DownUndaCanuck

Ferraro would be the least homer of the guys we could pick. He's barely a Canucks fan. Most colour guys are fans of their teams anyway and probably should be to a tiny degree. If you're tuning into the home side that's what you expect. If it's a national broadcast then fair enough. Ferraro would be a solid pick.

Even if he plays at his best next year, massive overpayment. He was dreadful last year with Tampa so even worse. One of the worst trades I can remember. The Granlund for a 2nd sounded bad but he just under-performed for 20 odd games whereas Jeannot was and never should be worth an entire draft class.

Like Boeser too much but if there's a way we can poach one of their good young defencemen (Alexeyev, Feheravy, Iorio) then maybe it's worth a shot. Boeser + Rathbone for Kuznetsov + Alexeyev makes it a bit more interesting or... Myers + Beauviller for Kuznetsov + Alexeyev/Feheravy/Iorio

Thought he was going to Carolina, I wonder if they sign him after this. Surely some team will take him on despite all his flaws...

Yeah great pick, I was always going to be happy with Willander over ASP to be honest, mainly because of how well he is defensively and how strong he looked even at the WJC where some would say he was the leader on defence for Sweden. You have to wonder though if we would have taken Simashev or Reinbacher if they were available - I think we probably ranked Reinbacher as top dog so not surprised he goes so highly.

We're going to have an interesting carousel on defence on that bottom pairing LD spot. Hirose, Rathbone, Wolanin and Irwin all fighting for that spot. Obviously when injuries hit, these guys can step up, but to start it'll be interesting to see who Tocchet goes with. Everyone has their pro's and con's. Rathbone is great, maybe the best offensively, but man is he small and a bit sloppy defensively. Wolanin is a pretty solid all-around guy, great first pass, decent defensively, not that physical but gets the job done. Hirose is a bit like a softer but better-skating Wolanin who can get himself out of trouble with his skating quite well. Then Irwin is completely different - a rugged veteran, physical guy but a lot slower these days with his skating and not a fantastic passer. Honestly I think it'll depend on matchups. I doubt Tocchet will ever go with Rathbone. For physical games we'll obviously go with Irwin. For games against top stars or deep offences (like say Edmonton) I think we go with Wolanin as a safe bet. For weaker teams I think we go with Hirose to get some development in there.

Nowhere near strong enough physically or defensively to be a 3C. You need a real bull at that position. Blueger, Aman and Joshua are all solid 4Cs but that 3rd line center job is a tough one. We haven't had a real 3C for a while - when we had Petey, Miller and Bo it was more 1 and 2A 2B. I think you have to go back to the Bonino, Malhotra years, even Pahlsson, when we had a true checking 3C. Problem is around the league, a lot of young guys take the 3C spot and then end up getting better or worse. They either get so good (like Cirelli for example) that they end up a 2C, or stagnate, or get worse. Not many guys play their entire careers as 3C. We see a few journeymen like Jarnkrok and Janmark etc. right now who seem to be that guy but there's not many true checking 3Cs anymore. Honestly I think Raty is our best bet right now so let's hope we can really develop his defensive game in Abby.

Absolutely no need for him, we already have enough useless wingers. The last NYR big powerforward we attempted to develop bolted within a couple of months to the KHL. Obviously Lafrenierre has top-end potential and a 2nd round pick isn't much (which we don't have for a while anyway), but where does he go amongst Beauvillier, Garland, Boeser, PDG, Hoglander and Podkolzin? He probably sits in the middle of that bunch. Is he a good enough forechecker for Tocchet? Doubt it.

Think they want to build around him, probably thrust him up into 2C whereas we need a big, solid, physical defensive 3C. I'd rather keep Raty.

All Canucks bias aside, Bieksa is great out there, I don't mind the panel too much apart from their obvious Toronto bias but McLean has had to go for a long time. Don't mind Hrudey to be honest. If Kevin gets canned throw him up as our colour commentator. It's obviously a much tougher gig and he's going to have to bring a lot of quips quite quickly but he could fill that job easily, maybe if not now then in a few years time.

Honestly looking back on this draft we may thing a redraft goes something like: Bedard Michkov Carlsson Benson Simashev Fantilli Controversial take but you never know. I don't think Fantilli will be a bust but the hype around him is a lot. Some were saying Simashev is a top-3 player in the draft, Button was making that claim for ASP, a lot of people think Michkov will be better than Bedard, and if Bedard wasn't in the league Benson would have been pretty much leading the league in points so you never know how they'll all shake down 5-10 years from now.

I think the Irwin signing was interesting, shows that's what they want the D to look like and really they're just copying all the Cup finalists. Hirose and Rathbone are here now so we have to find a way to use them, especially Hirose, but I'd be all for trading Rathbone because of just this. Once Myers goes we'll need a real big physical guy on our bottom pairing - or better yet - acquire a solid top-4 guy and push Cole and Soucy down the rankings. A top young LD (Hanifin?) could slot in next to Hronek and push Soucy down to the 3rd pairing, or a top young RD (Pesce?) moves Cole down to play with Hronek and Soucy on the bottom pairing. Right now we have a decent defence but that's what takes us over the top and what better a year to acquire one than now when two solid guys are available.

Dirt cheap but never the same after his injury but never say never...

BB for colour commentator. Fixed.

I think he'd drop close to a PPG in the AHL next year, he's that good. Most top prospects do that in their 2nd year when they're around 19-20 but Carlsson could easily play a few games with the Ducks and maybe go 50pts in 50 games with San Diego.

Yeah we've got our puck mover in Hughes, and our secondary puck mover in Hronek. I don't think we need a 3rd small-ish guy on the bottom pairing, so Hirose and Rathbone are a bit redundant. Most good playoff teams have 1, maybe 2 puck movers at a stretch, and then 4-5 massive physical beasts. Cole and Soucy are huge and help in a big way, and Hughes and Hronek aren't going anywhere any time soon. With Myers leaving, we've got 2 spots on defence to fill next season - it could be at the top, middle or bottom end of our defence. We could let Hirose or Rathbone try and play their way in, we could let youth like Pettersson and Johansson have a go, or we could try and beef up our defence more-so. I'd be all for acquiring another top-4 quality guy to push everyone down the pecking order next year.

Yeah a very good 4C, one of the best in the league. Allvin seems to love the buy-low option and thrust them into higher positions and see what happens. It didn't work for a lot of guys (Bear, Studnicka), it worked well for Schenn, didn't work too well for Dermott but mainly due to injuries. It really didn't work for Dickinson. Now he's trying it with Cole and Soucy too. Cole averaged 19 minutes last year, I think he'll average around the same on the right next year alongside Hughes but in a slightly more important role and top penalty killer. Soucy was a 16 minute bottom pairing guy last year who is going to be expected to be our 2nd best LD and surely then have to log around 20 minutes a night. That's a big ask for him. He might be up to the task, he might not be. Hronek isn't as good as Hughes - he can't carry a pairing by himself, so it's a big question mark. Then there's Blueger who has basically been a top 4C in the league for a long time (a bit like Kampf who was my go-to guy this off-season). If we can run with two very good 4Cs, that's not too much of an issue. Plus, we have such great winger depth, our 3rd line wingers will be able to help carry some offence he doesn't provide.

Any word on where he's playing next year? Surely they'll throw him straight in there, maybe wing to start and center if he shows he's strong enough defensively. The numbers he put up in the SHL and WC, he's basically a 30 point 3C already in the NHL. Glad he went 2OA, he was my pick over Fantilli. Everyone gushing over Fantilli and he is a big, strong, offensive power-house who put up unreal numbers in the NCAA as a rookie, but Carlsson's doing a similar job against grown men. Not much to separate them but I think Carlsson has a better overall game and Fantilli's offensive ceiling is higher. They'll surely roll with Zegras - McTavish - Strome - Carlsson next year to start, maybe Leo on the wing, but surely by the end of the year/next year Carlsson is taking 15+ minutes a night. I expect him to become a PPG scorer in 1 year's time when Bedard is dropping 100pts.

Really depends how a lot of guys perform in their contract years. Beauvillier, Blueger, Myers, Podz, Aman, Joshua, Dries, Studnicka, Pettersson, Hronek, Cole and Irwin and Martin are all in their contract years. Realistically I think Beauvillier will have a pretty average 15G 30-40P season and we'll be forced into re-signing him (otherwise the Bo trade looks a bit stinky), but ideally we'd flip him at the deadline or now for something/anything. I think Myers will be gone no matter how he plays. Podkolzin and Aman and Joshua will earn longer deals, similar in cap hit, nothing crazy high. Dries and Studnicka will play as they did last year and be let go. Blueger is a tricky one, I think he'll play like a 4C thrust into a 3C role, not as good as he needs to be but not bad. We'll probably let him walk in the off-season to get a new, decent 3C in - either via UFA or Raty if he's ready which I'd hope so. You just know Petey will drop another 100pts and get a massive deal around 11M and rightly so. Hronek will probably have a very tidy 40pt two-way season and earn a big contract, hopefully we can get him with term around 5M but it'll all depend on his final point totals. Irwin will probably be too slow and let go, but I think Cole might be interesting. He's old but is going to surely play with Hughes and look quite good so we may well keep him with a 2 year deal, a bit like how Schenn's career keeps going. Next season then, we'll have some holes to fill - 3C and a defenceman would be nice (as Cole gets a year older, Myers is gone and Willander isn't ready yet). There is obvious internal competition, but a true top-4 NHL guy would be nice. I don't see us ever moving Garland but Beauvillier as a rental at the deadline might be a bit easier to flip so he may be gone by next year. There are some BIG UFA free agents available next year. Obviously most of them will be traded/signed/both by then, but some big names on the board right now. Here's how I'd like to see us lineup next, next year: Mikheyev - Pettersson - Kuzmenko Podkolzin - Miller - Boeser Hoglander - UFA (Roslovic or Reinhart) - Garland Joshua - Aman - Raty Hughes - UFA/trade (Pesce) or sadly Cole Soucy - Hronek Hirose - If not Cole, a kid (McWard, Johansson, Woo) Demko Silovs

I wonder, with Dubas behind the helm, if Pittsburgh is available. They just acquired Eller and last year made one of the worst trades in a while acquiring Granlund who was brilliant the last few seasons, but dreadful in Pittsburgh colours. I wonder if they'll want to try again or give up on him. Acquiring Eller makes me think they want protection but will probably give up on him. 5M, 31 years old, not a great look over there Why don't we swap them - Garland for Granlund. We take a flyer on a guy who has been a brilliant 40-60+ point pace guy most of his career, he just struggled in Pittsburgh for a handful of games for whatever reason. If it doesn't work out, ouch, risky play and we're stuck with him for a while but probably bury him in our bottom-6. If he works out well and gets back to his Nashville production, we have one of the best center depths in the league. If he can even get back to 40pt territory it's a win for us. He's far from a defensive-first center but we could try and roll 3 relatively scoring lines with Beauvillier and Hoglander and Podkolzin soon to join the team too. This moves Blueger to 4C alongside Joshua and I'd put Aman on the wing to form a really gritty checking 4th line.

Really hoping we don't have another Dickinson incident on our hands, Blueger is a perennial 4C, he's never really played 13-15 minutes consistently but hopefully he's ready for the challenge. The way I see it, we just have a better faceoff/defensive guy than Dries but the checking 3C role is a hard one. Again, at a 1 year deal I think he's a place-holder for Raty really, hopefully in 12 months time we're talking about Raty taking the 3C role but if not, there's a bunch of good UFAs next year who can slot in as well if Blueger doesn't perform. If he does I'd be all for signing him to a decent lengthy deal. Let's just hope he's still solid at killing penalties. He was great as a depth player for Vegas last year.

I wasn't expecting Pearson to ever really play but boy, what a boost to the team (and knock to our young wingers who want to try to crack the lineup) if he's available. He's only 1 year off a 16G pace. He could be the type of forechecker Tocchet throws up into our top-6. Great PKer too and leader on the ice. I know people ripped him at times (pre-injury) mainly for his cap hit but 3M for a solid third liner with energy who hits and is a playoff performer is a bargain. I could easily see him slot in next to Miller and Boeser, but also this would be a great 3rd line for energy: Pearson - Blueger - Garland I think Beauvillier is really going to have his work cut out for him. He's got to out-work the hardest working guys on this team in Garland, Hoglander, PDG and now maybe even Pearson.

I think Hirose is going to steal that 3LD spot. If/when we get injuries to our top-4 during the season, I'm sure someone's going to have to eat 20+ minutes and that may well be Hirose. Whoever pairs with Myers is going to have to be quick at getting back and covering holes. I think that lends itself to Hirose - he was very silky smooth last year. Rathbone is quick but defensively he's not great positionally and got rocked off the puck too easily. If Myers sits back and lets Rathbone jump up into the play all the time, we might have an interesting pairing but Myers defending a lot of 2-on-1s is always scary (even if he has such a long reach and breaks so many up). That's why I think Rathbone is on the outside looking in. Then you've got Irwin, who is pretty physical but quite slow now, and Wolanin who is like good at a bit of everything but not fantastic at everything. He might be well suited to play with Myers, just to cover a lot of his holes. Don't forget Myers is playing in a contract year with a very different defensive structure. Crazier things have happened (eg. Karlsson) but it's not off the cards completely to see a Myers rejuvenation which launches him up. I doubt he out-plays Hronek but Cole is getting older...maybe he'll steal some minutes off Cole...

I think our D will be all over the place next year. I think Cole starts as top pairing RD with Hughes though, just gives us an element of a rich-man's Schenn which worked so well. I think next up Soucy will be the physical shutdown guy to play with Hronek and then Myers and one of Irwin, Rathbone or Hirose. That being said, as the season goes on you know we'll see Hronek and Hughes together - our two best defencemen. We'll see a lot of them together probably late in the game if we're chasing a lead, then Soucy and Cole together as a bit of a shutdown physical pairing. On PK I'm sure Soucy-Cole will be our top pairing so everyone will probably play with everyone else at some point in our top-4, but the bottom pairing will be a constant rotation depending on how those kids play, and also how good Irwin still is, but also Wolanin has a stab at taking the 3LD spot.

Hoglander's career could go so many ways but there's a lot of promise here. I think management have to help him out though and move a winger and force him into the NHL, we simply cannot afford to lose him on waivers. I'd rather sit him in the press box than have that happen. Wouldn't be surprised if Podz plays most of next year in Abby but it's Hoglander's time to shine. I know our top line is pretty set but Mikheyev is coming off a big injury and Tocchet loves a forechecker on each line - imagine if Hoglander plays some top line minutes with his mate Petey, what could happen... More realistically next year I think he'll rotate between the 3rd and 4th lines, probably chip in 10-15 goals but be buzzing all over the ice. I think he's going to be a real fan favourite but probably get benched a fair bit for sloppy defensive positioning, and then the following year I think he'll drop 20 goals out of nowhere and earn a big fat contract.