Dixon Ward

We are getting ridiculous. For years we have said that defenseman take time, more time than forwards. 2-4 years to become a regular nhler and 26 yrs old plus to become a true number one dman. Hughes is 21 and has had two of the best offensive years of a Canucks defenseman, ever! He has had mixed results defensively but has been playing 20 plus minutes since 19 yrs old. The idea that anyone is looking to trade him gives me the same feeling I have for Trump-supporters and ant-vaxxers. Contempt, frustration, disgust, sadness, embarrasment, and so on. If we are going to trade the best, by far, offensive talent we have ever seen on defense in a Canucks' uniform, it better be for a superstar or just stop posting and go get your vaccine.

During pp and key times in the game you would reunite the Lotto line, but we need more than two good lines and Miller is a very good center. Seems a shame not to use him to spread out the 5 on 5 strength. Hogs EP Boeser Pearson Horvat Armia?(size, decent hands, responsible) Kerfoot Miller Podkolzin Motte Beagle Highmore Lind, Gadjovich, Lockwood, (Virtanen?) This would be a strong forward group with a lot of interchangeable parts. Miller could move up to left and Kerfoot could go back to centre at any time. Of course if Beagle is on LTIR we would use his money to go get a bottom 6 center like Casey Cizikas.

In fact, if he does take Edvinsson, get him on the defenseman factory, Kelowna Rockets, for the next year or two, like they did for Edler.

Sure, but Edler has been a godsend at the 91st overall player. We have to keep in mind that only a few teams have Lidstroms, Prongers, Karlssons, etc... most teams top defenseman are not Norris Trophy winners. They are just very good defensemen, which includes Edler.

It seems like we got a guy in the 3rd, where you have a 5% or so chance of getting an nhler, who most predicted in the 2nd. He is big and can skate, he now has a couple of years to put together his game. Let's see what happens instead of worrying about him now. Both Lind and Gadjovich, picked much earlier, looked pretty weak until this last year and that was in their draft +3 years. Let's give the big guy some time and maybe we'll be pleasantly surprised.

I think Edler has been underrated for quite awhile. He has had 4 or 5 straight coaches, all with different styles, who relied on him as our top defenseman. PP, PK, and the most overall minutes essentially for 12 years, through ups and downs, wins and losses and many teammates and coaches. If GMJB thinks Edvinsson is better than Edler and is the bpa, I hope he picks him regardless of current team need.

I would think you would move Kerfoot to the wing and keep Miller as your 3rd centre. EP needs to stay fresh and play the pp and offensive minutes. Horvat and Miller as your 2a and 2b centers would make us a pretty strong team up the middle.

I think a 5th or 6th round pick have about a 5% chance of making the nhl. I think that Dipietro would have to be at least a 50% chance of being an nhl goalie. Respectfully, I think you are way off with your evaluation.

Can you explain your severe comments?

I would like to see the following: Grigorenko 1.5 x 2 Big, good skater, Russian to help Podkolzin transition, plays C or LW versatile only 27 Wennberg 3.5 x 3 Good skater, offensive upside and good all around player, versatile Top 9 Miller EP Boes Grigorenko Horvat Hogz Pearson Wennberg Podz Miller and Grigorenko both also play center and with Lind and Gadjovich knocking on the door, we could have a very solid and versatile top 9.

Point is Peeke is not enough of an upgrade, not whether Rafferty can be called a prospect.

I wasn't saying we shouldn't pursue him for depth just saying he's 23, yet to establish himself in the NHL as a regular and didn't exactly light it up in the AHL. He is not enough of a prospect for me to want to give up a top 10 pick after a year where we had only a 3rd rounder. If I am going to trade #9 OA it will be for a legit nhl player.

Is Peeke a better prospect than Rafferty? Or Woo? Based on numbers, I wouldn't say so. We need another top 10 ELC talent more imho

I think it is entirely possible that Benning and his team have a very different top 9 than we have been talking about. They may be very high on Raty or any number of other players. With their recent draft choices I will just accept it until proven otherwise. Podz, Hogs, Hughes, Demko, EP, Lind, Dipietro, Rathbone, and a few more give me confidence that they see things others don't. It will be bpa and they are great at determining who is the bpa.

I have heard that there are some great prospects at the top of next year's draft, but is it considered deep?

If that's the case,and I think you are probably right then clearly the only move is to chose the absolute bpa regardless of position. Our team will be totally different by then and the positional needs will change. Or trade the pick for someone who fills a need right now.

I asked this question and nobody answered? What prospects are expected to actually play in the nhl next season?

I think everything depends on who is available at 9. This is an interesting idea though.

Who are the most nhl ready prospects? Power seems obvious but who else.

I corrected it. I meant if he weren't. The answer is, a player with his history we wouldn't be talking about him at all.

Ask yourself if you would have any interest in Emil if he were Elias' brother?

I've never let facts get in the way of my ideas.

I think this might work but conditional pick is dependent on whether he signs here. If not the first becomes a third in 2022.

No OJ is ridiculous. Chatfield is a 6th or 7th dman on a bad team. I don't get why OJ hasn't played much more. Both for his and the club's development and because he has played well enough to deserve it.