Patel Bure

@Dazzle @canuktravella, You guys do realize that I meant for next season and not this coming season right?

Couldn’t agree more. This has to be one of the most lobsided deals that I’ve ever seen before.

With one year left on his contract, I think Eriksson will be moveable at this point, but it will require a massive sweetener. Still - only 2 million in real dollars will be owed to Eriksson after this season.

This deal is a MASSIVE win for the Canucks as far as this coming season goes, but will we be able to clear enough cap to sign Demko, Pettersson, and Hughes now?

Absolute highway robbery. great job Benning!

Given that we will have to reup all of Demko, Pettersson, and Hughes next season, the Canucks might not even be able to afford signing an RFA from another team via successful offer sheet. If the Canucks are looking to add someone, I think signing or trading for a guy on a one year deal (or having one year left on his deal), would probably make the most sense. But again - this is contingent on how much cap space the Canucks will actually have left after the Virtanen arbitration, Gaudette signing, Juolevi signing, etc. After looking at our defense for next season, it may not be as bad as I had originally thought: Hughes-Myers Edler-Rafferty [Rathbone or Juolevi]-Benn Chatfield -Edler can mentor Rafferty -Each pairing will have a very good PMD (which was arguably our biggest weakness this past season) -Edler can be taken off the PP and focus more of his efforts on the PK. Benn and Chatfield can also be used here. I still contend that one of Rathbone or Juolevi might be used as a sweetener at some point to clear cap space if Benning sees it fit to make an aggressive push this season at some point. ps - MAYBE at the deadline, if the Canucks look competitive and have the cap space, you can move ONE of Juolevi and Rathbone + 2021 1st for a Dougie Hamilton (Hamilton would be a pure rental since we wouldn’t be able to afford his cap the following year). Carolina likely wouldn’t do that deal since they themselves will be a competitive team, but I’m just spitballing here.

I think Toffoli is done here to be honest. I also don’t think Benning will go after AP since he’ll need to keep as much cap space open as possible in order to re-up Pettersson and Hughes. I suspect that if Benning does bring in another defenseman, it will be a stay at home type of guy that has one year left on his contract (ie a Kris Russell or Jason Demers type via trading of a lower round draft pick). Obviously - Benning will have a greater idea of his cap once the Virtanen arbitration gets settled. As of right now, I think our team will be as follows: Miller-Pettersson-Boeser Pearson-Horvat-Eriksson Roussel-Gaudette-Virtanen Motte-Beagle-MacEwen Sutter or Ferland. Hughes-Myers Edler-Rafferty Juolevi-Benn Chatfield Demko Holtby 1) maybe a low round pick gets moved for a vet RD UFA on a one year deal (ie Demers type guy) 2) There’s a small chance that maybe Benning puts Baertschi on the team and then trades Pearson for a #4 RD on a one year deal (Demers or Russell type guy). 3) I believe that Edler will be used to mentor Rafferty in a similar way to how Tanev was mentoring Hughes. Speaking of our defense for next season, as it stands: Hughes-Myers Edler-Rafferty [Juolevi or Rathbone]-Benn Chatfield I will admit that I’m fairly impressed by the number of PMD’s that we will have back there. Each of those pairings will have a guy that will be able to make a strong first pass. The only question is if Edler, Myers, Benn, and Chatfield will be enough to take on those tough defensive assignments? If not, then that’s when I think Benning will make one of those ‘Demers or Kris Russell’ type moves. One thing that I didn’t expect Benning to do in this off-season was in really committing to his prospect pool. I had originally assumed that he’d be a little more laissez-fair in terms of using sweeteners to get rid of bad contracts but he hasn’t done that at all (which can be chalked up as a good thing). At some point however, I do think Benning will need to figure out that left side for the long term. Hughes-xxx Edler-xxx [Juolevi or Rathbone]-xxx Tryamkin will also come back either next season or even as early as this season when the season in Russia ends. Tryamkin will be needed due to his size and ability to kill penalties. Tryamkin can be moved to the right side, but will Juolevi be able to fill the shoes of Edler when Edler becomes a UFA, or would the Canucks need to sign Edler again? Future: Hughes-Myers Rathbone-Tryamkin Juolevi-[Chatfield or Rafferty?]

Severson will likely cost a LOT. Ditto for Philippe Myers. If we have to go the Free Agency route, my vote would be for Sami Vatanen, although a lot of it would depend on the Canucks’ long term cap strategy. I don’t want Vatanen if it serves as a hindrance to reupping Pettersson, Hughes, and Demko. Judging by the way things are going, here is what I think Benning will do: 1) See how Virtanen’s arbitration plays out. 2) Depending on how much cap space is left, make a minor trade for a veteran RD that has one year left on his contract (ie Jason Demers type guy) so that the Canucks can field a competitive team this year, while also being able to clear cap space for next season.

Our depth on RW heading into next season would be way too weak. Boeser, Leivo, MacEwen, and Lind is........:-/ With Toffoli unlikely to come back, the Canucks will have to hold onto both Boeser and Virtanen.

[proposal] Offer sheet - Ethan Bear Over the last few days, most would agree that we’ve played the role of Vanna White to Calgary’s Pat Sajak as they’ve signed away three of our players. Now? Perhaps it’s our turn to wear the proverbial big boy pants and put the Oilers through the ringer. The Oilers have about 730K in cap space and need to sign their tough, defensively strong, and mobile 23 year old dman in Ethan Bear. I say we offer sheet him. If Alberta is taking Markstrom and Tanev from us, then we’re taking some good ol’ Bear meat. Put the kid beside Hughes and let him be the Ying to Hughes’ Yang for the next 10 years. A young solid defensively responsible and tough kid to play alongside our budding superstar. Sounds like a good deal to me. I don’t think the Oilers would be able to match. p.s. Offer sheeting Cernak is also tempting to me, but I don’t think Tampa’s cap problems are as severe as people are making them out to be. Tampa can win without Stamkos. If Tampa truly wants to commit to guys like Cernak, Sergachev, Cirelli, etc., then all they’d really have to do is move Stamkos for a high pick or prospect, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Stammer would have many suitors even if he’s no longer the player that he once was.

Is Gaudette with Loui with no retention realistic however? Would any team bite on that? I’m not so sure. If there were takers however, I’d definitely be all over that. Roll with Sutter and Beagle as your centers, and then find a cheap 3rd line C in the next off-season (or evening try and bring back Sutter at pennies on the dollar).

I originally would have been on board with moving Virtanen, but with Toffoli out of the picture now, the Canucks will need to hold on to both Boeser and Virtanen in my opinion. It's unfortunate, but it's starting to look more and more like the Canucks will get their tonsils obliterated this coming season.

While I like the fact that the presence of either Vatanen or Hamonic would insulate and protect the development of our young guys (ie Rafferty or Chatfield as our 7th dman that can play higher when inevitable injuries hit), I’m kind of “meh” on both vets. Vatanen is not the player that he once was and is becoming injury prone like Tanev. Hamonic has terrible underlying numbers and while he plays very physical and blocks shots, those kinds of players tend to decline very drastically without notice. Signing Hamonic could be risky. Benning might just be better off whipping out the knee pads and calling Arizona’s GM again to accept Arizona’s proposal.

Is there any chance that Tryamkin can come back for this season? If so - then yeah, I’d definitely feel a lot more comfortable.

I’m all for pushing the young guys if they’re ready as well, but they need to be insulated. What good does it do Demko if you’re trying to get him to take the next step with 50/50 duty, playing behind an AHL calibre defense? You also do no justice to guys like Rafferty and Chatfield by forcing them into roles that they may not be able to handle. I’m not a fan of the idea of signing Hamonic or Vatanen, but it might have to come down to that. I’m perfectly okay with guys like Chatfield and Rafferty being used as 7th dmen that fill in when injuries hit, but anything more than that and you’re setting them up to fail. When a kid learns to ride a bike, you give him training wheels. You don’t put him on a motorbike.

[proposal] Gaudette + one of Juolevi or Rathbone as a sweetener Gaudette + one of Rathbone or Juolevi should be a good enough sweetener to get rid of a significantly bad contract should it not? Move Gaudette and roll with Sutter and Beagle as your bottom 6 centers. With Hughes here, the Canucks don’t need both of Juolevi and Rathbone on that left side. Only one of those guys needs to develop into a 2nd pairing guy for us. Just get a cheap vet on the 3rd pairing LD in the future. Future: Hughes-xxx OJ or Rathbone-xxx CheapVet-xxx Use the freed up cap space to try and work something out with Tampa for Cernak. All I know is that the Canucks absolutely CANNOT roll with Myers, Benn, Chatfield, and Rafferty as your RD’s next season. Hamonic Has terrible underlying numbers and guys like him tend to age drastically without a moments notice. Vatanen might be a nice option but he’s also fairly injury prone these days. Maybe Martinez out of Vegas if Pietrangelo signs with Vegas, or even offer sheeting someone like McKenzie Weegar.

Whelp - back to bed for me. Night folks.

[proposal] Signing Wenneberg + using Gaudette as a sweetener Sign Wenneberg and then use Gaudette as a sweetener to get rid of someone like Sutter. Yay or nay?

I’m very happy about the Holtby deal. Great support for Demko which can help Demko ease into the number one spot. Holtby can be exposed in the Expansion draft as well. Sad to see Markstrom go, but he deserves a big pay day. Canucks seem to want to bring Tanev back while being willing to let go of Toffoli, but I would strongly advise doing the opposite. -Let Tanev walk -Sign Toffoli -Move Brock for a young defensively minded RD. As it relates to my Brock idea, perhaps the Canucks already attempted to do that (with both Brock and Virtanen but felt that the offers coming back weren’t acceptable?). Either way - I would try and find someone better than Tanev even if we’re not bringing Toffoli back.

Wenneberg is much better defensively is he not? I also feel that Wenneberg can still get back to where he was in terms of his offense. History has shown that some players completely shut down when they have to play for a “tough” coach like Tortorella and Keenan. Some players just completely shut down when they get chewed out. I suspect that Wenneberg was one of those players and that he can still be salvaged.

Miller-Pettersson-Boeser Pearson-Horvat-Virtanen Roussel-Wenneberg-Leivo Motte-Beagle-MacEwen OEL-Myers Hughes-Vatanen Juolevi-Benn Demko Schneider Gaudette + Rathbone + 2021 1st + Eriksson for OEL

Boeser, Virtanen, or Demko in an OEL deal is a massive deal breaker, especially moreso now when you consider the fact that Toffoli and Markstrom might leave. Rathbone, 2021 1st, Lind, and Eriksson should be a deal that Arizona takes and runs with.

Wenneberg just got bought out buy Columbus. If I’m the Canucks, I’d definitely go after him as he can be had at a good cap hit and term. Wenneberg’s offensive game has fallen off a cliff, but the guy is exceptional defensively. Wenneberg can take a lot of defensive pressure and responsibility off of Horvat. I’m definitely pro Wenneberg.

Schneider can come back to Vancouver provided that he’s first willing to kiss Bo Horvat’s feet before entering the dressing room.

I agree with this. I don’t Khudobin giving back rubs to Demko as a 1B goalie 60-40 split favoring Demko, but I don’t know if the term, role, and cap would be what Khudobin is looking for. I’m wondering if Corey Schneider would be a decent back up option to the emerging Demko? Calgary and Markstrom can then roll around in they hay with one another.