*Buzzsaw*

No new Coach... we don't need a bump which will still not get the team into the post season... or if it did, would be a quick 1st round exit. No, the team should be allowed to sink so the draft opportunities are optimized.

Sorry to interrupt your delusion. Frank Griffiths... the father... he knew what he was doing. Under him the Canucks were fine and everyone was cool... but as he got older, things went downhill. His sons were bozos both and basically blew the wad. The Griffiths lost the Canucks because Arthur put all the beans in on a NBA Vancouver Grizzlies franchise and lost big time... Or maybe I should say, lost by picking 'Big Country'. Arthur should have stopped pretending he was a Sports Genius and hired a management team to look at the actual viability of an NBA franchise before buying one and building a whole new Sports Palace at the same time.

My reply regarding who can and should be dealt: - Unfortunately an OEL trade ain't gonna happen no matter how much we wish for it... no other team wants him and his contract... he is staying. Which would be ok if he ends up being a 5/6 D. - I firmly believe Myers can be dealt... even at worst if Canucks retain $3 million CAP for next year it will save $3 million... which will be enough to sign Horvat. Asking price should be a 3rd rounder. - Same with Boeser... teams will pay for his scoring... if we retain $1.65 million for two years, we will be better off. With that discount... at $5 million a year he is a worthwhile player for other teams. Price is a 2nd rounder. CAP savings will allow us to sign Kuzmenko at $5 million per year. If we can't deal these two guys.... (no reason why we shouldn't be able to) then next on the list is Garland. - He is a useful utility guy for a team who is a contender... and even if we retain $1 million for the three years of his contract, we save 4 million per year and can pay for Horvat or pick up a decent UFA D for that salary.

Waste of time changing coaches right now. Team is not going to make the playoffs... or even if by some miracle they did, they would be gone in the first round. Let BB finish the season, look in the summer for a new coach.

Right now the facts are obvious to everyone sitting at Rogers Place or in front of their TV. This season is done. The only thing that matters now is keeping the core players in this team a part of the Canucks. If management continues to sit on its hands, hem and haw about what/when/how/maybe... they are wasting time. Basically they need to stop crying about the past and get the job done. Which means they need to unload CAP RIGHT NOW so they can sign the guys who are important and whose contracts are coming either either this summer or next year.... AND open up the space for new players, especially young D, to be brought onboard. The two guys below either have to be signed by the Trade Deadline or they have to be traded. Trading them would be a mistake. Horvat Kuzmenko Which is why management needs to move at least three of Myers, Boeser, Garland and Schenn to make space. Mikheyev is another who should not be off the table. Does not really matter what the Canucks get in return... as long as the CAP hit for the players we get is less than what we ship out. Optimally we get picks... a 5th rounder would be better than nothing. In fact, if we trade some of the above for 'Future Considerations' it is a win as far as I'm concerned. Either that or players we get in return are league minimum salaries. And management should be prepared to eat some outgoing salary. (not CAP) Just get rid of them. No holding out to the last minute bargaining... just get down and pull the trigger. Horvat is an important part of the team, and Kuzmenko is also critical... he will be the 2nd key element in next year's Pettersson line. When this team has cleared some CAP space then we can start the retool/rebuild or whatever you want to call it.

Will this happen in the Draft? Cause if that is what you are saying... I'd be happen to chance a wager.

Gotta wonder if the Lightning would be interested in Schenn at the trade deadline.

Goddam... put Kuz with Pettersson!

Don't hold your breath for Bedard... with our luck not too likely. But there are a lot of good players this year... as everyone is aware.

Pettersson line is having a rough night.

Hate to say this... but any loss is a good loss for this team right now. There is zero rationale in hoping the team starts winning... they will not make the playoffs and the better their draft position the more likely they can pick up someone useful... and who knows... maybe win the Holy Grail with the lottery.

Gotta believe Boudreau has been told not to play Kuzmenko with Pettersson. Because putting him with #40 is a no-brainer... they are money. But it appears Canucks management has given up on the season and want to keep Kuz's point totals down so they don't have to offer him as much. Not sure that is a good idea... with the current CAP situation I don't think they will be able to afford him anyway... and if his totals are pumped up then he'll be worth a lot more in a trade.

You're right... my mistake. I was looking at the Wiki pages for the players, and it seemed like the CAP was for per year at that amount. Still think the Riley Stillman signing is a fail... giving up a 2nd rounder is a big loss. The Lazar contract now makes more sense... but still more pricey than a base level salary.

Edited my post to talk about CAP management.

Ok, we are midway through the season, the team is going nowhere fast, and management has come clean and said there have been mistakes in how they assessed the team. Now they are saying there needs to be major surgery. From my perspective they are acknowleging what should have been clear from the moment they signed on... or maybe they weren't listening to close observers of the team? What was was clear to me... and most fans who watch the team closely... and therefore should have been clear to professionals... was the team was lacking both in their defensive personnel and the overall defensive structure. The goaltending situation was good, (this was prior to Demko being re-injured) with a #1 and #2 as well as backup in Abbotsford. The offensive potential of the team was also good... with Pettersson, Horvat, Miller as a strong proven trio at center, and with enough decent supporting wingers to allow the trading of some of these for defensive improvements. This new management team should have focused on acquiring defensive assets... preferably in the form of younger defensive prospects, and drafts, with trades of our surplus wingers a tool. Last choice would be signing free agent older established players... although short term deals could be done for the right player if the option to go younger was not possible. But what I saw over the last 9 months did not show that Rutherford and company understood what was needed to allow this team to take the next step. In the off season, their focus seemed to be on signing or acquiring offense... First they signed Miller to a long term contract. I don't fault them for this, there were compelling reasons for wrapping him up longterm... he was the team's leading scorer, centermen who can score near to 100 points in a year are at a premium. Yes, he hasn't performed up that standard this year, (still a lot of games to go) but overall, the price they paid was not exorbitant. After signing Miller, you'd think they would then put their focus on the D. Instead, they spent $5 million on signing Ilya Mikheyev... a good player, but when you consider the club was not short of wingers, and the glaring deficiencies on defense remained... questionable spending this much. They also signed Andrei Kuzmenko... he was a bargain at the time, so this was worthwhile, even if they need to trade him at the deadline. In addition, they re-tooled a lot of their bottom end forward group with Curtis Lazar being the big signing there... at $3 million over three years. The only significant defensive addition in the off season was Riley Stillman, in a trade for Jason Dickenson and a 2nd rounder. This trade has to be considered a failure... they gave up a 2nd rounder... a considerable loss. Combine this with Stillman's poor play as a Canuck, and you have a disastrous trade decision. Part way into the season, with the team going nowhere, management acquired Ethan Bear and Lane Pederson from Carolina for a 5th rounder. I would call this trade a win for management... Bear is a decent young defenseman, not a top 4 in my opinion, but certainly a #5. And Pederson at the very least is a solid AHLer, and still has a 35/65 chance of turning into a top six forward... at the very least he will be a regular in Abbotsford. But the team still had not filled the glaring deficiencies at D... there was not the substantial move they needed in the off season, and the deluge of goals filling Vancouver's net continued. Another failure of management is in not finding the right assistants to complement Boudreau. With the departure of two key members of the coaching staff from last season, it was imperative management and Boudreau find replacements who could give the team the necessary structure in their own end of the ice. Mike Yeo was one of the designated successors... but why management would pick a guy who has a litany of failures and firings in his back history is a question. No doubt Boudreau had something to do with this... Yeo worked under him in Minnesota, but Yeo's track record should have been a warning to Rutherford... enough to override any loyalty BB might have. The Assistant coach who was retained, Jason King, was no better... he had been part of the Green debacle since 2020 and it is difficult to see what there was to recommend him. As it stands now, the team's Penalty Kill and overall defensive play are disasters... and the major reason for the team's poor record... and these failures are a responsibility of the assistants. Management picked these guys. --- To summarize, I think this management group deserves an 'F'. It should have been apparent what the team needed to improve... and they failed to recognize the facts and act. Edit: What I forgot to mention was managements handling of CAP. By spending the money to sign Mikheyev, and not unloading CAP by trading some of their higher priced forwards or D like Myers or Boeser they made it impossible to re-sign Bo Horvat when he turned in his best season. Now you could argue Bo's performance this year is a surprise... but I would disagree. Every player I have seen who is coming up to UFA status puts in their best effort to give themselves a chance to retire comfortably. Bo is no different. Management should have anticipated Horvat exceeding his previous best and allowed for a cushion. The CAP management record of Rutherford and company is perhaps their biggest failure. Edit Changed post to reflect correct CAP values.

A little humour here... A 60 meter dash race between Gretzky, Sugar Ray Leonard, Pele and Bjorn Borg. Gretz smokes them.... now of course, Pele is in his 40's.... he comes in second despite that and probably beats Gretz in his prime. But both Leonard and Borg are in their prime, and yet are completely outclassed. Just goes to show Gretz wasn't as much of a wimp as some suggest.

There are three players on the team now who should be untouchable, never should be traded and who are the real core. Those are Pettersson, Hughes and Demko. (assuming Demko recovers to form) Then there are those who are very important, and who management should try to keep. Those are Miller and Horvat. Sign if possible at a fair value, if not, trade. And then there are the complementary players who are young and still developing. Those are Kuzmenko, Mikheyev, Podkolzin, Hoglander, Bear and one of either Martin or Delia. These preferably should be signed but can be traded depending on what is best. The rest of the team should be on the trade block.... especially Boeser... who really doesn't fit anymore but who should have value. And some should be buy out candidates if they can't be traded... Myers being the first choice for this.

Where are the clips? I don't see them here... have to hunt for them in the reporters twitter feeds.

Hiring Rick Tocchet is one of the stupidest ideas I've heard. Does not have a winning record.... the only reason they'd get him is because he's a disciplinarian and maybe Aquaman thinks he'll kick the sh*t out of the team and motivate them. We need a systems overhaul and a new defense, not a bandage coach.

Heart of a LION... never backed down a day in his life. He is one of the reasons why the '94 team is the best we ever had. Pavel will be sad.

He will prefer SoCal.

Another game where special teams let the team down. PK was lousy and PP was 1 for 5. Still there was decent effort in the third period... but too little too late. Can expect a goalie with the quality of Bobrovsky is going to give up a two goal lead without a fight. This roadtrip was the one the Canucks HAD to win to be assured of a playoff berth... at this point I don't think much of their chances. Yeah, they might put on a season ending push, but it probably won't be enough. Time for management to line up the trades for deadline. (not Horvat)

Waste of time to change the Head Coach now... without the defense changes the team needs. This team needs improvements in its defensive personnel before anything. Should they try new assistant coaches? Yes.

Bo Horvat has been the face of this team since the Sedins left. He has been a consistent producer for the team who has shown year to year improvements. He is the team's best multi-tasker... he can be a dominant faceoff man, score goals, be physical and be a checking forward. He deserves respect... he has not complained or made a public issue although he has probably been under-paid for most of his stay in Vancouver. He has been a competent and honourable Captain of the team... not the best by any standard... but he has shouldered the responsibility and put the effort in. --- At the same time, it has to be said.... he is not Star player... he does not drive the team's offense, he is a triggerman... not a playmaker. He also sometimes has problems in the shut down role... especially when he is facing high level opposition. And while his scoring performance this season deserves every acknowledgement... the goal totals he is putting up to this point are inconsistent with what he has shown in previous years... can we expect him to continue to score at this rate for the rest of this year or even the rest of his best years or is this 1/2 season an outlier statistically? --- Whatever the situation at the end of the season, a way should be found for Bo Horvat to stay in Vancouver. I believe the fans want him to stay, and I believe Bo wants to stay. I think he likes Vancouver, the fans like him, and they want to see him hoist the Cup as Captain. Sure he would find a home on another team if he went up on the block... but would he be that team's Captain? Never know, but unlikely. And would he be as happy? I wonder. And what would Vancouver get in return? I am not sure we would see the best of any deal... I suspect Bo would be the best player in any deal, and as anyone who watches the NHL knows, 'Best Player Wins the Deal'... is more often right than not. --- What I am saying in this post is that Management, Bo, and his Agent need to find a way to keep him in Vancouver. If Management has been watching these boards, (see my recent poll) they can see there are many other Canuck players who the fans would prefer to let go instead of Bo. So... BOTH SIDES... GET IT DONE.