N4ZZY

Isn't Aktell a RHD? https://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=194126

Fingers crossed he comes here.

if it's possible. move Myers, and then sign Gavrikov. Our defense is stronger with Gavrikov in it.

i mean, you still have to pay for toilet paper. water is worth more, and that's free.

Yeah, Kravtsov really doesn't have much leverage here. If he doesn't report, then he's going back to the K. And maybe he comes back to the NHL one day like Kuzmenko has done (not same situation, but Kuz came at a later age and has played really well here). I suspect with the advice of Gonchar, Podkolzin (who spent time in Abby), he will go, and if he does, he will dominate, management will let him marinate, and the coaching staff in Abby will work with him to improve certain areas of his game. If he's open to that (huge IF), I think he comes back to the big club all the better for it. If he doesn't, then he's probably a bust at that point.

I was initially suspect of Tocchet when management hired him. But I've liked what he's done with the group and how he's keeping his team/players accountable without throwing them under the bus, or shaming them publicly in front of the media. He's done well. Now I'd like to see him do it over the span of an entire season, if he can't, then there's nothing left except to blow the team up, and that's going to be hard with Hughes and Petey on the team, unless that means trading those two guys as well.

Yeah, I don't have high hopes for NCAA college free agents. I mean if Livingstone is projected to be a third pairing, maybe, second pairing dman in the league, then I'm not too hopeful that this kid is going to top that. But who knows right? It's why these kids play the games, there are untangibles often with certain players that will drive them further than players with an entire toolbox...cough cough, Virtanen, cough cough...

Assuming Johansson pans out. It feels like everyone’s penciling Johansson in the line up, but I’m still a wait and see what he does at training camp. He might need some seasoning in the AHL before being a staple on the backend on an NHL team. The good thing, though, is that he’s young. 22 years old right?

It’s why he came at such a cheap cost. He was and is worth the gamble. If he hits (big IF), then we have basically a free top six player we acquired. If he misses, then no loss for us since we didn’t give up a ton for him anyways. But for the sake of the Canucks, I hope Kravtsov hits. I like him, I really would love it if he has a super strong off-season, and get his game going in September. We’ll see. Tocchet isn’t wrong when he says that Kravtsov has a huge summer ahead.

Well that sucks. Guess he’s not being moved until the trade deadline.

Those two players would be upgraded over Brock (sorry to say) and Myers. I wonder also if management considering how Brock’s been producing lately would consider keeping him.

Yea. It’s true that this summer is huge for Kravtsov. He’s not that young anymore at 23. When does he turn 24? But roughly around this age, there are a lot of players in the league that just don’t pan out and they are what they are at around the 25-26 year old age. There are exceptions of course like late bloomers. But I’m not convinced that Kravtsov is a late bloomer. Maybe he just doesn’t have it in him to become a star player in this league. In that case, not much of a loss for the Canucks since they didn’t give up too much to acquire him.

I think it’s a delicate balance. The players have to prove that they can handle being higher on the roster. I thi no Podkolzin deserves to be at least on the third line if not the second to price if he can provide some offense. I don’t want to seem like a downer, but to me, he has some offensive skill, but I’m not sure if Podkolzin could ever become a 20 goal scorer in the league. He may be a 15-18 goal guy with maybe 1 or 2 seasons where he hits 20 goals. 30-40 point player. Is that second line production? Feels like a third like guy to me.

That’s true. But he’s not going to develop his game on the fourth line playing 10 mins a game. How are they going to give him a chance on the NHL roster?

So Hirose looked good last night against L.A.?

Honestly, I think Kravtsov could really benefit from being in Abbotsford for a season. He needs games played, but with our roster, if everyone is healthy, where is he going to get prime playing time to develop and grow his game?

Hoping the Canucks sign Haman-Äktell when he's free to sign.

Is Metsa's NCAA season over? If not, might be the reason for why he hasn't signed yet.

Juulsen is an intriguing player to me. Had some high potential when he started his career with Montréal right? And then bounced to Florida, and kind of lost his way. I wonder if he can reclaim his potential here in Van. If he and Hughes works, that would be amazing. Need to sign Gavrikov in the off-season too.

I mean, drafting Reinbacher would be amazing if he was available where we select. Mayfield would be alright. I understand the sentiment around Livingstone. A good young player - he was what? 23 years old right? So he would've been a good addition to the team. Why he wouldn't want to possibly play with Hughes is beyond a head scratcher for me. What does Nashville have and is offering as a team and organization that we couldn't, unless it was for more money, in that case, the team's already cap strapped.

well. the summer hasn't even started yet, there's an entire off-season we have to go through. i think there will be more to be added. I can't see Myers here, he's either traded in the off-season, or he's traded at the deadline, but that only means we have someone to step in when he's gone.

What was Livingstone projected to be in the NHL? Second pairing Dman?

I wonder where we're going to be signing RHD. We don't draft them. We don't sign them. Tell me where we getting them?

I think if Gavrikov would accept 5M over 5 years, then I'd be done for that. He definitely makes our backend that much better.

There's a reason why Free Agency is called the silly season. There's always a GM that does something really ridiculous. I can see someone offering him 6-6.5M.