Ruthervin

Boeser has negative value at this stage of his career and is basically Peter Pan at this point. Montreal really wants him for some odd reason and so maybe they’d be interested in Boeser for Monahan? Maybe Boeser to Calgary for one year of former NHL-calibre hockey player Milan Lucic?

I’d be onboard for this but my only concern is that Petey will not want to be here in two years when he becomes an RFA. He has clearly stated in the past that his goal is win a cup whether that’s here or elsewhere and that he’d reassess the situation when his contract expires. That’s one of the biggest reasons why I’m hesitant about this idea of blowing things up and building around Petey. Awesome in theory obviously but I’m not sure if it’s realistic.

Retaining 50% on everything is terrific short term but awful long term. You’d basically just be pushing cap problems forward once those new picks/prospects we bring in need to be re-upped/extended.

Boeser for Dumba might work, although Dumba is a bit of a tire fire in his own end. Is Dumba a top pairing guy? Would Hughes-Dumba or OEL-Dumba be considered an elite top pairing? (Which is what the Canucks are in dire need of). I don’t think so. Dumba still wouldn’t address our biggest problem (ie an elite two way defenseman that could help elevate Hughes and become an elite top pairing). As far as Miller goes, YOU might make that trade to CBJ, but I can’t see Columbus making that deal (unless they have more than one 1st rounder?). Why would CBj trade their first when they have a good enough chance of landing Bedard? Will happily eat crow if I’m wrong however. Even if they have multiple firsts, I can’t see them using one of those firsts on Miller given the way Miller has performed on even strength this year. My gut says that people are overrating as to what we could get in return for Horvat and Miller.

Agreed. I was just giving an example of what Nemac's asking price/trade value truly would be. Horvat wouldn't even come close to Nemac's value (even if NJD needed a center).

It wouldn't be *that* high but the asking price for Nemac would probably involve Pettersson.

Elias Pettersson: I'm in the minority here, but my clear answer is Elias Pettersson..............and here is why: 1) There's no guarantee that Pettersson will want to re-sign here once he becomes an RFA. A couple seasons ago, Pettersson clearly said that he'll re-assess things once he becomes an RFA and that his goal is to be a part of a winner whether that's here or elsewhere. 2) Pettersson will get a HUGE raise (10 million+) meaning that our long term internal cap could get bloated (i.e. as an illustration, compare Toronto's top heavy cap to Boston's cap hits to its top players for the better part of a decade). 3) Pettersson is the only asset on the Canucks that will land you multiple young elite players from other teams. Thinking Columbus? You could get guys like Kent Johnson, David Jiriceck, etc., in a package. NYR interests you? Welcome Lafrennierre, Schneider, etc. I know many Canucks fans, media members, etc., believe that Horvat and/or Miller could land you these young elite 19-23 year olds but they can't unfortunately (if they could have, a trade would have happened already). 4) Trading Pettersson would immediately sink the Canucks at or near to the bottom of the standings a la Michael Jackson style.............which would greatly increase our odds of landing a guy like Bedard or Fantilini in the draft. So, ultimate result of moving Pettersson. 1) We land a 2023 lottery pick. 2) We land multiple elite young players, one of which would hopefully be an elite right sided defenseman (i.e. Schneider, Jiriceck, etc.). 3) We keep our long term internal cap intact since Miller (and possibly Horvat) would be our highest paid players at $8 million dollars.

I pretty much agree with you here. To me, Hughes is the type of guy that can make a good top pairing (and team for that matter) great, but he doesnt have the ability to make a mediocre pairing good. Hughes isn’t a true top pairing dman in my opinion. Hughes needs that true elite top pairing anchor/rock that can help minimize Hughes’ shortcomings while also helping him maximize his offensive prowess. I think a guy like Dobson has potential to become like that……and perhaps same for guys like Jiriceck and Nemac. But again - the problem with fantasizing about those guys, is that Horvat and Miller aren’t going to get you those guys. The only guy capable of landing you those pieces is Elias Pettersson…….and one reason why I don’t feel 100% guilty about talking about moving Petey, is because I’m not entirely sold on the fact that Petey will want to stay here once he becomes an RFA.

You’re 100% correct but think about this: 1) A guy like that - what could he fetch us in terms of grade A elite young players who are in that 20-23 range? For example, if we’re talking Columbus, wouldn’t we be able to get both Kent Johnson and David Jiricek? 2) As awful as the Canucks have been, we’ve seen how even worse they’ve been without Petey in the line-up……meaning, that the Canucks could realistically fall at or close to the bottom of the league without Pettersson which would ultimately mean that we could possibly draft Bedard, Fantilini, etc. So with a Pettersson deal, not only would land some ELITE young players in that 20-23 range (something that Horvat won’t get you), but the loss of Petey would likely drop us at or near the bottom of the standings which would greatly increase our chances of landing a Bedard, Fantilini, etc.

A Miller and OEL package would only pique the interest of Florida if it involved Bobrovsky.

These are great and well thought out ideas but it still doesn’t address our biggest need - a young top pairing two way elite RD (or someone that atleast has that realistic potential) to help elevate Hughes to the top pairing, and form a legit top tier top pairing. Without this, we will always struggle. So with respect to your above line-up in both the short term and long term, wouls we actually be better or just different?

I’m wondering if Horvat, Kuzmenko, and Schenn gets you all of Lafrennierre, Kakko, and Schneider. It probably wouldn’t but I think the Rags would strongly consider it since Kuz is on a cheap deal for this year. Ideally though, I’d love for the Canucks to build around Pettersson and Kuzmenko. Alternatively, I’d do something around Miller for Lafrenniere straight up one for one (we’d probably have to take a bit of salary back) and then re-sign Horvat.

That would be a great deal for the Canucks. I can’t see the Rangers agreeing to that but if they did, I’d take that deal and run.

Try the following line combinations: Kuzmenko-Horvat-Pettersson Mikheyev-Miller-Boeser Garland-Studnicka-Lazar Joshua-Dries-Pederson Stack your top line with your three best players and make them a modern day WCE. Make your bottom 6 total energy

Tue about 0.9 points but his even strength production has been a cause for concern this season. Ditto for his defensive gaffes.