bigbadcanucks

Nice beat down.

You may not recall, but Luke Schenn was an excellent "ying" to Hughes' "yang". There is a guy who is just as good to play that role at $3.0M cap hit and his name is Travis Hamonic. Adam Larsson is not a $6.0M over five years type d-man. Hughes had a tough season, but he's going to be the guy carrying the mail for many years to come. He won't need a babysitter at $6.0M cap hit for the next five years. Hamonic at 3 years x $3.0M cap hit >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Larsson at 5 years x $6.0M

Sorry, I remember Toffoli being productive in the regular season and showing heart and grit playing with an injury in the playoffs for the Canucks. In the 10 regular season games Toffoli played, he produced 6G 4A. In 7 playoff games Toffoli played, he scored twice and had two assists, on an injured foot/ankle that required a walking boot. Toffoli being "only "okay" here, meaning he only played 10 games" is an inane line of reasoning. His body of work while in LA and his 17 games in a Canucks jersey is more than enough for me to have expected Benning to make an offer to secure a bonafide top six forward. Instead, Benning was busy pulling his pud on OEL and Virtanen.

Don Cherry is in the house^^^^^^^. Sorry stanley...I couldn't resist. You probably typed out the post on your smartphone and spell check made the changes on you. Regards, Kevin Bieska

It made me nearly sick to my stomach seeing Toffoli score the OT winner. I can't lie...was an ardent JB supporter until he decided to keep the human dumpster fire otherwise known as Jake Virtanen ahead of Tyler Toffoli, all the while extolling the virtues of character that he wants for the Canucks. At this point, I'd take Tony DeAngelo ahead of the embarrassment of a hockey player that Virtanen has become.

A guy like Chandler Stephenson is another example of a career bottom six player who is flourishing in the top six/nine once given the chance. I think Motte just needs to be given the opportunity to play higher up in the line up. Just like Burrows was given that opportunity. The thing that I hear scouts speak more of lately is a player's ability to make plays when the stress level goes up. Like Burrows, Motte's play elevates when the pressure to perform rises. I truly believe Motte would respond well to the pressure of playing with Petey and Boeser.

Thank the Hockey Gods that Jose Theodore was never a person of interest to the Canucks management. I lived in Montreal from 1997 to 2004 and lived in the same condo building as Theodore on Ile de Soeurs and he was a piece of work. He drove a suped-up black Hummer (first of its kind) with limo tint bullet proof glass because if he wasn't snorting coke up his nose, he was busy hanging out with Mom Boucher and the bikers. Surprised he and his old man haven't met the Grim Reaper yet. Linden and his wife also lived on Ile des Soeurs and I would run into them occasionally at the local Provigo. Being transplanted Anglophones in Montreal and transplanted westcoasters (Linden from Med Hat and me from the 'peg), we had some nice short conversations. They were one of the nicest couples I've ever met. Theodore on the other hand is what you scrape off from the bottom of your shoes.

Sounds to me as if the "what if" questions about Linden and Bure are things you have conjured up in your own mind. I don't recall the "what if" conversation about either Linden or Bure, and I was heavily vested in the Canucks as a season ticket holder and part of a corporate sponsor group during the Linden/Bure era (company I worked for had the scoreboard advertising rights). Trevor Linden drove the play while he was on the ice, and brought with him immeasurable intangibles. He was never going to be a 50-goal scorer or a superstar regardless of who he played with because he was an all-around player who was as defensively responsible as he was opportunistic offensively. Pavel Bure was a play driver who scored 254 goals while in a Canucks jersey and the question being asked was how many could he have had if he were healthy 1995 to 1997 and didn't have deal with work stoppage in 1995-96, not what could have he done if he had a better centerman. Bure played with Greg Adams, Russ Courtnall, Murray Craven and Mike Ridley as his centers most of the time. Bure was a playmaker who finished most of his own plays, so he didn't rely on a centerman to feed him for one timers/tap ins. But I'll play along with our game and say that Lonny Bohonos, a Winnipegger, with the right playmaking centerman could have been a superstar for the Canucks.

Totally agree...for someone to take Virtanen off the Canucks hands, additional assets would have to be offered, or the Canucks would have to take back an ugly contract. Best thing Canucks can do is dump Virtanen on a buy out.

Virtanen, Roussel, Eriksson and Holtby. All four needs to be bought out. Combined dead cap space of $6.3M for 2021-22 (and add in Luongo's $3.1M for a total of $9.4M dead cap space), and $3.64M dead cap for 2022-23. Gives the Canucks plenty of cash to sign Pettersson and Hughes to 3 x $7.0M bridge deal; Hamonic at 3 x 3.0M; cheapie back up goalie (big save Dave Rittich; offer Sutter a $1.5M contract. Leaves nearly $7.0M to sign a top six forward and third line forward.

I doubt the Red Wings would be looking for an emerging NHL goalie such as DiPietro under the terms laid out in the above proposal. The Wings have a kid named Keith Petruzelli who is coming off of two outstanding seasons as a junior and senior at Quinnipiac University who they are pretty high on. They also have a bunch of goalie prospects in Europe so there isn't a shortage of prospects in their pipeline. I've resigned to Eriksson being a cap dump as nothing but a pipe dream. I'm all for buying him out if he doesn't retire. Canucks are going to have to eat about $5.0M in cap hit, whether it's spread over one year or two years, so $4.0M in 2021-22 and $1.0M in 2022-23 vs. $4.925M in 2021-22 is all the same to me (though I think getting the extra $925K in 2021-22 would be helpful).

Rantin' Rantanen...love what he did. We need some Canucks management, coaches, players, support staff, ownership, etc. that will flip tables over, scream at a few of knuckleheads in the NHL office. Being the so called "nice guy" organization hasn't served the organization all that well. It's time to put on the truculent coat and acting like a bully (not that I condone this sort of behavior outside of the Canucks/NHL).

I'll take the words of Chris Tanev, who's very qualified to make assessments and prognostications on Quinn Hughes over anything you've got to say. Thanks.

Miss having Troy Stecher on the Canucks. He played so well last summer in the bubble, and has always been a reliable, smart hockey player. I was shocked when the Canucks didn't bring him back (even with no Q-offer, I was certain the two sides could get a deal done). Hands down, one of the most articulate and insightful interviewees to have ever played for the Canucks. I had thought he had the goods to develop into a Jared Spurgeon type d-man.

Here's what I think... Quinn Hughes had a tough season defensively. So did Schmidt...so did Hamonic at the start of the season...so did Edler...etc. For all intents and purposes, Hughes is a second year pro and his past two seasons have been stagnated, like everyone else. He took a giant leap forward from where everyone was expecting when he joined the team, and he took a step back this season. It's something that happens to nearly ALL young players coming into the NHL (same can be said for Petey this season). From what I saw, Hughes' -23 was a function of trying to do too much offensively in the neutral zone and in the offensive zone. It's also a number that's causing the usual over-reaction among the Canucks fan base. Like all d-men (young and old), he's going to get beaten in his own zone from time to time. All of Hughes' elite skills are still intact, and he's only going to get better as he gets more acclimated and stronger with time and experience. I get how some Canucks fans are "concerned" about this Hughes' -23, but IMHO, Hughes is going to be just fine as we go forward...and for the suggestion of how a better coach could make Hughes better, maybe the answer is someone like Larry Robinson. Or Brad Berry from UND. A coaching staff made up of Green, Brown, Doug Jarvis and Robinson would be my pick. My prediction for the future: Hughes will be the next Phil Housley (20-22 minutes with a pile of points and running a top five PP)...Rathbone will be the next Ryan Suter (workhorse giving you 23-24 minutes)...they bring different attributes to the team. Why wouldn't you want both on your roster for the next 10-12 years? Makes me shake my head when I see suggestions that one be moved in favor of the other.

Canucks didn't get bumped down for a change...that's a win. First of many to come this off-season.

Pettersson -- Miller -- Horvat -- Sutter gives the Canucks a competitive/deep roster of centremen. We can count on Sutter being hurt half the season, so it gives Beagle until January/February 2022 to fully heal from whatever it is that is ailing him. Then a Pettersson -- Miller -- Horvat -- Beagle centremen lineup will work just as well until playoffs roll around when both Sutter and Beagle can be inserted into the lineup.

With limited ice time and nearly all 5v5 exposure as a third/fourth liner on most nights. As Canucks fans, we've become conditioned to guard and temper our expectations for fear of being disappointed. I think as Canucks fans we need to start thinking like winners by having expectations of greatness. I expect Podkolzin to come and blow the doors off like Petterson and Hughes did.

Under the current set of circumstances, I think the most aggressive thing JB can do is buy out the aging vets, even though it will create an overhang in 2022-2023... Roussel: $1.734M cap hit in 2021-22 vs. $3.0M / $0.634M cap hit in 2022-23 Eriksson: $4.0M cap hit in 2021-22 vs. $6.0M / $1.0M cap hit in 2022-23 Virtanen: $0.050M cap hit in 2021-22 vs. $2.35M / $0.500M cap hit in 2022-23 Holtby: $0.500M cap hit in 2021-22 vs. $4.35M / $1.9M cap hit in 2022-23 Total Dead Cap for 2021-22: $9.32M including Luongo / 2022-23: $4.034M / 2023-24: Free and clear This would give the Canucks the cap flexibility to sign Hughes and Pettersson at $7.0M, Sutter for 4C duties at $1.5M, Hamonic at $3.0M, leaving the Canucks $1.0M to sign a veteran back up (Brian Elliott, David Rittich, Mike Smith, etc.), and about $6.0M to sign a top six forward (Blake Coleman or Zach Hyman at $4.0M cap hit?). It appears as if Cale Makar has leap frogged Quinn Hughes, but I think that Hughes still has all the potential to become the Brian Leetch/Phil Housley-type d-man that most of us thought last summer. It was a tough season for Hughes, but I'm as bullish on him becoming a superstar as ever, so rolling out the red carpet for Makar doesn't make sense to me. I am of the opinion that a bold move is actually staying the course (as this is counter to what fans and media are expecting). There may be opportunities to be had with the Kraken expansion (perhaps Tanev can be had from the Flames?) and cap-crunched teams like T-Bay, but if the Canucks could add a top six forward and have Hughes, Juolevi, Rathbone emerge into roles they are expected to fulfill, I believe 2021-22 will be all but a bad fading memory. My take is that the team is much better than as the results of 2021-22 indicated. Canucks will be much better by simply having Pettersson back...goaltending is world-class...Hughes will most certainly be better and return to emerging superstar status...Juloevi and Rathbone will prove that they belong...add in veteran core of Miller, Horvat, Boeser, Myers, Schmidt and Hamonic...and the excitement that Podkolzin and Hoglander will bring, the Canucks will be much better than what we saw this season.

Not so. He becomes UFA this summer: https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/coyotes/reserve-list

It's evidently clear that everyone has a different definition of what a home run is. Home runs for me are: Zetterberg at pick 210, Datsyuk at pick 171. For the Canucks, home runs are: Pavel Bure at 113, Kevin Bieksa at 151, Igor Larionov at 214, Patrick Sundstrom at 175...triples are: Jannick Hansen at 287, Gino Odjick at 86, Adrian Aucoin at 117, Doug Lidster at 133...doubles are: Adam Gaudette at 149, Gustav Forsling at 126, Ben Hutton at 147, Mike Brown at 159, Matt Cooke at 144, Brent Sopel at 144, Bill Muckalt at 221, Tyson Nash at 247, Scott Walker at 124, Dixon Ward at 128, Gary Valk at 108, Dave Lowry at 110, Moe Lemay at 105, Petri Skriko at 157, and Dirk Graham at 89. For me, it's way too early to suggest Gaudette, and even Forsling, are home runs. At best, these are doubles for now with the potential of becoming more. I don't have a point of comparison, but it seems Benning has done a pretty good job with picks in the 3rd round and beyond. Of the kids he's picked from the third round and beyond (excluding the 2020 draft), he's picked 31 players, of which, he's signed 12 (Focht, Silovs, Plasek, DiPietro, Rathbone, Palmu, Lockwood, Brisebois, Gaudette, Jasek, Tryamkin, Stewart), 8 remain protected in college or Europe (Malone, McDonough, Costmar, Utunen, Manyuken, Thiessen, Gunnarson, Zhukenov), 2 signed NHL contracts with other teams (Madden, Forsling after being traded), and 10 were cast off (Keppen, Brassard, Candella, Stukel, Abols, McKenzie, Neill, Olson, Petit). Of the 14 players signed to NHL contracts, it remains to be seen if any of them ends up with a meaningful NHL career (defined as 300 games played). I'm pretty sure DiPietro, Rathbone, Gaudette and Forsling will...and I'm hopeful for the rest.

I hope the Canucks protect Motte. IMO, he's got a lot of the hockey traits of Alex Burrows (without being an agitator). I'd be all for giving Motte a shot at playing LW on a line with Petey and Boeser. I see him as a tenacious forechecker/puck retriever, defensively aware/responsible, skilled enough to give a lot more offensively, and capable of being a back up for face-offs. It took Burrows until his 7th year as a pro (4th in the NHL) and 206 NHL games under his belt having scored 22 goals and 30 assists to be given the chance to play with the Sedins, and look how that turned out for Burrows and the Sedins. Motte is now entering his 6th year as a full time pro and has played 211 NHL games with 28 goals and 19 assists, and has shown he belongs. Call me crazy, but I think Motte would complement Petey and Boeser very well...so if Motte can elevate his play to stick with Petey and Boeser, it would create much needed 3-line flexibility for the Canucks. Maybe a line up as follows: Motte (LW) -- Pettersson (C) -- Boeser (RW) UFA Signing (LW) -- Miller (C) -- Podkolzin (RW)...maybe Blake Coleman or Zach Hyman or Zach Sanford/Oskar Sundquist (via trade) Pearson (LW) -- Horvat (C) -- Hoglander (RW) Roussel (LW) -- Sutter (C)-or-Beagle (C) -- Lind (RW) Highmore (F)

It's quite not February 2022 yet, but I thought I would add one last point... I've seen the leg "buckling" on many defencemen without it being a chronic fundamental turning issue...seen it happen on Tanev (who arguably may be the best at pivoting while in defensive posture I've seen) and Willie Mitchell (who arguably may be the best shut-down d-man Canucks have had). I'm probably grasping at straws to support my eye test, but I personally don't see Olli having "turning" weaknesses.

I saw the play you are referring to. IMO, Olli needs 20 to 40 games to fully acclimate himself to the pace of the NHL...if we're having the same conversation in February 2022, then I'll be a little concerned. But til then, I think Olli deserves the benefit of doubt. Gonna state the obvious here...all young d-men need a little time to adapt to the pace of the NHL. Olli will be just fine. But why don't we re-visit this next February? Fair enough?