Silver Ghost

I could actually see it happening tbh. The Lucic for Eriksson smoke is pretty thick. I do think though that as much as Eriksson has been garbage in Van, he is still the overall more useful and better player. Add in the extra year and NMC for Lucic (Benning needs to nullify it if he takes Lucic. which he can do as part of the CBA) and I think expanding the deal to include sonething else from Edm is the only way Benning should consider it. The caveat about those physical players is that to be effective they need at least reasonable speed to play that aggressive forecheck style that served St Louis so well. Lucic is slower than a turtle. Thats why he didnt fit with McDavid. Connor could call and order Dominos and have it delivered and eaten before Lucic would cross the blue line to catch up.

And i still think to win in the playoffs, especially in the west, you have to build your team at least to some degree to play that physical, speedy, aggressive style. You still need top end skill too of course. But thats why I am optimistic about the Canucks. Guys like Miller, Roussel, etc. are exactly the kind of complimentary guys you need for the playoffs.

That was always what i thought too. Benning going hard after Lucic was a pretty strong tell. But even some of the other guys he has brought in. He definitely drafted for that style this year too.

I think Benning was trying to build that way before St Louis won actually.

Who he is an upgrade over isnt really the point. It is whether he adds something we need. And he definitely does. Again, depending on the cost and term. You seem to be the king of the strawman. Who cares if he is better than Buff or Trouba? He is better than Stecher and Tanev at what we would need him for. And when called upon to move up the lineup in Winnipeg he actually responded and played much better at both ends. If we get Myers our D is better. Thats the bottom line. Just depends on if the contract makes sense. He would arguably be our 3rd best dman immediately. When did I say we werent in a position to add picks? Read what i actually said there bud. As far as competing, this team is probably closer than you think it is. If we add one or two better D that is. Our goaltending is good, we have the start of a very good top 6 and a bottom 6 that should be able to chip in and also play good defense. We still need somepieves but we are closer to being in the playoff hunt than we are to being bottom of the league at this point.

You are comparing Myers and Schenn? Myers is a top 4 D on almost any team. Schenn is a 6 at best, but likely a 7 or 8 on a good defense. Signing a guy like Myers, as long as its not completely nuts on dollars, is better than taking on a crap contract to accumulate picks at the stage the Canucks are at on the curve. The Canucks have a solid forward group in place now. The defense needs upgrading though. If getting Myers and another free agent D lets them trade Tanev or reduce his workload so he can finally stay healthy, it is worth it. Schenn is a good depth player but they are not comparable at all.

The nature of free agency is overpayment in dollars and term. The overpayment has to be weighed against the other available options of trading, signing a lesser player that is cheaper, or promoting a prospect. It also has to he looked at through the lens of the chain reaction it will cause in the lineup. At this point, the Canucks absolutely need an upgrade with a rh, right side D that can move the puck and eat up top 4 minutes along with special teams time. Myers isnt perfect and will likely get more term and dollars than many would like, but he absolutely would be an upgrade. The key to insulating your team from future negative value on a UFA contract is to avoid NMC and NTC as much as possible and structuring the deal so it is not buyout proof or prohibitive to an acquiring team down the road. The reality is that will also mean a premium in dollars and or term to accomplish.

Maybe Benning is under pressure from ownership to make the playoffs this year. But even if that is true, is it necessarily a bad thing? This trade is probably the easiest to understand why Benning did it out of any trade he has made. Miller is exactly what our top 6 needs. He scored 13 goals and had 47 points in75 games. Largely in a bottom 6 , secondary scoring role. Can he improve those numbers playing with EP and BB? Pretty safe bet to say yes on that. Plus he provides a physical, 200 foot game and excellent work along the boards and below the hash marks to retrieve pucks. Add in solid passing ability and you can reasonably expect he can help keep oppoments from ignoring him to defensively smother EP and BB. Miller is dangerous too. And provides versatility to play center and on a pp unit. Lets just admit that hating a conditional 1st included (i think its reasonable tbh) does not make this a hard to understand trade. The Canucks owners and mabagement SHOULD be demanding playoffs in the next few years. Or we could be Edmonton and Buffalo who are happy to lose.

Once a pick is conditionally added to a deal it cannot be used in future trades or offer sheets. Unless the language of the deal states it can be any pick the Canucks possess at a certain date which it seems this one doesn't.

Only in a worst case scenario. And there is uncertainty with almost any draft pick. Could be a Nail Yakupov we end up trading with that pick. Who knows?

Sakic is known to hardball to get what he wants. Barrie is great offensively but is actually underrated in other areas. He would be a huge step in the right direction assuming a reasonable cost.

Benning would have to move Sutter and Eriksson without retaining much or taking back a bad contract. Certainly not likely but not impossible.

At least we know JB wasnt planning to offersheet any RFA. Including that pick in a deal precludes him from targeting an impact RFA through an offer sheet.

Zaitsev is kind of a hard no for me. I just don't think his contract makes sense for where the Canucks are at. Unless the Leafs are adding something too good to pass up. Thats a big assist to them to take Zaitsev's contract.

I think whether I like either Myers or Gardiner signing in Van would come down to term and dollars. Despite their deficiencies, either would be an upgrade and fill a hole effectively. But July 1 (aka crazy GM day) frightens me a bit. Still JB has to upgrade this defense in terms of puck moving ability, offensive awareness and skill, and power play effectiveness. That creates a chain reaction that makes the forwards more effective too.

Panarin would be a perfect fit in the top 6. Panarin-EP-Boeser (opposing coach, defensemen and goalies will cry when they are danced around and scored on at will) Miller-Horvat-Pearson (opposing top lines will cry when they struggle getting possession)

This trade definitely falls in the "wait and see" category for me. A conditional 1st is a high cost and a risk, but its also a reasonable cost and a low risk play if you look at it beyond just the assets and factor in several important pieces of the puzzle. JT Miller is an upgrade for the Canucks top 6 and exactly the type of player it needs. There is no doubt. A gritty, physical player who can play a hard game along the boards and in front of the net who also possesses above average vision and passing, is a good skater, can retrieve pucks, and plays center and wing. Outside of anything else, its easy to see a fit and a hole in the lineup being filled. He has a good cap hit with term, is just entering his prime, and will likely be burning for more opportunity after being pushed down the stacked lineup in Tampa Bay. Mrazek and the 3rd are pretty meh tbh. The conditional 1st is the concern. On the surface, and given the Canucks seemingly endless string of worst case scenarios coming to fruition, its easy to fret that the team will suck and that pick will magically win the lottery. We all know we fear that. If that happens, there is a lot more wrong than this trade though. What many do not factor in is the simple future value scenario. The Canucks need to get better now. They need to surround their young guns with the right pieces. Look at Edmonton as an example of what happens when you rely on drafting exclusively. Miller and the next two years of his play are worth even more when you factor this in. That pick even if its in a worst case scenario and a high pick will not see the NHL for those two seasons so during that window has little actual value to a team on the cusp of moving from bottom feeder to contender like the Canucks are. The only valid argument i have seen is that the pick could have been used to get a top pairing right handed dman. I hope this is a chain reaction though. The defense needs to be addressed or this team will still struggle. But overall, we should take a wait and see attitude. It wasnt long ago that Canucks fans were complaining about getting hosed in the Schneider trade, or the Shinkaruk trade, or basically every trade. This deal may be good or bad but we won't know for awhile yet. In the meantime, let's enjoy having an upgrade on the top 6 wing. We needed it. If a few of Sutter, Eriksson, Tanev, and Schaller with possibly a few others can be moved to help the D or recoup some pics, that will help. Add in a guy like Panarin (good luck, I know) and a guy or two like Barrie or even Myers/Gardiner, and you have a much higher prospect of a 4 line team with 3 potential scoring lines that can still take care of their own end while providing a more physical, speedy, puck moving style. Hopefully this is the first move of several. But lets be optimistic. JT Miller doesn't need to be a saviour to be a difference maker.