HomeBrew

I think the only reason people think that about Boeser is because he is from Minnesota. And the only reason people think this about Minnesotans is because of Parise and Suter. Beyond that I do not think there is any legitimacy about players not wanting to sign here. People are just jealous of Minnesota because they got a couple players come home to play. It doesn't really mean its a "thing" or a "trend" now. Like you said there has been no indication about Boeser not signing here. EDIT: I will also add that I think Vancouver Canuck fans have a bad inferiority complex going that leads people to say these things.

If he had a less injury prone career than Booth, it would not be so bad. Of course we would take any sort of decent performance over nothing though. You never know when it will just click for a player though - just look at Baer. He had no trouble contributing at the AHL level, but struggled for many seasons to translate it to the NHL. I think it is the opposite for Jake - he will struggle until he finds his game and then he will not have much trouble translating.

I don't think anyone is really debating that we made the best pick at our spot with Virtanen. I personally wanted Ehlers at the time and still would of taken Ehlers. I think the general consensus is that he has a year to show vast improvement or he does not hold much hope of making an impact. I just hope he doesn't turn into a Jensen project where we see the potential skill, but is never able to develop his game properly to be effective. However, Virtanen very well may turn into our Skille - a NHL journeyman on a bottom 6 roster. I hope we can turn his game into an slightly more offensive but slightly less dangerous player physically version of Raffi Torres. I also like the Dustin Brown comparison. If he can play that type of game and put up 50 or so points, I think we have a valuable player.

It was generally understood at the time of drafting Virtanen that it was between him, Nylander and Ehlers for our 6th pick. Our choice, thus far, has not turned out to be as effective in the NHL as the others which leads people to be a little disgruntled because a lot of people here wanted either one of the other choices (Nylander or Ehler) when the selection was made. It is understandable that people are not happy. With that said, and what some others have said, it is getting tiresome with the amount of whining and the people whining about the whiners. I would rather read and participate in discussions about his progress for what it is and where he might fit the team. Often the vast array of possible targets for the whining are isolated, so while people still complain that we chose Virtanen, at the same time we complain that the team gets pushed around too much. Perhaps there was a reason GM JB chose Virtanen as a piece for his cup team and not the others. I think the guys he is intentionally bringing in, like Virtanen and Gudbranson, will pay huge dividends when we are threats for the cup again. I care less about what Virtanen does during regular season output, than I do with his eventual role in bringing a cup to town. I personally have given Virtanen the benefit of doubt this year - being his first "back to reality" season in the AHL. If he does not improve upon this season next year, I will start to be worried about his potential.

I agree with this. Tryamkin has yet to show that he can truly dictate the play. He is often seen to be purely reactionary to what is happening around him and is often caught out of position because he is chasing the puck rather than reading the play, leaving players wide open in front of the net or clear for a breakaway pass like we saw last night on goal 3 by Calgary. We would all like to see him become a star in this league, but we have been left hoping for prospect to develop their game before. He will need to work on his overall understanding of the game and his positioning while developing more skills like being able to stick handle in tight situations instead of making the safe play in order to become a top pairing defenseman.

This statement is quite the embellishment to say the least. There are players in the league that are just as big as Tryamkin that show far more promise than him. Just look at a player like Jamie Oleksiak - 6'7" 260.

The image isn't showing so here's the link: http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/848/102902282840.jpg

Felix "The Cat" Potvin

Dunc Wilson

I highly doubt JS will get a call up this year after what happened at the trade deadline. AV will be concentrating on accustoming the new players in Pahlsson and Kassian to the system and finding the right line combinations before the playoffs begin than taking a look at our AHL depth. I know they tried this out last season, but for good reason as we had horrible depth upfront on the fourth line last year. More than likely he will get called up after the Wolves get eliminated from the playoffs, but he will start on the Wolves next year as well and get a call up if there are injuries.

Does anyone know if @ZackKassian is legit?

"The first shift with the Sedins is something I will never forget. It was pretty special. They're two great players. It was an honour to play with them." - Zack Kassian

Some things that I noticed from Kassian's first day as a Canuck: Seemed to gel easily with any line that he was thrown on. Already has good skating ability and is very agile for a man of his size. Made several nice passes out there and tends to read the play quite well. Very hard to knock off of the puck and uses his size well to protect the puck also I like the fact that Kassian doesn't sound like he has a severe lack of intelligence in his interviews like Lucic does.

I think we can expect our powerplay to go back to what it was doing last (which was also 1st in the league) by having Kesler and the Sedins playing the majority of the minutes on the first unit. I am just hoping that he is the kind of player that thrives in those conditions which I think it is possible that he can easily become a fan favourite if he makes big hits, fights and scores a goal here and there. We'll just have to wait and see if he can feed off of the crowd or be fed to them...

With Cody gone, all eyes are on Schroeder to be our next up and coming center. I hope he is up for the challenge. With these developments we are likely to see him called up for a game or two to see what we really have and to get the fan base excited about our other prospects. I am eager to see what we have in him and how he will fit our mold. At the very least I hope his speed and defensive game can translate into the bigs.

I don't really think that our top 6 is locked up beyond the Sedins and Kesler. Even then, if anyone in the top 6 stops performing, they are no longer guaranteed to stay there. Right now we have a real need for a playmaker to join the 2nd line with Kesler and Booth. I don't think anyone on our current roster fills that role well enough. Could Schroeder be that player? I could see it happen.

I'm guessing this is what people are talking about...? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFh27vbordk

After a slow start to the year with 7 points in 19 games, Schroeder has since tallied 21 points in 28 games and has scored on a point-per-game pace over his last 12 games. This output could have to do with finally getting more accustomed to rigors of the professional game schedule because he came into this league scoring at a good rate, but had a low productive season last year. Hopefully he can keep stepping up his game and might get called up for a game or two in the next season. However, I don't really see a spot for him on this team until the Sedins retire unless he can convert to wing.

Obviously that blank should be Mats Sundin, then maybe Rodin!

Anyone have an update? I haven't seen him in the lineup the past few games... Is he hurt, or he just a healthy scratch?

It is good to see him pick up the pace again. He now has a higher ppg rate than last year, which is encouraging to see. It is also interesting to note that he now has 8 goals compared to the 10 he had all last season. Maybe he figured out that he needed to shoot more to be successful? Young players often have to work on how predictable they are as players, so that they are harder to defend.

All I am saying is that people seem to think that there is space for Hodgson to make the team next year, but a player like Rodin could quite possibly out play him for that spot. That is, if there is even a spot to be given to a rookie forward.

From what I have seen, I really like how his game has developed. He's got skill and plays with a lot of grit. Rodin could very well take a spot on the roster - much to the chagrin of Hodgson:

Ugh, I hope not. We need to fill our Top 6 with players that can play a Top 6 role. Not with very good 3rd line players that do not really have good offensive instincts. I don't really think it is something that AV wants to do (play hard working 3rd liners on our 2nd line), but he has been forced that hand that last few years. I think everyone is hoping that a rookie will break out in training camp and claim a Top 6 role.