Dungass

Yikes, hasn't even skated yet. That puts him at least a couple weeks away.

Zack looks great down on the farm. I remember watching him in the Young Stars in September. A Jets defender ran him from behind into the boards. Zack immediately dropped his gloves and kicked the crap out of the kid. Didn't happen again. Type of player we need on a team clearly lacking grit and character right now.

Any reason for this guy on the team instead of Archie, went out the window last night.

Tough to see a role for him on this team after tonight.

Yikes, Olli is -7 after 4 games. That said, I've been suitably impressed in the periods I've seen him play. He hasn't been flashy by any means, but does make great outlet passes.

Saunter run hard, then Carter Banks got his ass kicked trying to stick up for him.

Interesting, the rumour I was referring to was from Botch's "Athleticies" or whatever the hell he's calling his column. His reasoning was that, unlike Lind, Gadjo's ELC contract can slide for another year if he returns to junior. I dunno, I just want the kid to play. I'm pretty impressed with his combination of skill and toughness and would hate to have a him waste a year watching minor-league action from the press box.

Perhaps nursing an injury, but aside from his impressive stint at the end of last year, I haven't been terribly impressed with what I've seen this year. He was completely invisible during both the Young Stars tourney and the pre-season.

Early results are quite encouraging. I liked his play in the pre-season, as well as the first two games. 3 points in two ain't nothing to sneeze at, never mind he's looked dangerous for stretches when he didn't score. However, I think this road trip will be a good barometer of what kind of season he's going to have.

Rumour has it Gadjo might be back on his way to the OHL. Normally not a huge fan of prospects doing a t D+2, but in Jonah's case it might be beneficial since he missed so much of last year with injury, and it's not looking like he's going to get a ton of ice time in Utica this year. On a side note, anyone have any updates on Thatcher's status?

I think that's definitely the plan, however, as always with College hockey, timing might be an issue. My understanding is that if the Wolverines go all the way to the Frozen Four the Canucks season would already be over.

Don't know if anybody should read too much into Burke's comment that after chatting with Benning, Virt's still on the team "for now".

Boy, Alex Auld ripped him a new one on sports net last night. Rick Dhaliwal@DhaliwalSports Alex Auld on SN 650 postgame show on Virtanen : I am disappointed in Virtanen, he scored a ton of goals in junior but it has not translated to the NHL. He looks like he is comfortable to be in the NHL, he is not showing the desperation needed. #Canucks

Not looking good so far. I wonder if players have to do a physical before signing a new contract?

And he's out again with injury, bruised leg, week-to-week.

The positives: he had a solid season in Finland, with some ups and downs. Was a healthy scratch a few times mid-season but ended up on the first pairing during the playoffs. Looked solid at the WJC, but was second pairing. Perhaps Finnish politics played a role in this, or not. Here's the reality, though. He was picked 5th overall, and because of that, expectations will always be high. Management was counting on him to be power play quarterback of the future for the team. That is something, almost no one believes anymore. His ceiling looks to be a top 4 defence man, which is fabulous considering the state of our current corp, but even that's no lock. So yes, people rag on him, but that's also what happens when you get picked in the top five and don't pan out for what your projection is. Is this fair? Not really, Olli seems like a really good kid, and as is often mentioned, he wasn't the one making the draft selection. But it is life as a professional athlete. Top 4 projection is still in the cards. This is a massive season for him. I would think he'll get a ton of ice time in Utica, although, due to his surgery, he will probably start slow. However, by the end of the season, I think we'll have a much better idea as to what kind of player Olli Juolevi will be for this franchise.

$59.99 for all Comets games.

Gaudette was going to have to blow down the doors during pre-season to have any chance of making the team. That hasn't happened, last night, playing with Leipsic and Brock was probably his best chance, and there was a bit of soft thud. It would have been nice to see him force management's hand a little, but honestly, I'm looking forward to my Utica Comets live streaming package with him centering the top line, between Dahlen and Boucher.

Cut today, not a huge surprise, he's looks a good ways away from making the big club. It will be interesting to see how he's used in Utica. Nothing is going to be given to him there, lots of depth on that team too.

The next two years are make or break for Jake and I'm betting on make. Kid has all kind of skill, just love his blinding speed, of course his hands could still use a little work. Think Rob has said in the past, if you don't have this kind of player on your team, then you are constantly trying to acquire one. I really loved that he took time out of his summer to go up to Rupert and take part in the Autism awareness charity. To me that spoke volumes to how much he has grown as a professional.

Agree with Johnson on this one. Gaudette looked totally dialled in and, IMO, the most NHL ready player on the Canucks team. If he doesn't make the team out of camp, and I'm not saying he won't, but I am skeptical JB would put Gagne or Granlund on waivers, he looks to have one heck of a season in Utica. He could do some serious damage with Boucher on his wing.

Wasn't the best exhibition for Ollie, wasn't the worse. Did he look like a dynamic top-pairing d-man this weekend? No, definitely not, but I don't think the brass expected him to. One message that came across loud and clear last year was that he needs to improve his conditioning, especially in the off-season. Salo mentioned this a couple of times. And what happens? He has off-season surgery. So I think there might be the expectation that he'll start slow. Again, he wasn't awful, his positioning was usually sound, demonstrated some nice hands at times and he showed off he smooth stride. I noticed he hadn't tied up his man properly on one goal and when he tried clearing passes a few times, they were too hot to handle for the forwards. I don't think he ended up with any points for the two games, but I might be wrong. I expect more of the same in training camp and the pre-season. I'm hoping that by the time mid-season rolls around, we'll see a more complete player, maybe even a cup of coffee or two at the end of the year. Now, if he doesn't push hard for a job on the team this time next year, it might be time to push the panic button, but I still think he projects out well for the future. If he can round at his game to what he showed at the World Juniors last year, he looks to have top 4 potential.

Don't know if anybody saw it, but in a Q and A session with Pronman about a week ago, he was asked if there were any depth-prospects in the league with really high end ceilings who might jump up into the upper elite tier of prospects. He replied with one name, "Jack Rathbone". The kid is going to Harvard, and from what I've seen, many of their hockey players stick around for the full four years (Donato seems to be a bit of an exception, staying for three), so either way it doesn't look like we'll see him in a 'Nucks uni anytime soon.

Well, let's see. He was sent down at the end of the season, half-assed it for half a game, was benched for the other half, sitting alone by himself as the trainer barely talked to him, and then was scratched for the next. When reporters asked Cull about the injury, Cull said something along the lines of "He's doing well, I'll leave it at that." Either way, the optics were terrible. He then proceeded to mail it in during the playoffs. At the very least, we can agree that he leaves a lot to be desired with work ethic and attitude. Look, maybe he does come into camp in the best shape of his life and tears it up during the preseason. But everything we've seen thus far would suggest that's probably not going to happen, and his social media antics this summer have done nothing to suggest otherwise.

Ok, so I've been ruminating about this for a few weeks now. Goldy is an immense talent, I mean any player who can leave Drew Doughty searching for his jock strap is going to be worth his salt. But there is a reason he hasn't become a full-time player yet, 4 years after his draft and already on his second team. I enjoyed watching him last year, especially during the later part of the season when he got his crack at the top line. Even though, he did make more of an effort to be more responsible as the season went, I think it's fair to say, he still has room to grow in that aspect of his game. What cheesed me off, more than anything else, was his stunt at the end of the year, when he was sent back down to the Comets. Clearly he wasn't pleased to be there, maybe considering himself an NHL regular already. That back injury he claimed was clearly bogus and a cover for him having a hissy fit for being sent down. This season is make or break for Goldy. He has a shot to be a full-time NHL player for the first time in his career. But make no mistake, he is facing stiff competition to get there. Granlund, Gagne and Leipsic, especially the latter are in the same boat. If he doesn't make the team, then he's back to either the minors, or claimed off waivers and with his third team in three years. I would expect to see him treating this off-season as life or death for his NHL career. Instead, he's posting crap on social media, adoring himself. It's almost as if he's decided that since he showed some success at the NHL level last year his career is made, either here or in the KHL. He needs to come to camp with a fire in his eyes and belly in order to make this team, and judging by this off-season, we're seeing more of the same issues that have held him back thus far in his career. I know this won't be a popular post on this board, and I would love to be proven wrong. If he posts 20 goals and 40 points after time on the PP and one of the top lines, I will be dancing in the streets. But at this point, I'm betting against it and thinking he'll be either on a different team or out of the league by this team next year.