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Everything posted by YearoftheNuck
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[Speculation] Canucks all in for Jason Zucker
YearoftheNuck replied to CRAZY_4_NAZZY's topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
I like Jake and think he’s a solid third liner, but I would be more than willing to trade him for Zucker. Jake probably will very likely become a 20 goal scorer (he probably would’ve gotten there this year if it wasn’t for injuries) but one thing that he has always lacked, in juniors and now in the big league, is solid hockey IQ and for that reason I’d be willing to part ways with him. Hockey IQ cannot be overstated. Green has definitely helped him improve on that a bit, but honestly I think that the ability to think the game at a high level is simply something you’re either born with or not. And then there’s his inconsistency with effort which drives me absolutely nuts, because when he’s firing on all cylinders it helps make up for his low IQ game, but the second he takes his foot off the pedal he becomes a detriment to the Canucks. -
My wife is from Toronto so we watch a lot of Leafs games, and I must say that I’m often baffled by just how bad at defence Gardiner is lol. Sure he can put up points, but I would much rather go with Myers. In fact, I really like Myers. I think he’s a good 3-4 defenseman. If the Canucks are seriously considering throwing substantial money at Gardiner, then it makes me a little concerned with our pro scouting staff. We finally have our amateur scouting staff firing on all cylinders, I pray the tires don’t fall off our pro scouting staff with this signing lol.
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2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
I like his rankings. Some big surprises in the later rounds though, with Honka and Puistola way down in his rankings. Maybe he’s not crazy about Fins lol I think he’s right and that someone before us will take Caufield, as well as Podkolzin. Having those two wildcards off the table (and they might just turn into two of the best players in the draft) will therefore cause the likes of a Boldy, or Zegras, or maybe even on of either Dach or Cozens to fall to us! Crazy hypotheticals here, but if the drafting of Hayton last year has shown us anything and even Pettersson the year before, it’s that teams will sometimes draft the player they covet even if they’re ranked quite a few spots lower, therefore if say Broberg (who I can definitely see a team coveting) as well as Caufield and Podkolzin are all picked before us, along with Hughes, Kakko, Byram and Turcotte, then that would mean three of Dach, Cozens, Boldy, Zegras or Krebs would still be on the board when we pick. Oh man that would be exciting! I need this draft to happen already because I’m beginning to drive myself nuts with the countless scenarios lol! -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
Oh man, that just broke my heart a little lol! I’d still be very happy with Newhook or Caufield, and to a lesser extent with whichever of the D’s our scouts like best. I’m really hoping for one of the high caliber forwards at 10 though. The top half of this draft is fortunately stacked IMO so regardless we should be getting a quality player, I just hate that most of our competition are getting quality players too lol! Podkolzin is such a wildcard. I’ve only seen him play in the U18’s and I thought he was alright. At the Hlinka/Gretzky tournament though he absolutely dominated. I really don’t where I stand on him. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
I’m really hoping that one of Cozens, Dach, Boldy or Turcotte falls to us. Cozens and Dach - they bring the size that our top six could use, not to mention that it’s a nice bonus that they could possibly play as soon as next year. Boldy - I see him as being the perfect winger for Pettersson Turcotte - he’s just so frickin good lol. Having him, Horvat and Pettersson down the middle (in no particular order) would give us one of the top center groups in the league. There are a lot of other players I’d be really happy with too (Krebs, Newhook, Zegras, etc) but if one of the four I previously mentioned is on the board when we draft I really Hope GMJB takes him. The way I see it, there’s a pretty good likelihood one will be there; for instance we all know that Hughes, Kakko, and Byram will be gone. So if any three of Podkolzin, Caufield, Krebs, Zegras, Broberg, Soderstrom, etc make the top ten, that will guarantee that one of the four that I’m personally hoping for will be there -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
Horvat is so awesome and has been since the moment his name was selected to become a Canuck! Can we please just give this guy the C already, he definitely deserves it. -
Pettersson wows on world stage ......again.
YearoftheNuck replied to cuporbust's topic in Canucks Talk
Excellent perspective! -
[Signing] - Brock Nelson - 6 years
YearoftheNuck replied to drofssalg's topic in Trades, Rumours, Signings
I hope that this signing ate up a chunk of the change that they would’ve offered Anders Lee, because that’s the Islanders’ UFA that I really want. https://www.nhl.com/player/anders-lee-8475314 -
Pettersson wows on world stage ......again.
YearoftheNuck replied to cuporbust's topic in Canucks Talk
An absolute beauty of a goal by Petey today and he finishes in second place on the Swedish team in points, and just outside of the top ten in the tournament. I’d say he did pretty alright -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
In my somewhat realistic dream scenario I’d love for us to package some vets and B prospects to land another first in the late teens to mid twenties to take a D man. I agree there’s just too many good forwards in our range for us to pass on. Walking out of the draft with one of Boldy/Krebs/Caufield/Zegras at 10, and Seider/Soderstrom/York/Broberg with a second first would be absolutely amazing. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
Yeah Caufield is so tempting but also somewhat concerning because of the playoff grit factor. He could be like Johnny Gaudreau who is basically a point per game player in the regular season and a 0.5 ppg player in the playoffs. Even Brendan Gallagher, who plays with a ton of heart and grit (and is one of my favourite players) slips a little, being 0.6 ppg in the regular season to 0.5 in the playoffs. I’m really hoping for Boldy. I think that his quality of skating and insane hockey IQ can offset his lack of top end speed. And I'm extremely excited to see Seider play in the upcoming World Championship. I hope he blows Benning and Brackett’s socks off and forces their hands. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
Some odd movement in his rankings IMO. I’m surprised he had York falling three spots after what I thought was a very strong U18s for him. Also surprised seeing Broberg fall a spot after Button absolutely gushed about him every time he was on the ice. In fact he gushed about him to a point of borderline humour as a few times Broberg would then make a terrible mistake that Button seemed to not see nor acknowledge. I guess he was taking notes though as he had him fall a bit. On a side note I can’t wait to see Hughes and Kakko go head to head at the World Championship, and I’m very intrigued to see Seider. If he is as good as many on here have advertised then I’d be all for trading down a couple spots to snag him. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
Not to poach your post, but I completely agree with every word you just wrote here lol. If Boldy is gone, Newhook will be a great consolation prize. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
I couldn’t agree more, which is one of the reasons he was at the bottom of my list. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
It was so awesome seeing so many of these top prospects playing each other at the U18s. With everything concluded here’s a list of players, in order that I would personally like to see us pick them. This is only based on players that could be available at the 10 spot. Boldy - I love everything about this guy’s game... back checking, penalty killing, dangles, his wrist shot, his passing, and more so than anything his intelligence! I kind of liked that his point production cooled towards the end of the tournament, hopefully giving us a better chance of landing him. And although he wasn’t producing quite as much down the stretch he was still doing a ton of positive things. Caufield - wow this kid might be the real deal. He massively won me over this tournament. Of course he benefited from playing alongside Hughes, but he made a lot happen on his own too. Turcotte - solid all round offensive game. Krebs - Heart and soul player with pretty solid skill set. Good ol’ Canadian kid lol Zegras - so many slick back hand passes. This guy has high end skills Newhook - a wicked shot and quick wheels. Podkolzin - he came on at the end and showed his aggressive net drives and hockey IQ. I don’t know where the heck he was early in the tournament though, despite having some good penalty kills and making some good defensive plays. York - this guy blew my socks off. Such a good all round d man. Him laying out Podkolzin was beautiful, and he did a solid job manning the point on the PP. Soderstrom - I wish he didn’t get hurt. I would’ve loved to have seen more of him. What little I did see though he looked good. Broberg - man I am so torn on this player. Every game he makes sick plays with his top notch skating and shot, but then he follows it up the next shift with a brutal give away or looks lax on getting back into the d zone, a few times resulting in goals against. I want to like him, I really do, but I see him frustrating the hell out of whichever fan base he’s playing for because they will see the great things he can do out there, and then the dog things as well. Kind of reminds me of Elder in that sense. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
I definitely agree with almost all of this. I would just make a couple tweaks. I see York as belonging in that third tier as well (him laying out Podkolzin today was a thing of beauty). And even though Broberg had a huge game today, I think I’d put him in that third tier as well. As for Podkolzin, I doubt he belongs in that third tier. He definitely looked like he belonged there after today’s game, but taking his entire body of work into account I’m sure he belongs in the second tier. I haven’t personally seen enough of him to have a strong opinion though, but he had a mister performance at the Gretzky/ Hlinka tournament and I trust the scouts and analysts, all of which seem to have him in the top ten, if not five. The great thing is that I’ll happy if we draft any name on that list. This is a loaded draft. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
If he’s still on the board when we’re about to pick, I’m going to get the Bol-dy chant going in Rogers Arena, which will be really awkward if Benning picks someone else lol -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
I just put in a U18 marathon and these were my take aways in regards to players that could be there at 10: First and foremost, we are going to be in a position to choose between a handful of very good players. Fingers crossed that Benning and Bracket can hit another home run. Boldy - I absolutely loved his game. Such a smart player and a very slick passer. He plays solid defence as well. I can definitely see Benning picking this beauty. Caufield - no surprise here, he’s a deadly sniper that plays up to his strengths perfectly. He definitely benefits from playing alongside world class playmakers though, however it is solely up to him to put the puck in the back of the net when he does get it, and he is extremely good at doing just that. In last year’s U18 Wahlstrom missed quite a few perfect feeds from Jack Hughes, and I just don’t see Caufield missing many of those same shots. In my mind he’s superior sniper than Wahlstrom. Krebs - he took a bit to get going (all of Canada did though) but once he did he was a game changer. A quick skater, good shot, and plays with tenacity. He seems like a winner that will drag his teammates through the finish line when needed. He could’ve easily had two more assists had his teammates put away the tap-ins he dished up. Newhook - he’s got great wheels, I just wish I saw more of his hustle on his back checking. Scored a nice goal, top pocket with a nice wrister. I’m excited to see more of him. York - silky smooth skater and passer. Fits the model of a new age defenceman. I thought he was the most impressive of all the D men tonight in both games. Soderstrom - made a lot of nice plays. One good rush where he used his short stick to dangle through a few players. He did fumble the puck on a few occasions but I’m sure he’ll steady those nerves as the tourney wears on. Broberg - wow, this guy is fun to watch. He plays good defence and uses his big body well. He skates very well too but kind of reminds me of Virtanen in the sense that he often just goes south to north with very little materializing from his rushes, I think this might be because (just like Virtanen) he somewhat lacks vision. Also in his own end zone I noticed that he was slow to make decisions with the puck on a few occasions whereas Soderstrom seemed very decisive. All in all this was just a small sample pack, but my first impression is that I wouldn’t take him at ten when guys like Boldy and Krebs will likely be there, but if we got another pick in the first round, even if it was at eleven, I would definitely be tempted to take him. He’s so enigmatic and seems like a very high risk yet potentially huge reward type of player. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
I think after this U18 tournament his stock is going to soar. From what I’ve seen of him I would extremely pleased if we picked him at 10. He and Hughes flying around the ice a Rogers Arena for the next decade or so would be very entertaining. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
I’m hoping Benning takes a long hard look at Anders Lee and Brock Nelson of the Islanders. They both play LW, both put up consistent numbers, are a good age (28 and 27 respectively), and both have very big bodies. I feel either one of these guys would be a great fit for us. -
2019 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, BC
YearoftheNuck replied to Qwags's topic in Prospects / Farm Team
Long time reader, first time poster, and diehard fan of the NHL draft This is my Pre U18s mock draft. Things will undoubtedly change after that tournament, just like they did last year when Kotkaniemi catapulted into the third spot (I don’t even think his own mother saw him being drafted that high). There are a few players that I’m very intrigued to see in this tournament: Newhook - after lighting up inferior talent in the BCHL it will be great to see him playing against his true peers. A good tourney can plant him into the top ten. Krebs - it’ll be great to see him playing alongside fellow skilled line mates. It’s hard to get a good gauge on him while playing on a the worst team in the W. Podkolzin - he dominated the Gretzky/Hlinka tournament. If he dominates the U18s as well then he should definitely secure himself a top 5 spot despite the ‘Russia factor’. But man if he somehow fell to us at 10 he could be the piece that entices Tryamkin back to Vancouver. 1. Devils pick Hughes Kakko and Hischier would make a deadly pair, but Hughes is too good to pass on. 2. Rangers pick Kakko Good for the Rangers to finally draft in the top three and to land such a deadly prize. I think it would be next to impossible to pry this pick from them. 3. Blackhawks pick Cozens They’ve got tons of young talent on D and opt for the most NHL ready prospect to help bring their team back to the promise land while they still have Toews and Kane under contract. Also, take a look at this kid’s frame (and don’t mistake him for the baseball player), he’s big and lean and has a lot of filling out to do and he’s already 6’3” and 185 lbs while also being one of the best skaters in the draft. When he fills out his stride should be that much more powerful and he will be a very difficult payer to contain. 4. Avalanche pick Byram Tons of talent up front and have begun to shore up their backend, but the memories of their recent dog days of being a dismal front loaded team still haunt them and inspire them to add to their D. 5. Kings pick Podkolzin They shed tears of joy to have a talent such as this fall into their laps. He will likely dominate the U18s in the same way that he absolutely dominated the Gretzky/Hlinka cup, and if so I think there’s a good chance Chicago takes him 3 and the Kings end up taking Cozens at 5. 6. Redwings pick Dach Dach centring a line with Zadina will be incredibly dangerous. The fact that this big, skilled kid could go in the 5-10 range shows just how good the top of this draft class is. 7. Sabres pick Zegras The fact that he can play the wing or centre is appealing to the Sabres. His feist can compliment Reinhart or Middlestadt if playing on their wings. Team America will be sticking their centre depth from the Sabres ranks in every international tournament with the likes of Eichel, Middlestadt and Zegras. 8. Oilers pick Boldy A defensively responsible yet offensively gifted big body to play alongside McDavid just seems to make sense in Oil country. 9. Ducks pick Soderstrom Lots of young talent up front and it’s time to focus on adding more to their backend with this well rounded stud. Already playing against men means that Soderstrom could be playing in the NHL a lot sooner than most D, adding to his appeal. 10. Canucks pick Turcotte An absolute steal at ten. Easily a top five talent. The Canucks are tempted by Krebs and his work ethic, but can’t pass on Turcotte’s elite skill. Having three high caliber centres is a rare treat (it worked very well for the Penguins when they had Crosby, Malkin, and Staal - granted two them are elite hall of famers). Gaudette can be transitioned to the wing or traded in a package for a young right shot D man. As you can see, despite every team claiming they take BPA, every year teams get suckered into drafting by positional needs and I don’t see this year being any different. If the BPA for the Canucks happens to be a LW or RHD then that’ll be fantastic, but ultimately I just hope that they go with the BPA. There’s a lot of high end Centres in this draft and if one of those gems falls to us then I hope we take him.