filthycanuck

"nice goal kid, way to put on the jets, now take a seat and let the big boys handle it from here" Thats not exactly a great way of coaching up a kid who just scored and gets rewarded by getting benched. I really hope it doesn't ruin his confidence, the fact that Megna seems to be on the ice every other shift, Willie needs to get fired ASAP.

Too bad we couldn't add Pulkinen, would've been nice to give him a shot seeing is that the Coyotes got him for a McD happy meal But anyways, on to Dahlen, from what Ive read and heard all through out the day, sounds like we've got ourselves a player. From the highlight videos, aesthetically the way he skates and shoots the puck, very reminicent of Nail Yakupov, but nice to see the kid likes to go under the hash to score some of his goals

I heard that too, even Gaudette has jumped over Fatty Virtanen

Grant Fuhr had a story where he had Bossy line up 10 pucks in the slot area and had him shoot to see how many he'd get in. Bossy got 8 in, 2 rang of the post. The kicker here, is that Bossy didn't even look ONCE at where he was shooting, just pure goal scoring instincts

Yes and thats what many teams hold on to their overweight prospects, gawd knows they don't want to lose out on the next Brett Hull. Sorry but an obese Brett Hull skating with one skate, shooting left handed would make Jake Virtanen look like an amateur

Exactly, for our team it seems to be sit and wait all the time while the OTHER teams are reaping the benefits of their picks almost immediately. If Virtanen was born in Saskatoon, anywhere else but BC, theres no way they would've picked him. Benning is too behind the curve, in love with the whole size matters in the West, the Boston model was expired like 3-4 years ago, its speed and skill is what this game is predicated on now. I still do think that the real problem is rooted in the scouting staff, which I don't think has changed since the Quinn days with retards like Delorme, and Smyl heading up that dept.

The problem is, while jake is putting up 30 pts in 2 years, Ehlers, Larkin and Pastrnak will be in the upper echelon of the league at that time, 30 - 50 goal players. I dont see why we have to keep picking garbage in the draft, waiting for them to develop, while other teams who are picking later than us are getting bonafide superstars that are already contributing within to years of hitting the NHL

Yeah he is, but hes around team a lot more than any of us in this forum I'll tell you that much

True, the Sedins weren't the fittest guys on the team when they were starting out, but the thing that was never a question was their commitment to excellence. Those guys did what it took to get better. That despite the early criticism, its like they pushed harder, the harder the obstacle. I heard an interview of Willie's on the radio and he was talking about Jack Skille, on how hes impressed him. The guy isn't the greatest athlete, not the most talented, but the thing that Willie said that Skille was ALWAYS doing something to try to keep himself in the pros, the guy was always hanging out it in the rink, watching film, working out, on the ice with the skills coach, etc. Virtanen on the other hand, as per reports by Tomlinson, was almost always the first guy out of the ice and last guy in. Thats why hes in Utica. If both guys aren't producing, I'd take the player that at least makes an effort than the other guy whos lazy and feels entitled.

oh ok so give me another trade that he won Shinkaruk for Granlund , for salary cap reasons alone we lost the trade. Granlund has nowhere close the ceiling of Shinkaruk has, and he pretty much has to be pencilled in to be in the lineup or else hes in the waiver wire. Shinkaruk is ineligible to get on waivers for 2 years. If he sucks this training camp, oh well, hes got another chance next year Linden Vey for a 2nd- we lost this one big time. Linden Vey couldve been lost with no compensation this year and is slim footing to be on the roster next year because of his psycho dad. 2nd round draft pick for a guy that went to waivers the year after, sorry, it was a stupid trade by a stupid GM Kassian for a 5th and Prust - I absolutely despise Zack Kassian, he is absolute garbage...BUT to trade him for Prust who didn't even last a season..and to throw a 5th round pick to boot to get him out of town. Its trading garbage for garbage, but us giving up another asset. Clendenning for Forsing - Clendenning has bounced around for a few teams already in a span of a year, while forsling got signed by the blackhawks Brandon Sutter for a pick, clendenning and bonino - Bonino should've been the Conn smythe winner. Doesn't matter if Brandon Sutter scores 100 goals next year. Bonino and the Pens won a cup. Mission accomplished. Its like comparing Joe Niewendyk and Jarome Iginla trade. Iginla is the much better player, but when its all said and done, Niewendyk won a cup for the stars, anything else Iginla did for the Flames is irrelevant Please enlighten me with your vast hockey knowledge. Gillis was handed a stacked team? The team missed the playoffs the year before and all off a sudden they were stacked? Where was Henrik and Daniel's Art Ross, Hart, Lester B Pearson trophies and Ryan Keslers Selke during the Dave Nonis Era? Sorry, but Erhoff played a big part on getting the offence going, and Lapierre and Higgins, and the signing of Raffi Torres basically propelled us to the Stanley cup final. Go get your Matthews jersey signed, loser

The only trade hes done so far that weve won, and not by much is the Sven Baertchi trade. Everything else has been pretty questionable, and this is year 3 of the Benning era. Gillis had a handful of deals that we've won handidly in the same number of years, with a presidents trophy and a stanley cup final to boot

I agree, thats the biggest point of them staying, who are they going to bring up? Our 4th line had 6pts with McCann, Vey will NEVER match that production, simply put, hes a downgrade, a massive one at that compared to McCann. To me the ELC doesn't matter if the kids are contributing, management owes it to the fans to bring the best possible product. If they weren't producing, fine, 9 game look send them down, thats ok. But the thing is McCann and Virtanen have brought something to the table in their own way, and there arent players in the farm that provide significant upgrades over them. These young players, Hutton, McCann, Virtanen are keeping fans interested in this team, could you imagine the uproar if Vey comes back to the big club in expense of McCann?

If Jake stays and ends the year with 15-20 pts but hits everything that moves, Im cool with that. His offence will come in time but hes bringing something that fat boy Kassian didnt, and thats truculence.

Agreed, Baertchi really hasn't shown a whole lot. The writings on the wall on McCann sitting, back to back against Cali teams. Id rather see Prust or Baertchi be sat and see what Jake can do

Agreed, Gretzky and Lemieux were a 5 rungs above everyone else on how they played the game. Keep in mind that during the dead puck era, the red line was still there. So can you imagine Mario and Wayne playing in todays game without the red line? Theyd be firing passes tape to tape with ease from the back of their own net

You know this was veys first full season right? Canucks fans have this obnoxious love for kassian whos done nothing since being a canuck, with numerous seasons under his belt and yet linden vey has had one season and hes being thrown under the bus. I wasnt a massive fan of vey this season but im also of the mind that its still way too early to label him a bust just yet

If I had my way, I'd actually keep Bieksa over Edler. Todays transactions, with Bieksa point that he is on the way out the door. But Im not big Alex Edler fan. For a guy that gets talked about as the workhorse out of our team and Tanev needs to basically babysit him. Theres no denying what Bieksa has done for this team, ring of honor material defintely, fan favorite but theres no reason to keep him since theres youth coming up, and similar players in the same team. But id rather keep him over Edler. Alex Edler is very overrated and people are holding on to the potential that doesn't seem to look like its coming anytime soon

BoKnowsAbsolutelySquat

I agree, although best case scenario is that Benning just tells Bieksa "hey we aren't resigning u next year, might as well pack your bags" The only ones who want Bieksa back are the homers who are stuck living in the past that think Bieksa is a top 4 D-man. Theres 3 guys that play a similar role like him, and frankly for 4 million plus playing bottom pairing minutes doesn't make any sense. Weber has been fairly decent defensively, but has the offensive production to warrant at least another contract. The guy had 2nd most goals from the back end last year and tops this year, a plus player for a majority of the year with an 850k cap hit. Give your head a shake if you dont think thats money well spent and then some

I watched the skills competition in the mid 90's, the last year the Canucks played in the Pacific Coliseum, and Linden beat Bure as the fastest skater in the Canucks

As per Matt Sykaris ( whatever his name is spelled) this morn, Markstrom has stated to Canucks management that he doesn't intend to sign his RFA tender, in short, he wants out of this organization. Can't really blame the guy, I dont think hed ever expect having a full time league in the minors and having to jump over 2 people to get to start. Woudve been nice though to see him get a chance at the backup job while Lack gets shipped for some assets.

Kassian has done nothing pretty much all year, he should be the odd guy out. Everytime Mattias, Richardson, or Hansens name comes up as a candidate for the pressbox, they seem to perform. Right now, those 3 guys are playing really well, Kassian gets numerous amounts of chances. Wheres the production? or the impact for that matter. Bo got his first goal great, the fact that hes been awesome on the faceoffs this early in his career, and defensively responsible, theres a role he can play in this team that benefits him MUCH more than junior. People should start taking off the rose coloured glasses with Kassian. Hes had little or no impact on this team, i know the potential is there but there comes a point where, "do SOMETHING to get noticeable". The first line is getting back on a roll, the second line has been terrific, Dorsett has been consistent, and the the 3 bottom 6 guys i mentioned have been playing very well. Linden Vey has been decent, but has the numbers to show he can play. Kassian is the odd guy out of this group, the fans are just to enamoured on the coolaid MG was serving

Great post, Penguins will have to over pay. Trust me, if Kesler being on their team wins them the cup this year, they wont care if Bennett or Pouliot scores 80 goals each for the Canucks next year. Fact is they won the cup, mission accomplished. I agree with your point that I was explaining earlier, the demand for Kesler especially in the East is so high, that overpayment is a given if not, hes going to their competition. This is far different from the Luongo saga where Gillis had a specific price and its not being met. This Kesler situation is a complete 180 in which the Canucks demands are not only being met, but theres gonna bidding war on who could exceed those demands the most

I agree, Bennett and Pouliot (or Matta)+ should be the starting point for the trade. If the + is Depres or even a 3rd rounder Id take that deal. But the 2 first players I mentioned have to be included in the deal.