GB5

I agree that sometimes you need to go for it when it comes to drafting positionally but if the Isles pick stays in the 12-16 range one of these guys will still probably be there. I'd consider this over drafting another winger if a top ten center isn't available but would prefer the focus be on a centerman with that top pick.

Thanks for this, Reconfirms my suggestion to give him two more years and then buy him out, or maybe OEL retires because the really big big paydays will have already been made. The team will remain uncompetitive during this time frame anyway. Going from a $8 million cap hit to a $4 million cap hit is a decent savings and the subsequent dead cap for two years is manageable.

My preferred option isn't on the poll which is to ride it out for two more seasons and then buy him out when hopefully the team turns a corner and begins to get competitive again. CapFriendly's buyout calculator only speaks to buy outs in the current year so I don't know the actual cost of this but in two years OEL will be paid 18 million in salary leaving 10 million over two years so I would think the hit may not be as bad.

This reminds me of the Luongo/Schneider episodes.. Eventually they were both moved, maybe that happens again.

So pretty much nothing more than baseless speculation here. I am ashamed that I clicked the link.

Its really the only thing interesting on this side show that used to be a skills competition.

Better watch those sideburns too.

I wouldn't go that far. Canucks are stuck with him for a long time.

No disrespet to Bo, he has been one of my favorite Canucks this last decade but I don't see him as a first line center on a competitive team. That said, I hope he does well.

Carson and Gelinas were a couple good ones on the 94 team. Makes no difference to me where they played before as long as they embrace the Canucks and the fans when they are here.

My thoughts as well. This is old news been reported and discussed time ad time again and covered in numerous books.

The frustration lays with the amount of time it took to do something. The management group started December 2021, were silent at the trade deadline in 2022, silent at the draft in 2022 and silent pre-season 2022. In essence re-upping on Benning's core that consistently missed the playoffs over the years. I am glad to see things start happening but I won't defend the amount of time it has taken for management to finally start to put some semblance of their mark on this team.

Agreed, and the closer teams get to the tdl, the more likelihood that more players become available possibly making it harder to fetch a good return

I watched that game, it is so much more impressive if it can be viewed at full speed. Bedard exploded into the shooting lane from the corner and sniped it, real thing of beauty

Watching the clips of Jurmo wheeling through the neutral zone gives me flashbacks of one of my all time favorite Canucks, Ed Jovonovski. I don't know if Jurmo is the best prospect but I've always liked his skating style and I hope to see more of him one day

That's a decent list but a lot of holes as well. Defensive prospect depth is suspect at best and overall lacking and Raty is the only centerman of note on the list. Noteworthy is that there are a lot of wingers who could project to a top 6-9 role at some point of their careers. I hope the Canucks can draft some impact defenders, essentially the big minute shut down types that often seem to get overlooked because they don't have the sexy offensive numbers but nonetheless are invaluable to any team that is looking to build form the net out. Often these guys show up in the second round meaning the Canucks need more second round picks.

Istoppa DePuuk is right up there with him in the rankings for best goalies currently playing outside of the NHL

There will be opportunity for this but the direction the team is taking is still not all that clear. Do they want to clear cap space and obtain picks/prospects along with a bad contract or two in the short term which signals more of a rebuild approach or is the goal to shed cap and get younger and use cap for free agents to compliment the youngsters in more of a retool. There are likely other scenarios as well but I think this group is not looking to weaponize cap space to rebuild. They want to get this group back to being competitive as quickly as they think possible so more of a reshuffling of the deck approach so cap space will probably be used in other ways.

I hope so. I think several of these names and contracts are more prone to being moved in the off season so hopefully some more action prior to the draft.

That is the best description I have heard as well. Pretty much the type of player this team needs more of, the dog on a bone guys who don't quit on plays. If he can score 20 goals and be around point that is solid as long as he is making life miserable for the opposing team while doing it.

That's exactly what needs to happen for the time being.

what is a protected pick?

yup, Luke Schenns are hard to find and can be priceless in the playoffs.

haha, just noticed your new profile pic, too funny. I do agree that in the press conference both JR and PA gave their best Columbo impersonations acting like they didn't know any better and they learned their lesson and apologized to Bruce. I call BS to that, any person with a shred of human decency would have known better but these guys are playing dumb..... unless they're not playing......