gameburn

No Tanev.  His confidence has been shot half this year so far.  Making more giveaways, getting pushed off the puck.  He is shooting less effectively too imo.

This summer's disastrous set of decisions/indecisions by Benning has been very bad for a bunch of players, Hughes among them.  Bad for Horvat and Pettersson too of course, and Miller and Virt too.  Only been good for players who are finally getting a chance like Juolevi. Or who aren't injured for the first time in years (Boeser and Sutter.)  The Eriksson, Beagle, Roussel (and Edler, tbh) signings finally caught up with Benning.  Obviously they should have re-signed Stecher, obviously Toffoli had to be worked in somehow.  And they should have got a cheap, easy goaltender back up for Demko.  It's the cap space and the inability to make the changes we can all see are needed that is killing the team.  Key young guys like Hughes and Pettersson are not stupid, they know they are working with less, have more put on them than last year.  To go from being a legitimate contender last year (at least as indicated in the playoffs) to a very average one this year is not going to be missed by the guys living in it.  At the moment, the less you are paid, the better you are and the more responsibility you carry.  Not good. A few years from now we may see that what Hughes and Boeser are really doing right now is auditioning for their next team; this summer was a watershed for a lot of the fans, can't see it wouldn't have had some effect on the players.

Amazing.  A piece of movie trivia of the highest order, imo.

but gets an 'A' for effort. 

That's what we need for Canadian Soccer.  Although they may have something already, and some of us just don't know about it.

So a business thing... not so much a Canucks/fan thing.  Makes sense.

lol

I never played hockey beyond Midget.  So, never really appreciated defensive side of the game, tbh.  I think you may be on to something though.  The team looked very different under WD -- a lot of shoot ins.  And very different under Torts -- a full court press game.  Travis is different again, not sure what his system is, but the team seems to be giving up fewer 3 on 2, 2 on 1s and also seems to be getting more out of Edler, and now Hutton.  They do pinch a lot, and generally don't give up the blueline as easily.

Edler has been better this year than last, and was much better last  year than the previous year.  So, yes, I'm being a bit harsh.  He even seems to defend against the rush better than 2 or 3 years ago.  Which is amazing, as he is older.

I have to admit: if they re-sign him after he is playing this well, it's a good decision.  I just have a hard time forgetting the old Edler, who coughed up pucks and looks like he was wearing boots when the rest of the team had skates.  For some reason he is a lot better than he was 2,3 and 4 years ago.  No idea why,  keep expecting him to revert.

Perhaps I'm hoping too much for Hutton, but I think he has a better chance of being on the top pairing than Edler does.  Edler will be done in 18 months, at the latest.  The guy is showing his age, and has not been the player he was for a few years now.   Who will be higher than Hutton?  Tanev?  The guy isn't in the lineup enough to qualify tbh. And how will the pairings reflect this?   Hughes and Gudbranson?  Juolevi and Tanev?  Tanev and... someone? ... this is what's coming soon enough.  And if Hutton can start potting a few of his chances, he'll be in the running for something certainly better than 5 or even 3 on the list.  He's showing he can defend, that he can put in the minutes.  Once he starts putting up points -- as many goals as assists with his present style -- Hutton will be more and more useful.  It would be a mistake to assume that because Hughes is the likely #1 or #2 on the team that it means he has to be complemented by a big stay-at-home D, i.e., Gudbranson/Tanev/Edler, whoever makes the best fit.  

Virtanen had one of his best games of the year too.  Not as important to the outcome as EP or Hutton, but he helped.  

Hutton is arguably the story of the year up to this point.  EP was expected to be rookie of the year material -- yes, he's been even better than we thought he'd be, but so is Hutton, but more so.