SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME

I think “most successful” Canucks GM is without question, when you look at Gillis’s record. That doesn’t make him the “best” GM (that honour belongs to Pat Quinn, and I’m not sure I’d actually put MG any higher than 3rd or 4th, on an all time Canucks GM ranking) but you can’t argue with Gillis’ tenure being the most successful six years ever seen by this franchise. 5 Division titles, 10 playoff rounds, one Stanley Cup Final, 2 Presidents’ Trophies (the only two ever won by the Canucks), GM of the Year (only time for a Canucks GM), and IIRC the best points percentage of any GM in Canucks history. No Canucks GM has ever put together a better team than Mike Gillis did, nor enjoyed the same level of sustained on-ice success, over a six year period (well, the first five years, anyway). Then, there’s the business side, as Gillis was also named President of CSE (Canucks Sports and Entertainment), from 2009 to his dismissal, and so he wasn’t just in charge of hockey ops. When he took over, the Vancouver franchise was the 8th or 9th most valuable in the league, at somewhere just over $200 million. Six years later, the Canucks were worth around $800 million, and had peaked at the 4th most valuable NHL team. Since Gillis left, the team has dropped to around $700 million in value, and will likely fall outside the top-10 most valuable NHL teams this year. So yeah, without a doubt, Gillis was the most successful GM (and President) in Canucks history. (And before anyone feels the need to fire off a reply: this post is not me saying MG shouldn’t have been fired.)

We intend to treat all the former Comets well, and will be forever grateful for the care and support the Utica community showed for our developing young players. It’s really bittersweet seeing the team move. I’m in the Vancouver area, so Abbotsford means that I can watch the AHL team live now, which I’m excited about, but I’m also really going to miss Utica. Wish you guys the best with New Jersey, and we’ll always have a soft spot in our hearts for any AHL team in Utica, even though it’s affiliated with another NHL organization. And agreed about DiPietro. He’s always been an impressive young man, with high character, but it’s clear that Utica rubbed off well on him, and helped him grow and mature into an even more respectable chap, and one who truly appreciated the support and hospitality of your community and fan base. Well done.

Absolutely. So lucky to have both. And Quinn and Jack are roommates and good friends, and even getting to play together on the PP. I could see them pushing each other to greater heights, through friendly competition, for years to come, and providing quite an enviable one-two punch on our defence.

Definitely have noticed the same thing, and agree the answer is to improve the quality of the forwards, so they can successfully receive a hard pass, versus asking the skilled Dmen to take some mustard off them, to accommodate the lack of skill there. Especially with guys like Hughes and Rathbone, who have very good passing accuracy and reads/awareness, and just need to have skilled players in front of them, who can take full advantage of the opportunities those types of passes can create.

I wouldn’t be against it, even though my posts so far in this thread have been a bit tongue in cheek. Tkachyov has some talent and has produced fairly well wherever he’s played. He’s definitely made the radar of some NHL scouting staffs, and very nearly ended up in Edmonton a few years back (they tried to sign him when he wasn’t eligible, and then the Oilers had some regime change, and he kind of fell out of favour). But Tkachyov has, as you note, made the trip across the pond earlier, to play CHL, and he’s attended NHL camp, and been successful in preseason, so he’s not completely unfamiliar with the NA game, and has shown some promise. On a cheap, one year deal, he’s a worthwhile gamble. I’m not sure if an undersized forward is what we need, to fill out the Canucks roster next year, but there’s nothing wrong with having another talented offensive player in the system, and there’s always a chance he surprises and shows enough to displace another roster forward. When it comes to KHL free agents this year, I’d also look at Konstantine Okulov and Damir Zhafyarov, who are both unsigned and coming off impressive seasons. I’d expect they’ll be getting interest from NHL teams. There are also a couple RH shot RHDs hitting KHL free agency, in Brennan Menell and Oliwer Kaski. Unfortunately, their NHL rights are currently held by Minnesota and Carolina, respectively (as defected players), but I imagine their rights could be acquired at not too high a cost. Both players scored over 30 points in the KHL last season, and logged significant minutes.

Well, he was a point per game player in the 2014-15 NHL preseason, so there’s that.

Remember when the Oilers signed him to an ELC back in 2014, only to learn he was ineligible to sign, and the contract was deemed invalid? Ah, good times.

I wonder if turnout for summer unicycle hockey has gone up, with kids hoping to emulate Pettersson and Höglander? http://vanuni.com Probably not last year, due to the pandemic, but I could see more young Canucks fans giving it a try, once things get back to normal.

Canucks need to add a unicycle juggling race to their next SuperSkills Contest. I really want to see Hogs and Petey go head to head.

How about 100 points in 52 games for Hoggy? And the 52nd game played against the Oilers.

I find CDC thread arguments amusing. Perhaps it’s because I’m a dad to twin boys. I know how I’d settle these kinds of disputes at home, but I suspect most CDCers wouldn’t enjoy my parenting methods.

Wow, did Hogs actually say this? I mean, I love it, personally speaking, and the confidence and swagger it shows. It’s just so far removed from the usual robotic, hockey “culture” quotes you get from players, where it’s all about the team, and never about the player himself (unless he’s taking the blame for something—and then it’s never about the team and all about the player). I just can’t remember ever seeing an NHL player give a postgame quote that leads with “I played great tonight.” Love it.

Prospect pool rankings, and the media discussion around them, is always skewed toward top picks. You’ll regularly see a terrible farm system suddenly jump to a top-10 or even top-5 ranking, just because they lucked into a lottery win pick. We’re no longer one of those top heavy systems, as the cream of our crop has graduated (as you note), so we tend to get ranked middle of the pack these days. However, we do have a good group of B/C grade prospects, and many of them appear to have good shots of making contributions as bottom-six F, bottom-4 D, which we will really need moving forward. Of course, most teams have a decent group of similar players as well. We just tend to not know much about those guys, because they’re developing in other teams’ systems, and don’t tend to get much discussion, outside of those fanbases and local sports media. But with a high pick in the 2021 first round, maybe snagging a “faller” in the 2nd, plus some decent work on draft day 2, and we could easily jump back into the top-10 on many of the prospects rankings, when they come out post-draft this year.

Perhaps it’s just him really settling into his role down the middle? Plus, wasn’t he playing with Baer and Goldy for a significant part of last season? Those are two guys who want the puck and tend to be more playmaker wingers, so he might have let them create the plays, and looked to get open to finish. Whereas this season, he might be looking to be more of a distributor, and setting up his wingers to score. He has put up more goals than assists a couple seasons in the past. You have to go back a few years though, to his Czech days.

Utica’s leading scorer now, after adding two assists last game (Sam Anas still has higher points per game, however). Still, 23 points (19 assists) in 25 games is pretty impressive stuff.

Maybe he’s improved on Louis Domingue’s baking? Silovs’ Taxi Squad Confections could be putting Domingue’s Bubble Bakery to shame. I hear Arturs’ banana bread is the bomb and his chocolate chip cookies are to die for.

Seems a safe bet. With no disrespect meant to the guys like Rafferty, Chatfield, and Brisebois, Rathbone’s stint so far has just been different. Just a higher grade of prospect and it shows. Jack hasn’t been perfect, and he hasn’t brought his best game yet IMO, but you can clearly see every game, and most shifts, that he’s an NHL quality player. And he’s only going to get better.

Definitely a “plus” skater with legitimate NHL grade speed. But that’s not all he has to offer. His coach at Michigan (Mel Pearson) gave a great interview once where he talked about Will Lockwood being a game-breaking player, but not in the way most people think. Lockwood isn’t going to be an elite offensive producer or the guy you can always rely on to score the game winning goal, but he is a guy that you can expect to change the tone and emotion of the game, with at least once special shift each night. Between his speed, pace, aggression, physicality, work ethic, and determination, he’s a guy that will usually do something each game to lift up the guys on his bench, and give that “energizer bunny” boost to his teammates. Whether it’s a shot block that leads to an odd man rush or breakaway, a reverse hit that knocks a bigger guy on his butt, rubbing somebody out in the corner, a speedy back check to stop a scoring chance, or dangling three guys on his way to the net front, Lockwood has the kind of toolkit to affect the game, disrupt negative flow, energize his mates, and re-tilt the ice to his team’s advantage. At his best, Lockwood is the type of player that his coach can tap to turn around the direction and “feel” of a game, often with just one shift. I’m really hoping he can continue to successfully transition his skill set, as he moves up in levels of competition, because Will Lockwood has the potential to be a very special player in an NHL bottom-six, and one who could easily become a fan favourite in Vancouver, if everything comes together for him.

I wouldn’t say “soft.” I’d agree he doesn’t offer any kind of punishing, physical presence. He’s just not built for it. Doesn’t lay out big hits or throw his weight around in scrums. But he also doesn’t back down or shy away. He’s really effective along the wall, battles hard (and wins more puck battles than he loses), and isn’t afraid to take pucks to the net, or battle for position. The Comets list him at 180lbs, which isn’t bad for a guy who’s about 6’ and does have a more narrow frame. He’ll never be considered big or strong, especially for a centreman, but he’s big enough and strong enough to be successful in his role (or at least has been, at the AHL level). I’d agree that he’s more likely to not make the NHL than he is to make the NHL. I’d say the same about nearly every prospect, other than Podkolzin. So Europe is a likely destination, if the NHL doesn’t work out. I’d just disagree with saying he’s too “slight” or too “soft” for the NHL. (But certainly, if he was 6’3”, born in small town Saskatchewan, and was having the same level of success, role, and impact in the AHL as Jasek has for Utica this season, he’d probably already have been called up for NHL games with the Canucks, and would likely be pencilled in as a sure-fire Beagle/Sutter replacement.)

I think at the time Gaudette was traded, Lockwood was still finding his way at the AHL level, had only scored something like 3 points in 13 games, and was looking like he needed some time to adjust. Since then, I believe he’s scored 8 points in 11 games, and really started to look like he’s getting his confidence as a pro, and has settled in and started to transition his playing style to the higher level of competition. But when the Canucks made the trade, I doubt they saw Lockwood as much of an option for the lineup, or even depth, at least for this season. He probably wasn’t even in the discussions, when they did their planning pre-deadline. Also, I’d imagine with the injuries and the Covid-19 outbreak, Benning felt it was important to acquire some NHL journeymen and more proven depth/replacement level pros, just to have enough heathy bodies for the lineup. He has made some questionable decisions, at times, when it comes to adding “age gap” type players, versus developing and transitioning prospects, but I think this year, it was mostly about having enough bodies, and also just taking a free look at guys who might help now, and might be short term, cheap fixes for lineup holes, especially in the bottom-six. Also, Highmore was apparently a player they’ve had their eyes on and liked for some time, so I think they were happy he was available, and jumped at the chance to add him. And it seems like, when it comes to their strategy and timing, they were just taking back whatever assets at they could get for moving Gaudette. I still don’t like the Gaudette trade, and think we clearly lost that trade, on pure value, but I can understand management’s process behind acquiring Highmore, as well as their decision to move off of Gaudette.

I think that’s a big part of it. With both Pettersson and Beagle out, as well as some weakness throughout the whole forward group, it’s not the ideal time to audition an NHL rookie down the middle. Or, at least, it hasn’t been, as Green has continued to approach the games as “must wins” and competing for the playoffs (which maybe he’s only recently started to admit to himself are out of reach). I’d imagine if we only had maybe one of Beagle or Sutter out, and otherwise we’re icing a full, healthy group of forwards , they might give Jasek a shot with a late season callup. But he’s also playing a pretty critical role with Utica, so just a press box looksie would probably be a waste of time, and could really hurt the Comets, and destabilize their overall group, given the usage and minutes they’re getting out of Jasek. I do worry a little that there’s some scouting bias happening, within the Canucks staff, and that they don’t really see the upside, despite Jasek showing so well in the AHL, and him bringing a host of what I see as very convertible tools, for an NHL bottom-six role.

Yup. And second in scoring (and assists), in Utica, with 21 points in 24 games, while being tasked with some of the toughest minutes, as their primary 5v5 “matchup” centre and one of their main PKers. He still gets good second tier offensive opportunities (playing behind Sam Anas and the top line), but he has really established himself on the defensive side of the puck, while still managing to score points at a very high rate. Jasek really does it all. PP, evens, and PK. He brings high offensive production, very solid defensive contributions, wins faceoffs, drives possession, high energy and work ethic, good pace and skating, high compete level, dogged determination on loose pucks and recoveries, and is just difficult to play against. He’s really showcasing the type of game in the AHL that you’d want to see from a player who might one day anchor a 4th line (or even a 3rd line) in the NHL. EDIT: He also just seems to be a coach’s dream. Converted to centre, from his natural RW position, and just put his head down and got to work re-making himself into Utica’s matchup/shutdown centre, with all situations utility, while continuing to bring the offence. Never complains, just works hard, and does whatever is asked of him by his coaches. That type of mindset and work ethic can be just as important as talent and results, when transitioning into a lesser role, but at a higher level of competition.

Me too. Hopefully he gets re-signed and has a strong camp next season and forces his way into the conversation. He’s really done everything that could be asked of him so far, with Utica, and deserves consideration for a future bottom-six role, in Vancouver. That’s not to say he should be pencilled in to any future lineup, but just that he deserves to be part of the discussion, and I’d really like to see him get his shot, at some point.

Psyched about this. Hopefully he gets into the lineup for the remaining games versus Calgary, once he’s finished his quarantine. I expect Lockwood will open a lot of eyes, for the Canucks fans who haven’t yet watched him play.

Props to the OP for not mentioning the drop pass. That’s usually my “I stopped reading” cue, when it come critiques of the power play. I agree that our power play tends to be too predictable moving up ice, and too static, once inside the zone. And these weakness are only exacerbated this season, with a schedule playing only the Canadian teams, allowing our opponents to do much more detailed game planning and prescouting, to neutralize the power play. Pettersson being out is also a huge loss, as he’s one of our best puck carriers for moving up ice and gaining entries, and one of our more elusive and creative players, once inside the offensive zone. He’s obviously missed, especially when it comes to PP effectiveness. But, as much as he’d help right now, I agree that we need more improvements to our PP (both in terms of coaching and the talent on the ice), than will be provided just by getting Petey back (although he’d make a big difference—a healthy Pettersson, when on his game, can hide a lot of weaknesses).