SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

Esqueda would be considered a step down from Rivero (in terms of their rankings). But he would also be significantly cheaper. As to how well he'd perform in MLS it's hard to say. Rivera should have been better than he was, based on the quality of player he is. But for whatever reason, he couldn't meet expectations. Maybe Esqueda outperforms expectations? Word is that Esqueda will be announced shortly as a trialist for VWFC. And he turned down a European offer (I believe in Spain) to pursue this opportunity with Vancouver. A poster on the Southsiders forum knows Esqueda's sister-in-law (and actually helped facilitate this trial with VWFC). He's saying that Esqueda is very happy to be here, excited about the team, loves the city, and really wants to be a Whitecap. That should count for something. http://vancouversouthsiders.ca/forum/discussion/5565/2016-mls-summer-transfer-window#Item_422 Here's Weber's take (The Province): http://theprovince.com/sports/soccer/mls/vancouver-whitecaps/mexico-striker-enrique-esqueda-arrives-in-vancouver I think adding Esqueda likely wouldn't be anything more than a lateral move (in regards to the talent coming in versus what was lost in Rivero). Although if the fit is right, Esqueda certainly has potential to give us more goals than Rivero (where the fit just never seemed to work, unfortunately). And Esqueda's enthusiasm for Vancouver can only be seen as a plus. Certainly the Caps need to add some attacking players and improve their striker options, and a Liga MX level striker (albeit mostly a sub) is more than worth a look. And he should come fairly cheap and could be added while leaving that vacated DP slot open (for a future addition).

After weeks of rumours about mutual interest between club and player, Enrique Esqueda (Liga MX striker and Mexican international) is now in Vancouver and believed to be meeting with the Caps. This might be our Rivero replacement (hopefully with better success). Maybe not the big name DP striker people have been hoping for but still would be quite a nice addition (if it happens). Kinda surprised by this. I'd written him off recently as I really thought he was headed to Spain. But Esqueda has been retweeting Whitecaps stuff for months so his arrival now in Vancouver (plus all the rumours ) seems to suggest something is imminent.

Yeah, that's my hope too (that their existing players, with the new additions, can rise to fill the key roles vacated from that 2014-15 team). And while I'd definitely be shopping for some former AHL All-Stars if my goal was to contend for the Calder, if my goal is development, I'd probably look to challenge the young guys to elevate their games and fill the voids. And given the quality of some of the recent complementary signings, I think there might be enough support in that lineup to allow a few of the young stars to really shine. EDIT: to bring things back to topic, the current Comets roster provides a pretty nice opportunity for Gaunce to step into an important role. And that might not be available to him if Utica was built strictly as a Calder contender (with most of the key roles filled by AHL veterans).

I'd say they look significantly improved, although I'd still like to see them add an "AHL All-Star" or two to the lineup (ideally a #1C and #1D, each with a proven history of posting top-10 stats for their position). But with the players they've added, they should be better. And it's worth noting that they were pretty decent last year, even with a depleted lineup and having to use around a dozen ECHL PTOs over the season and struggling to even ice a full lineup many nights. When you consider their challenges, it's a credit to the coaches and the returning players that they were able to even make the playoffs. It remains to be seen whether or not the additions this season will translate into making the Comets a true contender for the Calder Cup. I'd like to see them add those couple players I mentioned on the top end. But good progression from the returning prospects, solid production from their AHL vets, and strong rookie campaigns from guys like Stecher and Demko would probably be enough to make them pretty competitive among the top teams in that league. Although Utica isn't nearly as deep (on paper) as some of the AHL's elite teams, they do have a very good coach and have added some promising new players (both the prospects and veteran signings) with the potential to really make a difference. So while they're not going to be a Calder favourite to start 2016-17, with some luck, they might be one by the end of the regular season.

Which is definitely a possibility with Gaunce. But unlike some posters, I don't believe another AHL season would hurt his development. He'd be looking at a top two lines positions and a leadership role on what, on paper at least, looks to be a much improved Comets team. This likely means another playoff run for Utica and potentially another shot at winning the Calder. That kind of experience can only help Gaunce. Plus I'd love to see him really used in a top end scoring role and see what type of totals he can put up. Also a potential move back to centre might be in the cards, and possibl Utica's lineup provides a better fit for this. And regardless of where he starts the season, Gaunce will be getting NHL games in 2016-17 due to injury relief. But in Vancouver, he might have to wait in the press box for an opening. In Utica, he'll be playing prime minutes until he gets the call.

Nice feature on Demko in today's Vancouver Sun: http://vancouversun.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/iain-macintyre-fans-take-a-shine-to-golden-goalie-demko-as-canucks-open-development-camp

Yeah, ideally zero trade protection but that's highly unlikely. Hopefully something modified with some flexibility in the later years.

Two rounds and 120 picks total. But many teams "passed" on their picks though so far less than 120 selections actually were made: http://chl.ca/importdraft And yes, it looks like nobody took Jasek. Hopefully the Canucks already have plans for him, although it's really hard to say. It's been so difficult to actually get information on how he's progressing. Maybe our player development staff has already moved on from Jasek and they just don't see much potential. But hopefully, he's still on our radar and we have some sort of a plan to get him over here and start taking control of his development. Of course, this would almost certainly require a contract and without any good information (beyond his stats--which don't really tell us enough on their own), it's tough to know whether or not Jasek even should be signed.

Not sure if already posted? Brock Boeser will be an assistant captain for North Dakota in 2016-17. Rare honour for a sophomore player and puts him in some good company. Canucks Now ‏@CanucksNow 46m46 minutes ago In the past 29 years, the only sophmores to wear the "A" for North Dakota are Brock Boeser, Jonathan Toews, & Dave Hakstol. #Canucks http://kfgo.com/news/articles/2016/jun/27/senior-defenseman-ausmus-will-once-again-wear-captains-c/

Reposting from the other (closed) thread: "Displays soft hands, quick moves and a persistent forecheck. Never stops flying around, and is difficult to get a bead on. Handles the puck very well at top speed, and can turn tight and separate from opponents. An under six footer with an average frame, he can be knocked of the puck, but is strong on his skates and the puck most of the time. A battler who plays fast with quick mitts." 2016 Combine: Anaerobic Fitness (Wingate) results: http://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2016/6/5/11861154/2016-nhl-scouting-combine-complete-fitness-testing-results -Lockwood placed 4th in "mean power output" and 2nd in "peak power output." Last Word on Sports: http://lastwordonsports.com/2016/06/22/2016-nhl-draft-scouting-reports-86-90/ "#88 William Lockwood, Right Wing, US NTDP (USHL) 6’0″ 171 lbs A second line player on the US NTDP, Lockwood scored 33 points in 51 games this season. He added seven points in seven games during the Under 18s. He will play NCAA hockey for the Michigan Wolverines next season. Lockwood is an outstanding skater. He has a great first step, excellent acceleration, and elite top end speed. He uses that speed to create opportunities off the rush, taking defenders wide and going to the net. He can also use the defenceman as a screen and unless a quick wrist shot. Lockwood is a straight line player, who is not very creative with the puck. He could stand to work on his puck handling; as well as his vision and passing skills."

Looks like only the threads started by the user "Erik 'Real Gud' Branson" were locked. Other threads for this year's picks are still open.

I keep hearing from different sources that Juolevi was far and away the most impressive interview at the combine. Teams came away extremely impressed with his intellect, personality, and character. It's quite possible that he moved up a couple spots in the rankings simply by virtue of the seemingly universal rave reviews teams had after meeting him. And if you consider that he was probably a consensus 6-8 ranking before the combine, I wouldn't be surprised if several teams (and not just us) had him ranked #4 or #5 after the interviews. Also, while most people tend to look at the draft in terms of the consensus rankings, none of these public charts (from the scouting services or media outlets) are actually able to reflect the movement in the rankings that happens after the combine and in the days before the actual draft. Picks that seem like "reaches" on draft day might actually be much closer to true "consensus" if you actually looked at the team lists. Not to mention the fact that the best scouts in the world are the ones that are actually working for NHL teams (and not the ones writing blogs) and those guys don't make any of their rankings public.

When you compare their entire 2015-16 seasons (including playoffs and tournaments): Andersson (1996 born; D+1 season): 79 points in 83 games Dineen (1998 born): 71 points in 88 games Juolevi (1998 born): 72 points in 86 games

I really like Juolevi and he spent a ton of time in my #5 overall spot this year (although to be honest I didn't have him there today). Regardless, this is a strong pick and I'm 100% on board with it. The players I had ahead of him on my list were far from clear cut favourites and Juolevi is more than deserving of his draft position. I also feel like if JB had Juolevi as his BPA (which of course he did), then he kind of had to take him with the #5 pick. Probably wouldn't have been available if he traded down any more than 1-2 spots (and probably neither Calgary nor Arizona were offering much). And if our scouts feel like Juolevi is a sure fire first pairing D, and didn't feel the same level of certainly about the projections for Tkachuk (or any other player still on the board), then their choice makes complete sense to me. It very well may be that Juolevi is our future top pairing anchor while Tkachuk tops out as a second liner (in which case we'll have drafted the better player by far). So I'm very happy with this pick. We've secured an excellent player in Juolevi.

So we're about three hours away now? At least based on the timing of the previous three tweets.

Could be he's hinting that his boy will be signing in 3 days. I really hope so. But it given that @uggstown is referencing Uggstown Investments of San Diego, and in three days it's April 15th (the filing deadline for the States), maybe it's just a middle aged investments guy joking about tax stuff? EDIT: Then again, April 15 is a Friday and IIRC the IRS extends Friday deadlines to the next Monday. So maybe the three days doesn't fit. Not it that I was all that committed to the taxes theory. Lol. After all, that Twitter account is almost exclusively posts about Thatcher and hockey. So hopefully it's hinting at Thatcher and the Canucks making an announcement on Friday. We'll find out soon enough.

Good vids, Ossi! Thanks for sharing. I just wish they wouldn't slo-mo everything so much in that second vid because it makes it tough to accurately judge the quality of his shot (ie: how hard he's shooting and how quick the release is). EDIT: Admittedly, slo-mo does make for more "epic" highlights.

The above information, plus the confirmation that Sutter is on LTIR (and should remain through the end of the season), should mean that the Canucks have the roster space and cap space (General Fanager estimates over two million available) necessary to sign Tryamkin without having to move anyone.

I think the 23 man active roster limit expires at the trade deadline. Here's the section from CBA Article 16.4: And here's a quote from NHL.com's page on "Hockey Operations Guidelines": http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=26377

For a good laugh, people who actually understand how Gaunce plays the game should have a read through recent pages of the HF Boards Comets thread: http://hfboards.hockeysfuture.com/showthread.php?t=2016243&page=11 Start near the bottom of the page I linked above (see comments by "clintoncomets" user and the discussion that follows over 2-3 pages). Basically you have a bunch of fans (even some Utica STHs) who call Gaunce names and say that he's just lazy and a terrible player. All this is happening on a game night when he scores twice for Utica, including the OT winner. And it just goes on and on. Mostly the usual complaints about how "Gaunce doesn't do anything out there" and "why doesn't he hit more" and "he doesn't look interested" basically ignorant fans wondering why isn't he skating around and chasing the puck like an idiot. All this while the kid is playing a solid, smart, positional game and ends up being in "the right place at the right time" (I made a long post on this aspect of Gaunce's play a while back) and basically winning the game for his team. Pages like the ones linked are the reason why I always take game reports and fan comments with a huge grain of salt, firstly as a matter of course, but especially so when it comes to Gaunce. Some people just don't "get" how he plays the game. This has never been so evident as in that HFBoards thread, where people who claim to watch Gaunce regularly have the audacity to suggest he's "not even a good ECHL level player" (even though he's basically the Comets 2nd best scorer this year while also being a very solid two-way player for that team). Just shocking stuff. Well, not really, given some of the things I've read over the years (unfortunately). Some people just overvalue "energy" players who try to hit everything and usually get more boards than body on their checks. They like to see guys with great motors but little hockey sense who keep chasing the puck because they can't read where it's going. Or guys who have a forecheck setting that is stuck in the "on" switch and will chase pucks down low even when opponents have clean possession and an easy breakout path (usually resulting in an odd man rush the other way). Those types of fans will never "get" how Gaunce plays the game. And as much as I respect and appreciate most Utica fans (many of whom are extremely smart and informed hockey people), there just seems to be a fair number of "those types" watching Comets games this year and they have been very vocal in their disdain for Gaunce's play.

Just read the report that the Canucks are likely signing Rödin: http://canucksarmy.com/2016/1/27/report-canucks-intend-to-sign-anton-rodin (and posted earlier in Canucks talk). Great news if Botchford's "Provies" prove correct.

Does anyone know the level of competition Jasek will be playing against in the 2.Liga (Czech 3rd division). Just wondering if it's considered a step up compared to the Czech U20? The obvious benefit is that he'll be playing against grown men (versus teenagers in the U20) and hopefully getting big minutes. And the team he's joining is the top club in the 2.Liga (HC Frydek-Mistek currently holds a 21W-2L-1OTW-1OTL record in league play). But, without knowing the ins and outs of Czech hockey, it seems a little disappointing they couldn't get him a spot on a 1.Liga (2nd division) club.

Gaudette just keeps rolling. Great to see. Further to the discussion above, it's kinda amazing to look at our 2015 picks from rounds 4-7 (Zhukenov, Neill, Gaudette, Jasek, and Olson) and realize that, at this point at least, I wouldn't be able to really call any of them "bad" picks if they had actually been drafted in the 3rd round! Still a ways to go before any of them can be confirmed as "hits" but some pretty encouraging D+1 results nonetheless. I can't wait to see how Benning and the scouts follow things up with their next draft. Especially if we manage to stockpile a few extra picks this year.

At this point, Gaudette could go pointless for the rest of his season and he'd still be finishing ahead of the curve. For a freshman player drafted in the later rounds, he's already more than exceeded expectations. And exceeding expectations seems like a running theme for Benning's picks from this draft year.

Agreed. It's strange how often this criticism comes up with Gaunce. Some of the local Utica posters (on another forum which shall not be named) occasionally come out with game reports where they question Gaunce's commitment and intensity. They tend to complain that he's "not doing anything" and "hanging back" too much. They seem to think he needs to be chasing after the play more. I've probably posted the following quote 2-3 times already but I always find that Gaunce is able to defend himself against these criticisms in his own words much more eloquently than I can: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/for-belleville-s-brendan-gaunce--there-s-no-crying-in-hockey-194647701.html The funny thing is that even in these games where Gaunce is being criticized for supposedly "not working hard enough" or not showing enough "intensity," he still seems to always end up getting credited with making some key plays (at either end of the ice). Often, the value of these contributions gets diminished by his critics who suggest that Gaunce didn't work very hard and simply benefited by "being in the right place at the right time." I'd argue that this is probably Brendan's greatest strength and his "being in the right place at the right time" is rarely accidental. More often, it's the result of this player having superior on-ice awareness, anticipation, and hockey sense. Gaunce seems to regularly find himself in the right place to break up the opposition's offence. Whether it's disrupting the rush or intercepting a pass or somehow finding himself on a loose puck before anyone else. I've watched Brendan closely over the years and very often, you see him hanging back a little, maybe not committing to the immediate flow of the play quite as much as you'd normally like. He can sometimes seem out of sync with his teammates and sometimes even appear to be working outside of his coach's systems. Then, a few moments later, the ice has tilted, the play's headed the other direction, his teammates look exposed, but somehow Gaunce is in position and has found the right spot on the ice to stop what would otherwise been a disaster for his team. Similarly, on the offensive side, you see him looking maybe "low energy" or lacking "intensity" but then, all of a sudden, he's right there around the net to cash on a rebound. Or he's somehow alone just where the puck has come loose from the pack. Or he's intercepted a pass and gotten a quick shot off while the goalie and D are off balance. So many of his goals have been "right place at the right time." This has been the case at every level he's played. And I expect when Gaunce makes the NHL, he'll continue to find himself in "the right place at the right time" (even at the highest level and fastest pace the game has in the world). As far as "intensity" you just need to watch Gaunce. On or off the ice, look in that kid's eyes. Watch him for a minute. Honestly, I think Brendan is one of the more "intense" guys we have. But his intensity is in how closely he watches the game. How deeply he understands it. How much he's thinking about every possibility and trying to anticipate the flow of the play quicker than everyone else on the ice. His intensity is certainly more mental than physical. But so long as that "mental intensity" allows Gaunce to keep finding ways to get to "the right place at the right time," I'm just fine with him occasionally looking like he's "not doing anything" during some of his shifts.