occasionally adds to the score sheet, but definitely keeps the other team very aware of his presence on the ice. The Swede D we signed this year is another example of how we fix our defence. Pro Am Scouting. The club has found out how to miss on defence at the draft, in the system and has also made some huge wins along the way with late blooming long shots. Biggest miss in the modern era, OJ. or JV and I can eat crow on supporting them as developing players in our system. I am optimistic by nature. But at their respective drafts, neither was my own preference as a fan at the pick. I wanted Ehlers, and we all should have wanted Larkin and Pasternak and JB blew his career on JV over and over. But dishing McCann instead of JV can be another example. I also thought Serge and or Chychrun were the guys, and even at his best, I would still struggle to ever like Brady’s older brother. He was never going to stay in Canada. But OJ is so flawed a a puck considering how impressed the Canucks Brass was at his interview. The flaw wasn’t OJ it was the Canucks Brass. OJ is what he is. Back to OEL. We have him at this point, fully in the second paring and third in depth. He would be picked up immediately on the FA market, sign with a club that was ready to play him in the second pair 3/4 spot and have two legit 1st pairing younger guys ahead of him, and OEL would blow the media away with his sudden ‘resurgence’ and we would be in the same perpetual agony that a good portion of the media and some of the cdc crave. It’s called a personality disorder. Freud called it ‘Antisocial’ and what we get caught up in is the constant problems. that we react too, instead of work thru. the Antisocial Behaviour is by the guys who need to drive ad revenues in the off season and or lack of playoffs in a one sport city with no substance to work with. so yank the old chain and start the manufacturing equipment and see how many take up the narrative and watch, listen and or read. The economics of the cap have to make sense in terms of dollars assigned to healthy minutes played, injured minutes played etc… Then when you factor in that Myers was also hurt and missed camp, with OEL having to be the Number 2 guy injured, and the Number 3 in minutes played is out for the first 8 games which the starter in net was also injured, it gets really difficult to assess the negative stats for OEL and the massive negativity. Had we been able to have Elder as our number 3 guy at the same age and point in his career, with a Hughes and Hronek being younger and ahead in the depth chart, we would have been light years better in the last 5 years of his time here. We bitched and moaned about how over played and Edler was putting in the work but his legs weren’t as fast and his ability to keep up with the top lines was declining, but he was still a great defender and he could still suprise with stretch of games where he looked like his old self. OEL is at that that point in his career with lighter minutes can give him better results and is better results and he can step into the top pair in times of need and if healthy, is able to give a quality of play that doesn’t take from the top unit. I would wait and see at minimum, until this next season is over before even speaking about buying out a d man. Myers is an obvious guy to deal and his cap hit is just a bit less than OEL’s and trading Brock may be hard, it will be easy to trade Garland and or AB for pick. They have the right contract for a second line winger, and are fair value. it’s Brock that is higher costed and he has better numbers, but is visibly slower on the ice. The problem is about trading Brock or guys with 6 m plus contracts who play second line minutes and or second pairing minutes. that’s overpriced, or high priced, reserved for the guys that are near the top 30 in the league but not quite. We actually have three wingers that could move. Michaylev is in the same range as Garland and AB. We have 4 guys, 5 is you counted Pearson who are here to 4 plus million for two spots. Second line winger. Don’t see an need to lose more cap from the defence. we need to shed the cap on the second line. If buyouts are on the table, Buy out Garland? For example… and then we save cap and have achieved the same goal, and don’t lose anything from our depth and on ice product.

Media talking point fodder. OEL isn’t getting bought out. Garlland, AB and or Brock are getting dealt and or one is moving to center. the move isn’t about losing cap, but re allocating cap to the defence from the offence. It always amazes me that general managers stop gap in FA. It is rare that a club can make a major positive impact on their roster in the NHL FA pool. the draft and or pro scouting systems are the way to go. LE is a prime example. Losing Tiffoli, Tanev and Markstrom are also examples of losing in FA. Had a better un emotionally attached GM who had a problem saying no to his first ever draft pick, and or the sense to invest in the known quantity over the unknown for D partners for the most important player in the growth of our core. Quinn Hughes. I hope the cdc takes the time to watch the Abby Canucks take on the Wranglers. It was a Referees game… PP’s seemed endless against our guys in Cow town. but Silvos was great, and so too was the Defensive Structure and Jet Woo played a lot, and on his off side. he also hits like a young Luke Schenn. with the puck on his stick or without. this club needs that more than a new shinny FA player that covers over the weakness in depth and scouting. Hirose and Woo, Wolanin and Brisbios appear to have upside in the play without the puck. Great. Exactly what the Big club needs. A solid cast of younger guys that a coach like Tochett, Foote and Gonchar can mold into a unit. We have a much stronger D core with Hronek added. The cap that is Myers, is not entirely wasted and after his bonus, he is easily traded. Woo looks solid on the left side, his off side. He should be better in his string side and he looks solid as a brick shit house. Pro Rugby build in a NHL D man. Back to OEL and the media talking point to bash one player every cycle turn around. In his last season OEL played yeoman minutes and held up well in a 2a/3 spot on the left side behind Hughes. So did Myers. They managed to get in almost a full season each. then this year, Myers missed camp injured and OEL played injured all year until he was shut down in February. So if the media talking points memo is OEL is buy out worthy… Why? It makes zero logic. He is likely to be in 100% game shape by opening face off. He is impossible to replace in his position if his play returns to his 2021-2022 metric, should the Nucks buy him out and then go out and sign a guy to play those same minutes. This is the payday loan method of GMing. The buy out lasts for years later and it will cripple the future cap space. it’s exactly the basis what the majority of the media has been bashing the lack of success this year. prior buy outs and or cap retention and or penalties that took cap space away from this years on ice product. Back Up Goalie. I think in light of a more distant and less bi polar take, perhaps had we not three back up goalies being paid buy outs this year, we could have gone out and supported that position when Demko got hurt? Instead, More BuyOuts! Sign all the players! Draft Everyone! Oh the CDC… don’t ever be afraid to be yourself. Beauty.

We don’t know anything. we don’t know if VN was in the room with her and or came back to the room and she was there. we don’t know if VN is secretly a Russian Mob Boss with a massive network of international criminals who have a secret society… or was this a set up? or a way to attempt to interfere and or rig a playoffs? it seems really strange that in a Cup Winning Team for this to get past the staff and hotel and those paid to tip the Coach and or others about their players getting up to things that could derail a massive windfall of profits to the club? things like this are either a know pattern and when one shoe drops, it’s really a few pebbles before an avalanche… lol or it’s a complete aberration of normal behaviour and character. The change in behaviour and or pattern is what I look for. that means something was different. This is why, even though JV was exonerated for his errors and that he did not act outrightly to harm the other is also a clear example of already long history of poor judgment and partying. I would find it odd that a club with as much experience and history would be so lax in general security. this is alot different from the Chicago issues. the acts in Chicago were measured and there was an willingness to hide the bad facts with misinformation and misdirection. that could come out. but it’s not out yet.

WTF are the nhl millionaires f**king doing? Unless VN is cast instead of Denzel Washington in the next ‘Equalizer Movie’ this is why the NHL and other pro leagues need a internal investigation unit. There are a lot of unknowns, and she is describes herself and a victim of human trafficking. that doesn’t mean VN has anything to do with her background. It would not be the first time a player took advantage of a woman in a hotel room. Neither would it be the first time Russian Mobsters tried to squeeze an NHL player of Russian Origin. Glad she is alive and hopefully she gets the medical help and legal help she needs. wow.

I think Karlsson is a here and now guy. he is a professional, plays a game that goes to the dirty areas and he has potential offensive upside to give a 3rd line some punch with solid play down the middle at least at the AHL level, and SHL. His contract is also on the books and affordable as compared to the FA market. Sasson can set into the AHL spot and be a call up. It makes a bit of sense. so your right. the Canucks will find a FA that is overpriced and then doesn’t live up to expectations.

I doubt we land in a spot with Reinbacher still available. we can’t make the mistake of past drafts and not take a RHD as our first pick. As long as there is another RHD in our range, we must take the best second choice. a few years ago K’ Andre Miller went in the late first, he would be our best RHD prior to Hronek. We landed Woo a few picks later and he could still become a middle pairing RHD which is a very key we constantly lack. Dobson and Bouchard have both made an impact and had we missed on Hughes, which would have been terrible, and passed on Dobson to take a winger, how bad would that have looked now? So ASP is there if Reinbacher is already scooped. ASP and a few later first round ranked RHD are still there. Trade down if need be and snag a second rounder or two low firsts and take a Center and a RHD, but unless it’s a top 2 pick lotto win, take the god damned top ranked RHD fir christsakes… it’s not rocket science..

Super happy to have the FA market time this off season focus on defence and depth at center. Not blow a wad of dough on a 3rd line Center, but to build that position from within. There is a player that is pretty good, solid and has the strength and timing to take draws. He really doesn’t want to get traded and manages to put points every year, this year, sets a personal best for points and assists. Brock needs to have a really focused off season. Joshua and Karlsson with Sasson is a decent start. But if Brock really wants to stay, consider an audition at third line Center and see if he can drive a lines play from the middle. I have seen him Vs Ep40 and Brock dominated the dot. It’s a way to start some off season chat. lol.

I think Bruce pumped Bo and JT was the goat for the first half. I think Bruce was flipping a bit of the bird at Rutherford for making* it clear that Bruce was a place filler only. How ever we come to view this deal in a few years, I can say that Bo will live to regret shitting on the fans and club that drafted and developed him for 7-8 years.

I would re tittle this thread…. Rick Tocchet and the ‘Goonies’. Our team being the ‘Goonies’ We are constantly the underdog and the unwanted ones in the inner circles of the NHL. Always a spectacle to the ‘Rest of Canada’ and or the ‘Rest of the NHL’ since the very first days of the clubs existence. Plus as a thick skulled guy with a Mug, I love that our Coach looks tougher in a fight than any one else in the room. Leadership with the ability to back it up, while never having to distract his players away from the goal. The treasure…

Thought that we finally have a coach worth having a thread about. I find Tocchet’s post game interviews to be the most interesting and most engaging descriptions of the play of his team. Without being mean spirited. It’s a refreshing change from the coaches we have had over the last number of years since AV left. We have a players coach that the management took a great deal of responsibility in hiring. Alvin and Rutherford have bet the farm on Tocchet and the players here now, and definitely roster coming into camp. This is Tocchet’s team now, not EP40’s, not JT Miller’s or Quinn Hughes team but Rick Tocchet’s Team. In other words, if this core is making it to the Promised Land, the Team needs Rick Tocchet’s straight forward approach with his expectations and the grounded reasoning behind every decision. wow. Rick Tocchet could already give motivational lectures to organizations and companies about what Leadership is. He accepts questions, gives answers, is accountable for his own actions and doesn’t expect anyone to be above him or beneath him, and the he puts the future goals that are very hard to accomplish into each and every situation as the ‘Why’. To Rick Tocchet’s Coaching Career with the Vancouver Canucks. Our great young players have a Coach who leads like a Leader should. By example and educated approach that is always communicated with clear understanding on all sides. Just wow. We are finally seeing the biggest weakness the team has had in the Post AV world. A Great Coach, to make a great team with great players,

Stawms, at 8-9 who would you select over Reinbacher? Is there a more blue blue chip player that is also a deep desperate team need in quality and quantity both in the system and with the big club? In this range, what I am imagining is a Top 4 RHD or a Top Six Center that is able to take NHL minutes regularly in 2-3 years post draft. One. Is there a more project able RHD…. ? Two. Who is your choice over the answer to one that is a Center that will make a bigger impact than a top 4 RHD for us in the 8-10 range. Our annual spot.

The guy hates loosing and reminds me of Bertuzzi. Is that a bad thing? for a non profit organization that is aiding the sick and the poor, yes, but on the field of play? it’s the reason we watch and the reason that the players play. to express emotions and act on them with emotions. the sport allows fighting and violence that is far more damaging and dangerous that an outbursts. JT is the team Ego. EP40 is it’s Mind and Hughes is it’s Heart. and it’s the coaches job to be the Asshole. cause it takes an Asshole to be in charge… lol. I think Tochet can handle a highly competitive athlete that is pissed at losing. He should have a whole locker room full of that sentiment out side the rookies that are all shinny and new.

Ala Chris Tanev… late Bloomer that learned defence as a very undersized player, so he had to defend with smarts speed and skill. then he got a late growth spurt that has made his game better. At 21 he is far potential for upside than others and was not on the radar to sign as he has two years left. He was a great find and someone put in some serious work to scoop McWard for the Canucks. He is the exact type of player we need and I am happy that someone has figured out how to find and sign players like McWard. Thats 4 NCAA players signed in one year.

Wow Did the Canucks finally go back to the NCAA and sign another RHD!? Did Alvin and Rutherford just go out and add a D pairing that is young and will be in the system next season? Someone in the Canucks finally is going back to the well. Tanev and Stecher are both ahead in the depth chart of our RHD outside Hronek. Glad someone remembered where the NCAA was.

Honestly I don’t know why everyone with the opportunity to play along side Hughes isn’t just playing slightly back and cover Hughes and at all cost, stand up for Hughes. it’s like how a border line NHLer gets suddenly to become a TOP pairing 5 vs 5 D man with a generational talent who is only 22 and be the go between for Hughes and EP40… yeah, okay… only instructions from Tochet to every auditioning player, ’Just don’t loose your shit when the puck and a forechecker come at you at the same time.” That it and compete! And it’s a big summer for you! lol

JB… it was JB and the Aqualinis!

To be fair it’s clearly Hughes Woo! IMO the money is on Filip. Woo needs more a lower six role and grow into a top four role over time. he may never translate to being as offensively aware of a player that Hughes needs as a partner. but as long as he can made a safe outlet consistently and not loose his shit when the puck comes to him and the forecheck at the same time, he has the physical tools. I like that he has played 63 games this season. And I don’t think he has played a single minute at forward this year… Jesus that was strange last year.

I would start drafting positional need in a higher priority than last year. Talent and ability to make the NHL are the most important. but sooner or later we will only have wingers and LHD in the system. wait a minute… isn’t that most of our system. Raty was a traded for player. Linus Karlsson was traded for. Filip Johansson was traded for. Woo is our highest drafted player since EP40 at a position of need that I can recall. Any wonder why we are always looking for centers and RHD every year, like since 1971. Maybe it’s us, and not them… lol.

What I like about this draft, lots of Big Centers in the top 60 and three good options at RHD in the top 30. so the Nucks will improve the roster with the 1st rounder. With Brock hitting 60 points possibly and breaking the 20g barrier will make him very trade able in the post season. a fair valued asset that local media and poor early play ate alive. but I think it is because he is a slower skater that isn’t nearly that exciting to watch unless he scores with a beauty shot. But he is very good at screening the goalie and an effective player and play maker. Garland is the guy I want to keep because of his skating and effective forechecking. When we look back at the Stats, both will look better, but Brock is playing to his contract and producing at a Very good level for a top six winger. so either guy could land a 2nd rounder this year. lets go get one back and take the best RHD we can unless we are surrounded by elite potential centers and it’s a off board selection to take a D, with our number one. flip one of our surplus tip six wingers and get a second back and address the other positional need. there is zero reason to draft a winger, goalie and or LHD in the top rounds for us.