Father Ryan

I met Smyl, decades ago. He is really about 5'8 1/2, and the 195 is a little under. He usually started the year around 202, and ended around 190. His heart...put it this way. Place Smyl's heart into Edler's body, and you get one truly scary player! Anyrate, yeah...Smyl. My favorite memory of him. Playing against Calgary. Smyl is coming down the right wing. Gradin flips him this gentle little backhand pass. Smyl winds up and hits it about perfectly. Mike Vernon was in net. That slapper nailed Vernon right in the groin. To this day, I have never seen BOTH teams cringe in unison.

I did see that; good luck to him! Like I said, he has some talent, maybe it's just a case of not having been in the right situation to show it.

Judging from his junior stats, he's not devoid of talent. I do like this trade, Holm wasn't going to crack the top 4...ever. Maybe this guy could be the playmaker on a line with Sutter and Archie (both of them are shooters first), and give us a line that could drive opponents nuts, then turn around and score to boot.

If he is suffering the ill effects of some hits in his wrist, I wouldn't be adverse to sitting him for the 3 game road trip coming up. Let that wrist heal up some. It's not like we are a threat to make the playoffs. Slot Virt in on his line for those 3 games. This would do wonders for Virt's confidence, and let him know he is a valued player, going into his RFA status. Barzal has pretty much locked up the Calder, no need to pretend to keep up the chase.

That may not be all. If Archie can stick around, then we have a 3rd physical winger to go with them. I know speed is the game these days, but if you can knock 'em around enough...they'll slow down eventually

Ok, thanks! Did not know all of this; kinda surprising, but it does make the cap easier to figure out

So, contracts at this point aren't allowed to have escalators for such things as goals/assists/points, All-Star appearances and the like?

For a one year, sounds good. For Virt, would prefer 2 yr at $1.375 per, with some bonus escalators built in. Hopefully, by the end of that contract, we should know if he is going to be merely a 4th line grinder with superb speed and questionable hockey IQ...or has he figured it out and is on pace for a regular 3rd liner that can slide up when needed.

Any word on Bo's injury status? The "six weeks" are up at about the time we get back from Winnipeg, after the All-Star break. Getting him back for that 5 game homestand would sure be a boost to the team.

Are you talking about what the league would do to him, or the parade that Vancouver would give him for destroying some ref?

It's called looking off the safety. Most free safeties will watch the quarterback for clues, especially on longer downs (guilty as charged, I'm speaking from experience here). QB is watching a crossing pattern develop, but has already seen that his WR has cleared from his man. This is to make the FS (ie. me, on several occasions) delay just that one step that makes a difference between a 5-8 yard gain and a 15-20 yard gain. All the best can do this; watch Brady one day. He may stare down his WR a couple of times per game, but he also gives safeties, both FS and SS, fits with his eyes.

Well, since he isn't a giveaway machine, isn't prone to 2-3 brain farts per game, and quietly goes out his business...sure, that eliminates at least 2 pages per game right there. You can eliminate another 1-2 pages per game because he isn't a scoring machine, or expected to be. He's just one of those players those isn't noticed...until it's time to look back to see what went right. That's when Tanev is noticed...unless he's hurt

This is one guy I would really like to see back here. The earliest I think we would see him, would be after next year's KHL season. If he indicates a strong desire to come back, and continues to play as well, or even better continues to improve, I could see the Canucks exploring a buy out of his contract...if such a transaction can actually take place. Think about this for a D core in the 19-20 season for us: MDZ - Tanev Tryamkin - Joulevi Pouliott - Stetcher (or Guddy, or Hutton) Chatfield/Brisebois I think we could be rather competitive with that. How 'bout you guys?

I'd like to see Baer continue with us, for at least another 3 years. By then, we should have a good idea about Dahlen, Pettersson, Lind and Gadjovich. Looking at your lines...I'd put Dahlen on LW in that blank spot. I really am not a fan of having Kane here. He will command too much money for what he brings, and hamstring our efforts at getting all these guys signed. Having put forth the idea of a three year contract, I could easily see $4M yearly for Baer. If he is still playing at a high rate at the end of that...well, we can cross that bridge then. But, having too many good players, is not a bad event to have happen!

3rd line center...but only because he's behind Petersson and Bo.

Not a bad problem to have! And this doesn't include if Benning finds yet another good one in the next couple/few drafts.

True enough, and that goes with the "coordination" analogy. He is skating better, and seems to be adjusting to the additional weight from his rookie season. Now, it's becoming his decision making process. Yes, they all get beat at times; I've been around long enough to see guys like Brad Park, Larry Robinson, Dennis Potvin, all get beat on occasion. The example from last night was pointing out where Hutton's decision making hasn't caught up yet...but it will.

Well said! I've had this feeling that this year will be when Hutton "gets" it. His game, right now, is transitioning into a more physical game. It's kinda like most of us in 10th-11th grade, when our coordination had not kept pace with our growth. I do expect that somewhere around game 30 or so, Hutton will become more of what he will play like for his career. I doubt he will be a consistent 40 point scorer; more like consistently in the 25-30 point range, but could have the odd 35-40 point year once or twice in his career. The improvement will be in his positioning, and in his board play. Take the Eichel rush last night. Hutton initially had good position. When Eichel started going around him, Hutton appeared to not make a quick enough decision between playing the man, or the puck. He did (temporarily) have the puck in his skates but lost it, as (to me) he made a lame attempt at a hip check, WAY too late. That decision making process is where Hutton just needs to keep playing. He should use practice time to figure out how he will play similar rushes. If he had just played the man from the start, he could have easily steered Eichel out wide and eliminated the goal threat; conversely if he had used both his skates and his stick to play the puck from the onset, he likely could have stopped the rush, maybe; this is Eichel so maybe not. Either way, a commitment to finishing the check, instead of trying to think his way through, would have most likely saved that goal. I still think Hutton is a better option that Puillot, Weircioch or any other Dman in system that was not one of the top 6 to start with. I would keep him with Tanev for the time being, and let MDZ stay with Guddy.

These two guys; get 'em signed! Give them a year in Utica, and for the '19-20 season, guys like Eriksson and Baer need to be looking over their shoulders. Provided Virt keeps up what he is doing now, try a line of Virt-Gaudette-Gadjovich as a 3rd line. Plenty of speed, plenty of grit, lotsa size, good amount of skill. Then go Lind-Horvat-Boeser as another, and then Dahlen-Petersson-(yet to be acquired/drafted/Granlund?). That's three lines that would be a mulit-year core for this team.

He didn't cost anything to acquire, so if he's gone, we haven't lost anything either. He very well could be a short version of Grenier; pretty good at the AHL level, just not quite good enough at the NHL level.

I was just going with what the team did last year. I duly note your opinion, and honestly I can see having the personnel either way. Biega and Pedan...Biega is very replaceable, but I'd like to have Pedan around for trade bait.

A really good signing by Benning. He does a lot of things well, and his shots seem to find their way at least to the goalie and are on net; not someone shin guards (ehem, cough, cough, Edler) or easily deflected before getting there. I'd like to see him and Brisebois paired in Utica; their games seem like they could be complimentary.

If he is healthy, then my choice is Rodin. Pedan, right now, is a big body, with speed and snarl, but otherwise too inconsistent for the NHL level. Rodin is a proven scoring forward (at least in Sweden) and looked really good last camp, even on one leg.

Ok, didn't know that about McEneny. That does change things. With that, I keep McEneny and Wiercioch in Vancouver, send Pedan down along with Biega. Wiercioch has proved he can play at the NHL level, albeit not much above a 6-7, but that's better than Pedan (for now).

From this, I go with 13 forwards, 8 defensemen; keep Burmistrov, Pedan and Wiercioch up. The rest go down. The only one I would see getting claimed would be Boucher. Chaput and Biega provide some value, but guys like them are fairly common, and are usually available at younger ages. McEneny is still waiver eligible (I think) and Megna provides very little value except as a speedy warm body (at the NHL level)