[K'andre Miller spitting incident]

5 hours ago, Goal:thecup said:

NY Rangers New Macot, The Spitting LLama:

 

This is real.  Don't ask me how I know.

[Vitali Kravtsov | #91 | RW]

He looks like 3rd line material, at least to begin with:  defensively responsible, some offense and the skill to develop more but not a Kuzmenko-level finisher, more a play-maker.  Get him playing a solid fundamental game and see where it goes.  He doesn't appear to be a "wall guy" though so he's going to have to be strong in transition and on the forecheck to drive play, which will be key to whether he can stick in the NHL. 

[[Trade] Predators trade Tanner Jeannot to Lightning for Cal Foote, 2025 1st-round pick, 2024 2nd-round pick, 2023 3rd-round pick, 2023 4th-round pick, 2023 5th-round pick]

Nashville shorting the Lightning's 2025 first.  But it may take another year or two beyond that for them to be bad enough to make it pay.

[(Proposal)Trade Beautiful Villa]

Rumour is that he was available as a cap dump for the better part of a year.  Maybe he's regained some value, but a 1st?  With another year after this one at that cap hit, he's not exactly a bargain, so expect to retain salary.  This time next year might be more like it.

[[Rumour] Canucks getting calls on Thatcher Demko]

Can't see this happening:  Demko will have 2 starts at the most before the deadline, probably 1.   Is anyone going to pay up when his form is that uncertain?  Are management going to give him away for nothing?  Neither seems likely. 

[[Trade] Rangers trade Vitali Kravtsov to Canucks for William Lockwood, 2026 7th-round pick]

9 minutes ago, Sharpshooter said:

 

 

Whatever you say, champ.  I guess that's why NATO is emptying its war museums to replace the tanks its proxy has already lost. 

[[Trade] Rangers trade Vitali Kravtsov to Canucks for William Lockwood, 2026 7th-round pick]

Just now, Sharpshooter said:

Nope

Ukrainian troops in the trenches in Bakhmut report a 4 hr. average life expectancy.  But hey, victory comes in many forms. 

[[Trade] Rangers trade Vitali Kravtsov to Canucks for William Lockwood, 2026 7th-round pick]

25 minutes ago, 24K PureCool said:

We are doomed then given how the Russian army is doing these days 

Doing just fine, thank you very much. 

[[Trade] Rangers trade Vitali Kravtsov to Canucks for William Lockwood, 2026 7th-round pick]

Great bet on Kravtsov's uppside.  I like Lockwood but he's going to be hard pressed to avoid injury the way he plays at his size, and is replaceable in his role from within.  Kravtsov has skill and could still be something.  Putting him in with our hard-working group of Russians who all have good attitudes could get the best out of him.  Totally worth trying.

[Anthony Beauvillier | #72 | LW]

What Tocchet said about him a couple of days ago seems right to me:  he needs to play north-south and do puck recovery and forechecking, whether as a first- or third-line player.  It's great that he can tip in goals and make some skill passes but that is never going to be his bread and butter, only a nice extra.  I still like him as a player but he needs to understand his role.  We desperately need his speed in the lineup and he has to play that game.  

[[Report] Canucks recall Christian Wolanin, place Travis Dermott on IR]

He deserved to make the team out of camp.

[Demko re-injured?]

There was a tweet from practice yesterday reporting Demko screaming in the corridor as he left the ice.  Hopefully more in frustration than pain if true  Tocchet was unaware of it when asked after practice.  We'll see.  Wishing Demko the best but also the tank.

[(Discussion) an analysis of our new d pairings before and after Tocchet... plus how is AB doing...]

Just on the eye test, Beauvillier has been decent in his short time here, but not as dynamic as in his best days on the Island.  Doesn't look quite as fast and doesn't hound the puck quite as hard.  Still a useful player, but something happened along the way.  Injury?

[(Rumour) 4 teams interested in J.T. Miller]

6 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

I believe it is based on playoff positioning, so if Boston is out in the 1st round all of the other teams who made it to the second round jump ahead of them and get a worse pick...

That's right:

https://www.nhl.com/news/2022-nhl-draft-order-set-through-first-28-picks/c-334391724

 

[Rangers’ Pride Night goes sideways and Chicago Blackhawks refuse to wear pride jerseys]

I personally would wear a pride jersey before the military camo ones that the NHL also imposes on players and fans.  That the one is controversial and the other not shows that hockey culture is still a problem.  But a bigger one is the NHL's self-appointed role as our moral conscience.  Gay rights are (quite rightly) enshrined in law here.  The battle has been won and the NHL arrived well after the fact.  Obliging public displays of support from people who disagree or think that it should be a private matter does not win their hearts and minds.  Better to set up practical support systems for gay players than to engage in virtue signalling that the sport quite frankly hasn't earned. 

[The deserving(?) downfall of the Vancouver Canucks]

"Most hated franchise in the NHL"?  No matter how true the rest of his observations may be, his underlying butthurt motivation shows there.  This guy reeks of Alberta or Toronto.

[Rumor: Rutherford Believed To Want Out Of Vancouver]

I volunteer to drive him to the airport. 

[Anthony Beauvillier | #72 | LW]

I like this player and am pretty sure he'll get a test drive in the top 6.  He brings the forecheck, puck retrieval and overall motor that helps a line drive play, kills penalties and can finish a little bit too.  Put him in Mikheyev's spot and odds are he delivers.  Maybe he figured into the Horvat deal as a cap dump, but he's more than that. 

[Elias Pettersson | #40 | C]

3 hours ago, Bell said:

Pettersson would probably like to be captain but would hate talking to Vancouver's horrible media on a daily basis

Too bad they coached the alien death stare out of him. That would be a treat on a game-to-game basis, and absolutely what the local media deserves. 

[Aatu Räty | #27 | C]

If his floor is 3C and we get a top 4 RHD with the draft pick from the Islanders, it's already a win.  If he's a 2C, better still.  Sounds like it will come down to skating. 

[‘A new page for everyone’: Beauvillier, Raty ready to embrace fresh start with Canucks]

I thought both Beauvillier and Raty came off pretty well in that interview.  Raty's English is better than many recently-arrived Finns'.   I'm glad they're going to go the developmental route with him in Abby.  Beauvillier could surprise a lot of doubters, but if not, it's not a long commitment.  I like his motor and think he'll help defiine the kind of game we want to play.  

[Rick Tocchet will Be a Good HC for Us (Randip Janda / Frank Corrado)]

I'm pleasantly surprised and cautiously optimistic about Tocchet.  He's not the anti-Bruce that some of us feared he was but does seem like a better bet to get some accountability and consistency out of this group.  At least there seems to be some alignment between the coach and the front office about priorities and the team's direction now.  I still am not convinced about Allvin and despise the way Rutherford undermined Bruce, but that makes Tocchet the least of our problems.

[[PGT] Vancouver Canucks at Seattle Kraken | Jan. 25, 2023]

Lol at Tocchet's presser:  he knew it was bad or he wouldn't have got the job, but he couldn't believe it was this bad.  Welcome to the club!  Some tough love is coming to the players but it's not going to make any difference.  This is all on management.

[TOCCHET IS ONE TOUGH EX PLAYER]

I remember the 1970s too, back when men were men and computer printouts were all caps.

[Thank you Bruce!]

This is for Bruce