Goal:thecup

If you add Ritchie, Nylander, Ehlers, Virtanen, and say Kapanen to the top 5, who do you think in this top 10 would be the most likely to play in the NHL the soonest? I think Ekblad, Reinhart, Bennett, and Ritchie (in no particular order) due to their size, Ekblad and Ritchie, and due to their talent/maturity, Reinhart and Bennett. One more reason to take Ritchie at 6th overall; we may get to use the player in the lineup a year or two or even three before most of the others.

There is no box unchecked for Ritchie. He is the complete package. The only thing he isn't is small. (Still don't know why some of you think a player has to be small to be good. Didn't like Mario? Jagr?) If you watch any of the playoffs this year, you must conclude that talent with size and toughness is the order of the day. I think if any of the little guys had a better chance of going early in the draft, they would be ranked in the top 6 way more often than just once. That is, it seems like only one pundit has Nylander in the top 6, only one has Ehlers in the top 6, et cetera. If there was a better chance that these guys would develop into a player worthy of a high pick, more pundits would have them ranked top 6 than just once here or there. When most posters here finish their analysis, they want to have more picks! That's because they still want to pick these little guys but cannot reasonably argue to pass up on a universally highly-rated complete player like Ritchie. When I think of having more picks, I wish there were more than one Ritchie! Or I start to look at others like Virtanen that bring the talent with the power and size. There is no basis to the "we already have Kassian, or Sestito, or whomever" argument; there is no doubt that the Canucks have fallen behind in the trend to large teams. I'm glad we have Sestito, Kassian, and all the other young players and prospects with good size but we still need more and we will continue to need more and more, and for more than just this year. There are so many teams with huge players coming in waves, line after line, the playoffs are such a physical grind, injuries and suspensions take players out, and you need a full complement of this type of player to succeed. The team can support a couple smurfs but not before we have the physicality to protect them. If we have a first or second overall pick, and some little guy projects to be the next great little guy, then we can take him. But we cannot waste high draft picks on longshots until we're fully bulked up. Merci, you are not alone.

Higgins got him in 2011.

Yeah, he's just spewing whatever comes into his Styrofoam-filled head. His TV interview was about 4 times as long as his exit interview with TL; what does that say to you Torts-Keepers? He reminds me of crack heads. He gets that vacant but rabid look in his eyes and just starts to rant. Just keeps talking regardless of the facts or reason or what he has already said. Just saying anything that gets him to that next hit. Take your money and run Torts. Edit: punctuation

Wrong again. Henrik skated past everyone all alone crossing the blue line and passed the puck into the empty corner. Then he skated to the corner and looked for someone to pass it out to. The only reason he would play like this is because Nut Bag told them to play this way. Screaming F-Bombs at players to play his way - like idiots.

+1 (and the expression is tunnel vision) Torts is the one getting old. He has had his mind made up for a long, long time. He admitted the only reason they won the Cup was "we didn't know what we were doing". But once they won, he wasn't going to change anything. He refuses to learn our players, players in the west, heck he even said he doesn't know the Rangers! Guy's a goof! Can't wait for TL to name our new GM and then Torts is Ta Ta!

lol at posts suggesting a reason to keep Torts is that he owned up or took responsibility. He took responsibility because he was a screw up! And a disrespectful ignorant one at that.

Yeah, I know what you mean. A lot of the old guard from Gordie on down have bemoaned the lack of respect the players have for each other, both in hitting and fighting. I did not mean that someone will "get him" (to quote Torts); just more that everyone's opinion of Lucic has to be lower now that he is a repeat offender with an inordinate amount of interest in other men's genitalia. For the fighters, some still keep the code, like not continuing when an opponent has fallen and is unable to defend himself, but if Lucic is laying there defenseless, I can see some follow through occurring which other fighters might have been spared. MMA style fighting, with the ground and pound type of assault, has changed the way a lot of younger people and players think and act in these situations. The grappling I love, beautiful self-defense and martial artistry. Hammering a senseless, almost unconscious athlete while his head is on the ground is not. It's not sport; it's not sportsmanship; it is thuggish recreation of criminality. Sneaking up behind someone and scooping their nuts out is heinous behaviour. Ban Lucic. Let the cry be heard throughout the land: "Barbaric! Barbaric! Barbaric!"

Yeah Torts could coach in the playoffs. Torts could beat that $25,000 nut fine. Torts could get a 20 game suspension and then he would be more useful by his absence.

From.The.Point asked if any of the players discussed as possible Canuck first round draft picks could step in right away. I know you are tired of hearing about him but, Ritchie may be able to do that. He has the size, strength, speed, and toughness to hold his own albeit in a limited role, imo. I can envision a fourth line like Sestito Matthias and Ritchie. Sometimes up on the third with Higgins and Richardson, and occasionally powering up the second line with Booth and Kesler. And everybody gets sometime with the twins as we continue the search for that long sought-after RW for the Sedins? ********************** By the way, Virtanen has extra value in the ratings because he is only 17, but the consensus is that he will probably take 2 or 3 years before he is ready for the Bigs. Ritchie will most likely be ready sooner if not right away, so Virtanen's lower age advantage is countered by the shorter time it will probably take to get Ritchie into service. *********************** Thanks for your opinions on Draisaitl over Ritchie and Dal Colle over Ritchie. Who would you pick if both Draisaitl and Dal Colle were available at our #6 pick? *********************** Also, does anyone think Draisaitl, being from Germany, is in any way a detrimental thing to be accounted for between he and Dal Colle? For example, can young European players have the same over-the-top, almost-insane, win-the-Cup-at-all-costs, "Next goal wins the Stanley Cup" attitude Canadians grew up with? Is there an element, like with Ehrhoff staying out of post-whistle scrums in our SCF vs Boston, where they do not "get it"? Especially as the players are not paid (well, not as much) for games in the playoffs, where the going gets extremely tough, where perhaps they are not as focused on the big prize as Canadian players who have known the Stanley Cup as Hockey's Holy Grail all their lives and longed to score that GWG in overtime that wins the Cup? Players that are more in it for the money might underperform when more is expected of them for far less pay. If this over-arching desire to win the Cup at all costs can be instilled in a foreign player, how long might it take, and how would one go about it?

It was a head shot! (Just the little head though.) Seriously, Lucic does the ice-cream scoop on this one, you know, where your stick blade gets under the jock and scrapes from one side to the other, scooping out the goodies. The previous one we saw on video was more the tip of the blade right up the rectum which produces it's own weird anguish. It is almost ok when a little "chicken" guy has been harassed by some brute and cannot find another way to even the score. But when a tough player and good fighter like Milan resorts to this type of thing, it is shameful and cowardly. Like it or not, there is still a code, or an unwritten but generally understood set of rules of conduct, somewhat like olden chivalry, that Lucic has broken. The league continues its light treatment of Bruins misbehaviour but the rest of the players have taken notice of these incidents and will treat Milan accordingly. He lost a lot of respect from his peers with these actions.

A lot of posters are concerned with whether Torts got the best out of the players or whether he is right for the team or the team is right for him, etc. Does anybody think the players would, or did, play in any way that might have been any sort of attempt to have Torts fired or retained? With so many players having their worst season, in your opinion, is there any way that anyone intentionally under-performed so that it would reflect poorly on the coach? Did any players, in your opinion, exceed expectations perhaps trying to back up his coach and help Torts keep his job? Do you think the players would act like this? Would they collude to try something like this?

Perhaps a team before us believes, for example that Dal Colle might be over-rated because of his tremendous linemates. Do you take Ritchie over Dal Colle if Dal Colle slips and both are available at #6?

If Richie is that rare type of athlete that only comes along about once a decade, do you still pick Ritchie if Draisaitl slips and both are available at #6?

Yes! I nominate theminister for our new GM. C'mon Trev, give him an interview.

But they are 2nd tier; Bennett and Reinhart are the 1st tier skill players in this draft. If they were 1st tier, they wouldn't be all over the board in terms of their ranking, they would be firmly in the top 6 or 7. The other top tier players are big, Ekblad, Dal Colle, Draisaitl, Ritchie. Why do people believe you have to be small to be skilled? Forgetting Mario? Jagr? Iginla? Thornton? Bertuzzi? Why intentionally ignore a significant part of the total package player? Just to have a little guy? Afraid a Naslund or StLouis will slip past us? Little guys are not the only players with talent. The top 4 big guys have lots of talent. We can't afford to waste our 6th overall pick on guys that might be almost as good as say Pat Kane (if they don't also have good size). Similarly, any team should use their 6th overall pick on a player that might be as good as Kane. Top tier players like Kane are ranked very highly by most pundits because they are a better risk. The further down the list, and the more skattered the opinions, the less likely they are to pan out; sounds obvious because it should be obvious.

Grumpy this morning. Maybe a beer and tomato juice will get you going.

People seem to think we already have toughness and skill in Kassian so we don't need players like Ritchie. Kassian is only the start. We need players like Ritchie; plural, playerszzz, like Kassian, Richie, Benn, lots of them, and big D too ala Pronger and Chara. We do not want Kassian to have to carry the whole team. In fact, Sestito is necessary right now because we want Kass to play, not sit in the box or get suspended. (And Tommy has enough skill to hold that 4th line enforcer job very well, imo and contrary to what many others say.) We want a team where almost every guy can take the heat and stay in the kitchen. The team should only have to carry one or two little demons max (In the future (yes, I can imagine a future), Shinkaruk and Subban maybe). If anything, we have enough small guys and need to make sure we have enough big talent in the pipeline. If we do not trade our little prospects like Schroeder, there will be no more room for smurfs. We have to rid the system of under-performing little guys so that we can resume taking chances on little guys.

Try flicking that switch in the top left corner of your post box and then go back and quote someone. (Wouldn't the young Gino look nice on today's roster?)

www.mynhldraft.com is pretty good as well as TSN.

I am not short-sighted nor only looking at size. Ritchie has tremendous skill as well as great size and toughness; that is, in fact, the point. Why take a flyer on some little guy when Ritchie is the complete package? As the minister said, if one of the top 5 drop to us, we should take them, but if not, Ritchie is a fine pick. This 2014 draft is not full of top-end little guys that we should risk our #6 overall on. Once Bennett and Reinhart are gone, the choices for smaller highly-skilled offensive forwards is too risky for that high of a pick. This 2012 draft does however, have some very nice big, fast, tough, and talented forwards right in our wheelhouse. As to your point about the league changing the rules or the way they call them, we are much less likely to be caught by any refereeing change if we are already big and talented. We have always had to beat the refs as well as the other team and I find this unlikely to change. Much as I would like to get the borderline calls to go our way for a change, I do not want to rely on it. Take matters into our own hands and rip the Cup out of Buttman's hands!

Wrong thread but you did mention it, so... I am starting to think we should not sign Stasny. Of course he would fit very nicely on our team but I think the UFA bidding is going to be extreme. I don't think he will sign for your 5 years at $6 million. Look at the money Weber ($14m), Suter ($12m), and Parise ($12m) are getting. Stasny is going to get at least $7m maybe $9m. I think we might be better off saving the cap space so that we can take on big contracts in trades. I realize that we do not have to sacrifice player assets to get him like we would in a trade, but other teams are going to go nuts this year and we might be more able to get what we need if we don't have to exchange similar cap-hits with a trading partner to get a deal done. Plus, a big UFA signing will throw the salary structure on the team right out of whack. You think Kes is dissatisfied now, wait until Stasny is making twice as much as he is! (I know, you think we will trade Kesler and maybe we will, it was just an example of how one big contract might affect the team.)

Well, yeah, if we had more picks, we could take more players. First off, these players have NTCs and we cannot assume that they will waive them. We cannot assume that we are going to get all these draft picks for these players either. If we have more picks, this is a different discussion. If we only have the #6 pick in the first round 2014, we cannot waste it hoping some player is good enough to negate their small stature. We need big help now and in the future. You said yourself that these smaller players would need 2 years or more before being ready for the big club. Ritchie may be able to crack the lineup (albeit in a limited role) as early as this year because of his size/maturity and ability to mix it up. Even if we do not acquire extra and higher picks, our 2nd round pick is 36th and we can still get a good prospect at that level (big defenseman would be my choice).

This ^^^ is right on. This is the new NHL Playoff reality. Get used to it. Players and teams are getting bigger and bigger. And these bigger players can still skate and shoot and score and knock your block off. The playoffs, where you see the same team up to 7 games in a row, are a battle, unlike the regular season where you can get away with little things without having to face the same beast the next night. And the damage is cumulative; there is no time for recovery. Look at the Canucks at the end of the '94 and 2011 Cup runs; they were beat up and broken down. We need to do the beating up and breaking down and we need to stop being the victim. My position is not, as Plum suggested, a knee-jerk reaction to Boston beating us in 2011. I have wanted the big player over the Mason Raymond player for over 50 years of watching hockey. I like Mario over Wayne, Lindros over Gilmour, Jagr over StLouis for example. If Gretz didn't have Semenko and other large dudes protecting him, he would have had a much less successful and a much shorter career. Other posters on here have suggested that those of us who appreciate a big tough talented hockey player/team have had our day and now the Canucks are bigger and tougher and it has not worked post-2011. Well, for one thing, this position is indicative of a very short time-frame suggesting a young poster who has watched hockey for only 5 or 10 years and thinks the team got bigger and tougher after 2011. It has not yet. The new big tough talented Canucks are still in the pipeline and yet to be drafted or traded for. The roster this last season still had the Sedins, Burr, Hansen, Higgins, et cetera, as well as Richardson, Santo, Weber, Tanev etc. There has not been a replacement of the smaller/weaker players with a bigger/tougher roster yet. The plan has not failed; it has not been brought to fruition or even tried yet. We still have to put the players in the pipeline before they can even get on the team. That is why we cannot afford to waste the 2014 #6 overall pick hoping some little fellow is just so very under-rated that his performance will make all the reasons for drafting a big talented player irrelevant. I also believe that this is just a step in the evolution of hockey and that 5 years from now the teams are going to be even bigger. Look at how many players are now about six and a half feet tall and over 220 lbs; there used to only be one or two in the whole league. Old power forwards like Iginla and Brown are dwarfed by the new power forwards like Backes and Benn. Sure, when you put the 2013/14 Canucks up against the Sharks or the Ducks or the Kings they look small and get chased off the ice but just look into the future, the discrepancy is going to get bigger. If we do not make a multi-year commitment to skill-with-size, we are going to look like mice in an old growth forest. There is always room on a team for a super-talented little guy and there always has been. But that little guy has to be protected and that takes a tough team around him. And there is only room for one or two of this type of player on the team, not a half-dozen or more. I know, I am an old dinosaur, still like fighting, and still love a clean open-ice hit. I still believe in the beat 'em in the alley, beat 'em on the ice thing and Ogie Oglethorpe and the Hansen brothers are my favorite players in Slapshot. My favorite Canucks include Harold and Gino and Delorme and Fraser and Kurtenbach and Hunter and Rypien et cetera. We don't need "offensive" little guys, we need offensive big guys like Ritchie who will score and drop the mitts and win fights. There are no loser points for the battle that is the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

If that is what you got out of that, I doubt we are going to agree on much of anything. He is talking about picking 6th, after the top 3 at least have been taken. If Draisaitl or Dal Colle fall to us, we will take them, but if they are gone, Linden is looking at drafting a big strong winger like Ritchie. How you turn that around and assume he's going after one of the smurfs is beyond me. Your "elite talent" is there for Bennett, for example, but more risky on later picks, and we cannot afford the risk. Krikee! Linden is practically drooling over the prospect of a player like Ritchie and you cannot see it!