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He hasn't been fantastic offensively, that's for sure. But anyone into advanced stats know what his defensive numbers have been since the start of the season? Wondering where his first year development is ranked and compared to the Patrice Bergerons and Mike Richards'.

Picking Sam Bennett. Train him to do more pull-ups

At 23, we should be seeing at least some level of improvement. By the rate that he's going, Schroeder wouldn't be an NHL regular until he's 30. I'm surprised at how patient people are with failed prospects, but I guess hope goes a long way when there's nothing else to believe in. You want to see what a successful draft pick turns into? Try following a few other teams besides the Canucks. Brendan Saad - drafted 43rd overall (2011) 21 years old Brendan Gallagher - drafted 147 overall (2010) 22 years old Andrew Shaw - drafted 139th overall (2011) 22 years old Reilly Smith - drafted 69th overall (2009) 23 years old

Grabner had 26 points playing all of last season. I highly doubt that he would have lasted any longer than Raymond on this team right now

It all depends on what happens at the draft. If a star centre like Bennett or Draisaitl is picked, I firmly believe we'll have a battle between them and Horvat for 2nd and 3rd line duties (Matthias on the 4th). Edler is off the table for now, however, they will be trying hard to get good packages back for Kesler and Garrison. And if Schroeder is to someday end up like St.Louis, I want him playing wing next season with PP time.

Going to be equally exciting to see who takes over the GM role next year. If the rumours are true about Jim Benning from Boston, we just might be blessed with competency in office for once. Liked most of the deals the Bruins have made over the past few years except the Seguin to Dallas trade; but that was the result of "team style" so they say. Hopefully this team knows what's best for it and see's the Sedins, Hamhuis, Bieksa, along with a few other core members surrounded by young kids. Chicago is probably the best example of a team in the last few years lucking out, but doing it right. Toews, Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Seabrook, Keith, and then a plethora of random young, cheap, talent that seems to carry them far every year.

Aside from Florida picking Aaron Ekblad at #1, there will definitely be a lot of movement from the Sabres and Oilers in the top 5. I can see the Oilers wanting a defenceman and after not getting Ekblad, going the trade route. Perhaps throwing a package at Shea Weber with their 1st and maybe Yakupov. Then Buffalo will take Sam Reinhart at #2. With Nashville and Calgary also in consensus to take one of the top remaining centreman (Bennett, Draisaitl, Dal Colle) What will be interesting for the Canucks is what Buffalo does with their second top 5 pick from the Vanek trade. They could take another centreman, but having just taken Reinhart and having someone like Hodgson on the roster already might lead them to take a winger (Ritchie, Virtanen, Nylander). Or the other option would be to see what the trade market might be for that pick and have teams like us try to trade down to grab the final consensus top 5, whether it be Sam Bennett, Leon Draisaitl, or Michael Dal Colle. This team will definitely benefit the most from drafting one of those three guys.

That's a very good possibility with Buffalo having so many 1st rounders this year. But what would it take to move up even one spot in this draft? The Canucks seem like the team on the outside looking in. Every player in the top 5 are worthy to be there, but after that the top 10 seems to be a little less defined.

Unless, Virtanen turns out to be another like Phil Kessel, I see no reason in taking him when this team clearly needs a franchise centreman to bolster the forward group in front of Horvat. Picking a winger that turns out like Lupul or JVR is still great, but not a game changer, and would be a waste of a pick at #6. If any of the centres (Bennett, Draisaitl) were to fall, this team should take them.

However, I would not take Sam Bennett If he dropped to 6th, purely because we already have a two way centre in Horvat. We need some skilled forwards like Galchenyuk in Montreal to compliment the future.

Ritchie, Perlini, and Virtanen are all great players, but I'd much rather see this team draft a centre (Draisaitl) than another winger. We already have a young power forward that has yet to play with much consistent power or forward.

I hope Kesler stays. I'd rather see the Sedins go and build a new core around Kesler and a few others. This team needs to clean the cubboard a little of some horrible contracts from the Gillis regime. Remove all the veteran depth players and insert some kids to grow along with the core. At this point the core should be: Forwards: Kesler, D.Sedin, H.Sedin Defenceman: Hamhuis, Bieksa Get rid of clutter contracts like: Booth, Higgins, Hansen, Burrows, etc. and give the kids some playing time.

I think Peter Laviolette might be a good coach here. Only know him briefly from his time in Philadelphia, but it didn't seem like they were playing trap hockey.

I'd take Draisaitl over Ritchie. I think this team will benefit from having a more dynamic centre to pair with Horvat after Henrik and Kesler are done in a few years. Draisaitl Horvat

It's great that Booth is now "looking" like a top 6 winger, but he sure as hell ain't producing like one. 2G 2A in the last 10 games says that $5M can be used elsewhere on the team. Not to mention that the coach doesn't see enough good in Davie to use him on the 2nd line. We already have a power forward project in Kassian to risk a roster spot on. We don't need another guy that will play just well enough, every once and a while, so that one fan out there would get their hopes up just high enough to create a stupid thread about it. Pass.

I think the issue might be more for this year than say the next 2 or 3. Horvat won't be helping us anytime soon come April. Gillis either needs to get a winger for the Kesler/Higgins line and have Santorelli play center on the 3rd. Or leave the top 6 alone and acquire a proper 3rd line/4th line center so that we can kick Dalpe off this team. Richardson has been playing fantastic hockey this year. But I think It would be wise to acquire a proper 4th line center like a Goc because our team is a little thin in depth compared to other cup contenders. Everyone's playing a step above their level of skill this year and I'd much rather see them exactly where they should be. Sedin - Sedin - Burrows Higgins - Kesler - Santorelli Booth - Richardson - Kassian Weise - Goc - Hansen Sestito

Higgins is not top six in this league. He is on this team, this year. Keeping this team the way it is while it's winning is completely fine; at least for the year. Any big changes should be made in the off season. Booth's contract will be bought out and Higgins will slot back into his rightful place as the 3rd line winger. Then Gillis should try hard to find a market for Alex Edler and bring in some much needed help on offense to solidify either the 1st or 2nd lines. This will be based solely on whether Tanev or Corrado are able to continue their progression.

Why is Lou playing back to back. Rest him for the playoffs? Unless you're expecting Lack to start a few in the post season :S

If you notice, using the Detroit model as an example, they don't make a whole lot of trades. They're strengths are signing solid core players from other teams who want to play there and drafting well. Ken Holland is considered one of the GM greats. In comparison, Gillis may be good at making some solid signings and contract extensions, but this team is missing the prospects that make the Detroit model so successful. You can't have a full team of veterans anymore in today's NHL. Poor drafting and development has really halted the progression of this team for sure.

Hahaha..that's a pretty good one liner for a hockey interview. Wish more guys did this

Pretty boring game. Not sure whether it was Dallas' fantastic defensive play or the frozen offensive funk that the Canucks are stuck in. Sedins, Santorelli, Kassian, and maybe a couple of the blue liners were the only one's noticeable tonight. The rest of the team gave a good effort, but definitely not what we're all expecting with the team we have on paper. Giving Hansen a pass for needing a few more games to get his timing back. Funk. Funk. Funk...can't wait until the team can get out of it and we can start watching hockey again.