SilentSeater

There are some parallels for sure but Soucy has roughly twice the NHL games and four times the offensive production Poolman had at the time of signing (and still has… not much to show for his time in Vancouver), plus the size and toughness. Soucy’ s been on my radar for a couple of years and I think he brings an element we lack.

While it’s disappointing to see the team continue to move high picks, I don’t think this is as disastrous as many believe. As others have said, high end young D rarely shake loose, and that is our area of greatest need. This team has been trying for years to find useful defensemen. Putting the Hronek move aside, there was some very good work done. The front office is filling in two age groups, with players that can contribute now in the 25yo group as well as prospects in the 19-20yo range in Bloom and Raty to provide affordable reinforcements as our current roster becomes more expensive. They have also managed to shed future commitments to ineffective players in Lazar and Stillman for value while opening contract slots for potential college or European free agents and clearing roster space for players to graduate from the AHL. Yes, they have failed to clear significant cap space moving forward, and are betting on a best case outcome to return to contention, but it’s likely they will be able to move off Myers at the Draft, and we may have more options for our expensive wingers in the summer. With only average goaltending and improved commitment to team defence, this team is much better than we have seen this year. It’s not enough to compete for the cup, but coming from the middle, it’s just as hard to reach the bottom. No matter what, things were done. I’ll reserve judgement to see what happens in the off season.

Gillis might still be here if the fans didn’t go bananas. I don’t get the impression our owners like change much.

I think it’s VERY likely ownership blocked a rebuild but Gillis was fired when the fans turned.

I would take the player McCabe turned out to be on today’s team in a second. A steady no crap D with an edge and some skill… was always sad he was the one to go, and maybe another player could have gotten it done, but it’s hard to argue that trade worked out well for us.

Unless you want to limit trading to a very small pool of teams with space, and who don’t really want what we have to offer either way, it’s got to be cap in, cap out. There are still plenty of useful moves. Take back an inefficient but expiring contract with another asset, trade from a position of surplus for a position of need… we’re actually less likely to lose value if we’re not trading for cap relief.

Full agreement there. As far as I recall, no other GM has won a President’s trophy in Vancouver, and he brought us two in a row, but you could already see the cracks starting to form on that 2011-2012 team and the wheels fell off fast from there.

All else aside, the biggest problem I see with Boeser is that his shot was his true “plus” skill, and he seems to have lost it. He’s an intelligent player but he doesn’t have many other tools that put him above the pack.

There were some great moves to improve the team he inherited from Nonis. Malhotra and Torres brought grit and work ethic every shift. Those are the types of bottom 6 adds subsequent GMs have been trying to replicate ever since, but Gillis bombed the draft and alienated his colleagues, and was never able to dig out once things turned sour. I’d put Quinn ahead of Gillis, maybe Burke, but I’d take Gillis over Benning, Nonis or Keenan. Haven’t decided on the current regime yet, and I can’t comment on anything pre-‘90s, but in my time Gillis is middle of the pack at worst.

Chicken & egg. Boeser looked about 4 steps behind to start the season leading into that reduced role. He has looked better since returning from his latest stint on IR but it’s still hard to believe he’s outperforming his career average PPG this season.

I have lurked on this forum for a very long time, but this post finally inspired me to join and post. I wholeheartedly agree. With all of the need and suffering in the world, celebration of (and the pursuit of) excess wealth is remarkably tone deaf. We all like to think of what if… but any of us spending time on a forum discussing professional sports are already wealthier than the majority of people in the world. We should be thankful for what we already have. Now back on topic, I’m of two minds. There is a stench of rot from the top of this franchise, and I’m sure I wouldn’t see eye to eye with ownership on a number of fronts, but I also remember the days of low budget rosters, absentee ownership, threats to move the team and more years of losing than winning. This team has been closer to the top of the mountain than ever before under this ownership group. Like them or not, you can’t argue that they aren’t involved or invested. Even with all of its flaws, the current roster on a good day can be as much fun as some of our best teams. There is a lot of talent on this team, but the effort is missing more often than not. I don’t know how you can blame the owner for a lack of effort on ice, but maybe we are closer than we think. What if that team that keeps storming out to early leads kept up the pace? We’ve led nearly every game this year, most by multiple goals. If we start getting anything close to the goaltending we’re used to we’re in the mix for a playoff spot in a weak division. Our young team needs playoff experience. Teams rarely contend their first year in after years of missing the playoffs, so maybe a #8 finish and a handful of games is an ok start. I do think there can be a balance, and I don’t think the team needs to bottom out in the standings to rebuild, but there needs to be a willingness to cash in on players with value. Sell assets when the value is highest instead of keeping players around for too long because they are helping the team. Sure, try to remain competitive but realize that means making moves for the future as well as the present. Don’t tear it all down at once, but keep taking small steps back to serve the future while still moving forward, and stop selling futures for stop-gaps. There is all kinds of value outside the top 5 picks, but it’s hard to predict where it will be found, so accumulating extra picks is a necessity to improve. The bare minimum should be entering each draft with at least one more pick than allotted each year, and not moving high picks until we’re no longer just clawing and scratching to get in to the playoffs. Unfortunately this team is so cap-stuck with underachieving players, that it probably will take a couple of years for things to loosen enough to shake free of the mushy middle, but I just don’t see a road to a top 5 pick with this roster. There just aren’t enough takers for our cap problems. I think the way out starts with one move. We need to part with one player we don’t want to move. Horvat, Demko, Pettersson or Hughes will bring back value and cap savings, and the rest can keep pushing the team ahead. Last year’s Miller was the perfect opportunity but the market may not have been there. Maybe we can rebuild Boeser into a marketable asset, but he’s not that now. A bit of a ramble for a first post but I guess I’ve been holding my thoughts for a while.