kloubek

Wolanin is a possible player that could slot in there, and given his body of work at the AHL level that wouldn't be a horrible idea to reward him accordingly. Rathbone needs a strong defensive partner, and Myers isn't it. Unfortunately, I cannot see any option for him other than being moved. However, assuming training camp solves nothing, I really want to see more of Hirose. I felt he looked very poised out there in his first few games. Chances are though, we brought in Irwin for a reason so I believe he gets the 3LD spot. I actually think we will be ok in the long term. I do believe Hirose will become a permanent NHLer (though it's been an extremely small sample size), and I also believe D.Petey is going to be successful at the NHL level as well. Not sure either are going to be stars, but we already have Hughes likely until the end of time, and Soucey for 3 years. If we DO keep Myers all year, then I see us getting the player we REALLY want for 1RD - so we should be ok.

I think I read Podz is exempt all this year? Hogs, not so much. We're going to have to play him in the lineup. Which is ok, since despite his struggles I maintain high hopes for this kid and still believe he will become an NHL regular. I may have been overly enthusiastic to believe he was capable of a top 6 role, but he does have some solid skills and his effort level is always very high. Contrary to the opinion of many, I don't actually think he's too small to be an impact player. Although apparently only 5'9, 185lbs isn't exactly small for that frame. He may not have the mass to make many crushing hits, but he has enough strength to hold his own. I'm really really hoping for this guy that he manages to show what he is capable of this season. I have a feeling that in two years, he's going to be asking for notably more.

I think this is about what I would have expected. DeBrincat is a good player with lots of skill, but the sample size of how he performs in the playoffs is very small. Typically, players like this will struggle against opposing defenders playing all-out come post-season. (Ie: Gaudreau). Even in the regular season, tiny players like this rarely contribute much to the physical side of the game which forces the team to compensate elsewhere. (Why does everyone want a big defender to play with Huggy, as an example). I think if he was a typical 6'0, 200lb player, he'd be more successful and earn more. But given the crazy prices players are signing for lately, this seems pretty dead-on to me.

That might be a bit of a stretch, but I'll give it to ya.

How do you know? Are you an expert on experts?

Well, that was just lopsided valuing. This is too, of course, but it's the other elements whereby this trade really doesn't make sense from a logical and team needs perspective at all. It's like whoever came up with it randomly picked a player from each roster, and stated: "Hey - our blog is getting stale. We should suggest to the public these two are swapped!" ...and so it was.

That's because the NHL has gotten so competitive now with so much skill that teams cannot afford to have one or two roster spots filled by guys who are not at least decent at playing the game. The enforcer IS a dying breed - replaced with guys who actually can pot some goals here and there but *also* fight and intimidate as well. Think: Players like Joshua are becoming the minimum requirement for tough guys. Zack managed to get his contract at the tail end of the era, where not all teams have adapted to "new school" yet - but I bet in 10 years, there will no longer be the Macewens, Reeves', or (current) Lucics in the game anymore.

Yesterday I read a ridiculous "media" suggestion on Twitter that Vancouver and the Leafs should do a swap for Petey and Knies. Not sure why anybody would even put this forth as a suggestion: - Leafs would be in even more cap pain than they are due to having such a cap-heavy top six - We don't need another winger (in fact, we're trying to move one), and the Leafs don't need another center. - But most importantly, Knies has played 3 NHL games and gotten 1 point. (Assist). How are these two players remotely comparable??? The internet sucks. That is all.

Geez. That's super low risk at 1.1.

Indeed. I'm cautiously optimistic about the additions too. If nothing else, we DID add size to the backend which should be helpful - though realistically that's not enough. Seems to me that Allvin decided to target players who he feels he can potentially get more out of than they have so far demonstrated with their prior teams. There's a risk there, but given the costs these days for more established players, I think these are risks worth taking. I also think he did a good job signing a couple of one years contracts, which gives us flexibility next year when Petey hits his double digit salary. Twitter. Yeah. Well, everyone has an opinion right? But the fact is that management (almost certainly pushed by ownership) is trying to win right now, so they need to follow that path through. You can't half-ass something like this or you'll be stuck in playoff purgatory indefinitely. I would also find it hard to believe that this plan wasn't obvious to new management when they came in, so they've already committed themselves to following through - and the results need to start happening this year. I'm not saying that we need to be a contender right away, but with all the changes made, this at least needs to be a playoff team this year or I think it will be clear we've headed down the wrong path. Again.

Bah. When one has the pou, you know what to do.

That's what I said on Twitter and got roasted for it. If this retool is gonna work and the management group be successful, they need to make it happen now. Besides natural progression, there isn't a lot of money coming off the books in the coming years. (Myers aside). I actually do agree with pretty much everything you said. Though it's late, so my apologies for not writing a lengthier post in response...

Green wasn't *necessarily* a bad coach. The players liked him, and he was handed a crappy roster. No coach would have made us a contender under those circumstances. And yes, the original retool was a complete failure which screwed us in more ways than one. However, I have a more optimistic view of our current roster than you do. Between coaching and GM changes, covid and players like Petey who completely lost confidence, we have had a really bad string of luck. I do believe that current management has done a good job trying to work with what they were given, and that there WERE a lot of good elements in the team over the last couple of years, such as an arguably elite goalie and very strong winger depth. But there was also far too much dead weight. Save for Myers, we've stripped most of that dead weight now and that leaves room for players that can help contribute. We lost a lot of 1 goal games over the last couple of years, and I feel we were not THAT far out from being a playoff team. Now with several changes in place, I really do think the Canucks make the playoffs this season. Mind you, I said the same last year. And I believe the year before that I was at least optimistic.

I think the Canucks should have performed better over the last couple of years than they have, so at this point I think we're just trying to get to the playoffs. But is that a contending D lineup? I think it could be. That top pairing is about as good as it gets, middle and bottom pair about average (imo) - but a fairly big group overall, which certainly helps in the playoffs. Then as Nucker67 pointed out, we have a pretty solid forward group and goaltending.

That's the final piece. Dallas is winning the cup.

If Carolina would accept this, I'd be all for it. Pesce would be perfect for Hughes. But given that Poolman clearly has negative value (even if he CAN be traded), it's like giving them a 2nd or worse for Pesce, and I'm almost certain Pear is right that it isn't enough, and they'd want a young good player from us as well, minimum. Carolina also already acquired wingers to round out their lineup, so I don't think they would be interested in any of our established wingers - which is the only asset we have that we could give up without serious detriment. (Either Garland or Beauvillier). I think in order to fit in Pesce with his new contract as suggested, we'd HAVE to move one of them, or move Myers. I would like to expand upon the idea of San Jose being part of a 3-way trade, where Lebanc was supposed to be part of it. Not sure if SJ has 2 retentions available, but here goes:) To San Jose: From Vancouver: Garland, Myers (with an agreement for Vancouver to pay out his bonus), Silvos, Jett Woo, 2024 2nd, and from Carolina, Ryan Suzuki. To Carolina: Karlsson (50% retained) To Vancouver: Pesce, Lebanc, Kahkonen (50% retained) Our new lineup: Kuz Petey Mik Beauvillier Miller Boeser Lebanc Blueger Podz PDG Joshua Hogz Aman Hughes Pesce Cole Hronek Hirose Soucy Wolanin Demko Kahkonen

He's not worth 10. But given this crazy market where players are being paid unrealistically, I don't think he's THAT far off. If he gets traded, bet he gets around 9 or close to it. Top be honest, I never thought he would improve as he has, since he used to be very soft - but has actually turned into somewhat of a 2-way player.

With Pearson being ready for camp, I feel it's we'd be better off moving one of our top-six capable wingers in return for a true 3C who can do it all - then move Blueger down to the 4th. And personally, I believe we'd be best off selling high on Beauvillier to make that happen: Kuz Petey Mik Garland Miller Boeser PDG Colton/Sturm Podz Hoglander Blueger Joshua Studnika, Dries, Aman Hughes Soucy Cole Hronek Hirose/Wolanin Myers I'm not necessarily saying we should be actually acquiring either Colton or Sturm - only that those are the kind of guys I think we should be generally targeting.

Not going to lie - I thought Zadina was going to be a good pick for Detroit. Kinda crazy to see him end up on waivers...

Yeah, I agree. He may benefit from more ice time, but I think he was signed more for his PK ability than his offensive ability. Which would have been great as a 4th line C, but not so much a 3rd line C. And if he doesn't produce in that position, I really don't know who we'd end up putting as 3c. Joshua may be more effective as a winger, and he's not really 3rd line material. Aman I'm not sold on (at all). Maybe they went with a stop-gap for this year, and are expecting Raty to develop well enough to slot into the 3C next year? Not really sure what the plan is....

As much as I'm interested to see what Blueger can do, I honestly think I'd rather Allvin have signed Geekie - who ended up getting about the same amount, but for 2 years.

Ummm.... He's also not slow - at least for his size. But he does make a lot of bonehead plays and is out of position far too often. He's also often penalized for leaning on guys too hard (not exactly his fault), and prone to penalties as he has to make desperate actions when he gets caught out of position. By all accounts he's well liked by everyone in the org. I'd still say if they really are keeping him for the season, re-sign him next year for a couple years on the cheap. See if he's willing to give back to the franchise after they wasted so much money on him, and stuck it through for his entire contract.

I imagine you're right, though with injuries and otherwise, I have no doubt we'll see him at some point. One year in the AHL will season him well, and I'm confident he will succeed there. Should be an interesting competition for that final pairing spot.

Kuz Petey Mik Beau Miller Boeser Garland Blueger Hogz Pearson Joshua Podz Phil Hughes - Soucy Cole - Hronek Wolanin - Myers Hirose

Here we go. Lots didn't feel Tanev was top two pairing because he didn't put up a lot of points. I haven't watched him enough to claim his level of D is that of Tanev, but the point being is that a guy like this is a complementary player. And, frankly, unless we plan to play Hronek with Hughes, probably our best option to pair with Hughes. He's also young, and may well flourish under a different system. I agree it's slightly higher than I would have liked, but that's often the risk when signing UFAs.