ToTellTheTruth

Simplest way is to use the average standing over a period of years with limitations on winning 1rst, 2nd or 3rd with the next group 4th on moving up if one team keeps losing for whatever reason. Say team A is in the worst 3 in the league for 5 years. They can get One 1rst overall, ONE 2nd overall and ONE third overall and after that they drop to 6 and 4th worst moves up to the lottery. Limit a top 3 pick(s) any one team can get to 10 years, so one team can get three top 3 picks once every ten years. That way really badly run teams are not rewarded with top picks year after year. But the idea is to HELP the bottom 3 teams. Years ago I had a plan for drafting that eliminated tanking pretty much and did what the draft was supposed to do, help the bottom teams get better. It was not a single paragraph solution, it took just about every eventuality into account. It was simple but had lots of rules. It made it so the first three picks could be figured out very early because it was an average of the standings. No bottom 3 team could win 1rst overall more than once if they were still bottom three for 3 years, one year 1rst, then 2nd then 3rd and if still there then they dropped to #10 and the rest moved up. Only the first three picks were by average after that the rest were by current standings. So tanking would be at best for the #4 pick and at that 4, 5 and 6 could be made lottery for rest in the first round only. Pretty sure this idea would eliminate tanking for McDavid, Bedard, Lemeiux, ?????? Could not tank for one single year. The worst teams get the help the draft was supposed to help and badly run teams are not rewarded. But this would eliminate the big market teams from doing the single tank, win the lottery or move up and then a resurgence like Tampa, Pittsburgh, Chicago have all done, Tampa twice

Trade the next 4 firsts, 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028 plus from 3 to 7th in 2024 draft and 3 to 7th in 2025 plus a prospect Keep this year's first plus the one traded for Bedard. The 2025 first could be very valuable. It is not like the firsts have been great for the Canucks the last 8 years, but then Benning was running the show. But if they are serious about going all in with this group then why not? If they are right then there will not be any spots open for 4 years anyway.

I disagree about Rutherford totally. The Bruce firing had more to do with Tocchet pressuring for more autonomy, he basically stated that in his interview with O'Brien. He felt bad for taking so long to decide. I guess this went on for a few months. Evidently he was talking with Rutherford and Allvin all summer but didn't commit. So ya, Bruce got strung along but then so were Allvin and Rutherford by Tocchet, their desired coach. Now it appears Tocchet is making all the decisions. What sounds better? What has Allvin said? What has any of the 4 GM's said? Are you of the silence is golden group? The, if you have nothing good to say then say nothing crowd? Keep them guessing? They don't need to know! Don't say anything that way nothing can be held against you. Don't prove you are baffled and confused.

Destined for more failure. Here is a future concern and failure that leads to that now. Who is the 2nd line center in 3 years? Should the target not be a 2nd line center now? Especially if the team is "building" and developing? The 3rd line center is just an energy guy with Tocchet, a big fast forechecker, all that is needed for that is to be able to skate fast and hit hard. Work long the boards well. If I got anything out of all those end of season meaningless games is was there are a couple of prospective 3rd line centers already here. But the talk is all about getting a third line center because they don't want fans to see what is plain as a freight train bearing down on the team, Miller will not be good enough in 3 years to be the 2nd line center unless Pettersson leaves. Speaking of Pettersson, if he does not sign a new long term deal before July 1 then the team almost has to trade Miller otherwise he will become the new Eriksson or OEL in 3 years when he hits 33 yrs old. Look around the league is O'Reilly the same as he was 3 years ago? Taveras? Toews, Kane or Taresenko? What makes anyone think Miller will be that much different? And on a team that will be leaning on him even more due to not having the supporting depth. If he gets to July 1 then Miller dictates the direction of the team, not management or at least influences what the team can do way out of proportion to his contribution and dollar value. When it was Eriksson it was how his cap hit was damaging improvement, now it is OEL, both players could play but not up to their dollar value and their contracts had the team handcuffed causing FAs to walk for free, draft picks to be traded and no time for development. Since 2014 draft the team got lucky twice, Brackett's insistence to take Pettersson and Detroit's taking Zedina instead. They let the cap manage the team instead of the team managing the cap. That has to change. IMO thy can do this if they use the cap spent already through retention. While there is a cap hit still on the books it can be managed through the used of entry level contracts or second contracts and the cap going up. Lots of posting about buying out OEL. Okay, it is not his play so much, which is declining like most 30+ year olds (see Miller) it is the cap hit. If he were bought out the cap hit in 2 of the next 3 years is larger than a 50% retention with nothing coming back and lasting 8 years. Where as a 50% retention will result in a 3.3 mil cap hit for 4 years it also allows for something to come back. Make no mistake OEL at 3.6 mil is very valuable as a 3,4 or 5 guy or even if matched with a far better defenceman than Canucks have even more. Buyout OEL equals nothing coming back and costing the team for 8 years. Retention equals a cap hit for 4 years AND a prospect/pick coming back. Boeser is the same thing only with a larger return Buyout equals 4 years of over 2 mil cap hits with nothing coming back Retention equals 2 years of a 3.3 mil cap hit but increases his trade value immensely at 3.3 mil, a much higher draft pick AND a AAA prospect Garland not so much for a buyout Buyout equals 6 years of cap hits Retention equals 4 years but with a return of a prospect or pick. If retention is used in all three at 50% which is negotiable, then the cap relief for the Canucks is close to 9.5 million, and that goes up if retention is less. Plus the addition of whatever assets come back this way. Assets have trade value too so there could be immediate improvement if Allvin wants to cap out the team and make the situation even worse than now because he will not have the retention spots for two years. IF a Miller trade is on the table and the team did retain say 12% of his salary, around 1 million he could get at least a first round pick in return plus a younger center or young defenceman with top 2 potential from some teams. IMO there are about 9 teams that would be interested in acquiring Miller now as they are all set up to win now or retool due to having older vets on the team or just retiring, they are NYR, Washington, Pittsburgh, Winnipeg, Boston, St Louis, Columbus, Nashville and the Islanders. All will have enough cap space, some with only some minor work. These could be with taking on the full contract but retention could add to the return. There are players/picks/prospects on every team that would help the Canucks in the next 2 seasons go from idling along waiting for entropy to catch up to other teams to be a team on the climb through talent, depth and skill. Retooling in this fashion, through the use of retention to get more picks, young players and prospects shows Pettersson that the team will be much better as he ages himself. I remind fans that while Pettersson is only 24 now he is 26 in 18 months and Horvat was traded at 27 and he has stated he isn't sad in his new home. And that Pettersson and his agent are not fanatically loyal to this team as his statements of wanting to play in the playoffs with a chance to win he made clear. This will be demonstrated by how fast and how long his next contract will be. If he does a Dubois type deal then this team is in for a world of hurt because they will not be able to change the direction they have set. They will be capped out with no first line prospects in the system, none of the calibre of Pettersson and Miller will be over the hump of his prime In 2013 and today who is being sold to the fans Sedins = Pettersson and Hughes Kesler = Miller Luongo/Markstrom/Miller = Demko The big difference is President Trophies and a cup final appearance. The Sedins get trotted out for celebrations a couple of times a year, the old 94 team gets a night, the 2010 team a night lots of nostalgia nights because there is nothing now. For those fans that cling to the results of the end of the season. For two years in a row the team won lots of meaningless games at the end of the season. So did many bottom teams over the last 4 years. The team has the same players only older and had even fewer points last year. They still lack depth and are capped out. They are still trading away 1rst and 2nd round picks for middle of the road players, Hronek might be a beta version of Tanev, maybe Draft Lottery on Monday maybe it the team's turn to move up Bedard would be nice, Fantilli great. Now watch Allvin trades the first today before the lottery and then says "It was Monday in Sweden where I live"

What 13?

Not game by game but Playoff odds evolve from the start, local odds sometimes reflect local homers but the big boards are usually pretty accurate. Teams still playing were for the most part given the best odds months ago. With half the league making the playoffs there are always a team here or there that will make the show but not go deep, not with all the info available now especially with the NHL endorsing betting. Sort of like how hard it is to blow a top ten pick with all the data available.

he was a rookie GM when he stepped into the worst $hitshow broken team and was expected to turn it around with 13 NTC's who were beaten up and needed to be traded right then but we were stuck with them. At best I can find 7 clause contracts, Sedins (2), Edler, Burrows, Hansen, Hamhuis, Higgins plus Garrison and Kesler that were jettisoned before the season started. Of those 30, 31, 27, 27, 33, 33. ages for the most part From a cup finalist and the team had over 11 mil in cap space once Kesler was moved and they didn't HAVE to trade him right then they could have waited. Benning; left 9 clause contracts and traded for another. One player was injured and hardly played at all, another was inured just about every year for extended periods, one they had to include a first round pick to get rid of excreta, excreta and left the team over the cap for years. Benning was a rookie GM, Allvin is a rookie GM, Benning had cap space, Allvin has none, No he wasn't perfect but he did pretty damn well sometimes in circumstances of a job you couldn't have paid me enough to take. He shouldn't have been here in the first place, but it was the long terms by MG that killed us for so long. The longest term Benning had to deal with were the Sedins the rest waived their clauses when asked except Miller and Vrbata, Benning signings. Allvin got addled with 7 years of OEL. DAMN FINE JOB? Look up GM histories in the NHL with any one team, even Milbury, Benning spent more money, signed more clause contracts, had more top ten and first round picks that failed, let more FA walk away for free, has the WORST EVER win/loss record in NHL history, just about every category. For all the whine about draft picks, where are Benning's? The best is Pettersson and he fired the guy that argued him into that trade, Cody Glass was his boy. Where are the depth drafted players? I would take Gillis in a heart beat by comparison, cap control with money every year being available, never missed a top ten draft pick, won more games than any Canuck GM won two president trophies back to back, see how many teams do that, got players to take big discounts to play or stay here, traded for Markstrom, signed Tanev and Edler to long term deals, the two best dmen Benning ever had. Now Allvin is left with a shat show, albeit he added to it with the Miller signing but he has to deal with that albatross OEL cap hit. Funny though IF OEL had come in as advertised would Hughes ever had gotten the break he has given all the mistakes of the first 3 years? And if OEL does bounce back what then about that contract? Myers is going to have a great year, contract time and players usually excel in those years. A team that did great within contract law? NJD, Tampa, Chicago for a start.

The new upcoming probable events over the next few weeks and summer. What is the dumbest move first? Make a trade that includes this year 1rst round pick BEFORE the lottery! Next, Trade more picks to shed salaries. Then sell the farm to trade for a 31 year old, future FA, Scheifele or some other aged forward with no term. Buy out OEL and take the 8 years of cap hits making it impossible to match any offer sheet for Pettersson without dismantling the team. Get on the radio or TV and tell everyone they are stupid and this is a good team AND the Sports odd makers CAN'T know hockey Much easier to whine about no cap space, too hard to make trades, even though the winning teams seem to be able to and still be capped out, how close they were to competing for a playoff spot, how good they looked in meaningless games. In the effort of selling individual player(s) rather than team performance this franchise has embraced continuity of losing. Continuity can be a great quality, but it has to be accompanied by the results. Continuity just for a sake of continuity has lead to complacency. You know what is going to happen this draft, picks will be traded away to move contracts OR Nothing will be done and the same group of losers will be cleaned up, given a coating of paint and resold as the new, improved Canucks that can compete to be a WC playoff team. AND Then the insane refrain, "Anything can happen in the playoffs" Bull shat! If you don't want to believe other's telling how bad it is then believe the Vegas pundits, those that make the odds. They have no skin in your team but they are professionals that evaluate. While year after year there has been "I think we are good enough to be a playoff team" Vegas pundits have been dead on putting the Canucks in the Bottom Third of the League year after year. I can't wait, no I can because there are other things to do besides watching another quick death drawn out for the disaster that will be this draft and the few weeks after. The defence is too small for the playoffs!

A OEL buyout is stupid. 8 additional years of un-necessary cap hits. He is still a serviceable defence man, retain 40% and add in a sweetener to move him. Then only 4 years of cap hits all will be less than what a buyout costs, besides they might get back a late round pick to go with the deal.

McDavid is easily one of the best ever. He has everything. A mutant. Gets a knee injury that humbles most players and doesn't even have a surgery but comes back even stronger and just as fast. Maybe a little like Selane had, he was barely able to keep up and then went home and came back as fast as ever. I like watching him, it is too bad there are a second set of rules for him. He should be drawing slashing, hooking and holding calls all night every game. Can he shoot? YA Can he skate? YA Can he stick handle? YA Can he pass? YA I bet he can fight too. YA One day someone is going to mix it up with him and they will be bringing the stretcher out. But I do wonder how he would have done in the clutch and grab days? But then the goalies had equipment for protection not stopping the puck so probably better. He is a phenom and should be watched at every chance.

Remember when that happened to Kadri in TO? Benched for (discipline) Mathews

Lots of posturing going on. What wasn't said was "What if those bankrupt RSN don't pay?" That affects hockey related revenue and so a new compromise from the players to insure the billionaire don't lose any/as much money. How this was missed is almost beyond belief because it is 10's of millions maybe well over a 100 million in lost hockey related revenue that just might be exempt from the MOU and Bettman needs another reason for reopening it. The cap might stay the same but there is a possibility it could go down too because of those bankruptcies, at least that was posited when they started going tlts up.

Hey I got a better idea, why not just buyout 75% of the team and start over? Vegas and Seattle are so far ahead starting with nothing why not here? Seattle could make it to the playoffs in only their second year and Vegas has only missed once in their history. REBUILD ARE SO LONG!!!!!! But starting with nothing is so fast!

Yep, only as good as one player. Used to be a one line team thing but for this group of loser's and they still are, a one player team. Tocchet the saviour with a structure, ya, right, sit the young guys out and increase the ice time to the best player by 20%, go to 3 lines, yep great structure and still a losing team. This team has not been able to win meaningful games the last 4 or 5 years, not even the covid year where they only won 3 of their last 11 NHL regular season games and were not in a playoff spot when the league expanded the playin's to all but 8 teams. Goalies in the entire league have reduced numbers except for a couple so Demko may not have been bubble Demko but he not likely to ever be again. These hip injuries just get worse and he can't keep taking Oxy's or the replacements for ever.

An OEL buyout is the absolutely worst possible solution, period! So that's exactly what they will do, you know it! I guess the cap not going up must be a HUGE surprise and something never planned for. We are all so stupid to believe this kind of stuff. I guess the way the team is run none of them ever had to live with a budget.