Dixon Ward

I want Livingstone as much as any fan, but he is by no means a sure thing. NCAA free agents get us all excited every year that we will find some diamond in the rough and they rarely become regulars, let alone stars. I would say at this point the likelihood is that Livingstone would be competing for 5-7th spot with Juulsen, Burroughs, Johansson and Poolman. I wouldn't expect him to be top 4 for a couple of years, if at all. I still hope we get him to bolster our depth and maybe unearth a gem, but I don't think we should lose too much sleep over it. Imagine how good Rathbone would look if he stayed in College for 2 more years? He was one of the top dmen after 2 years and he can't crack the nhl. I wonder if Livingstone's agent overplayed his hand with Allvin and was demanding playing time in the first year. With Hronek, Bear, Johansson, Juulsen, Myers, there is no chance they should guarantee an NCAA FA anything. If this is the case then I am glad he stood his ground. Of course, I still want Livingstone though!

How about this guy for 3rd line center? He left when he was just getting interesting and was mad at Benning for not giving him a shot. He has been one of the top players in the Finnish league since he got there. If Aman can play in the NHL I would think Jasek would be a good possibility?

From what I have seen, Brisebois, Juulsen are 5-7 NHL Defensemen. If Hughes likes Juulsen, he becomes a top 4. Wolanin is 4-6(and could be a really good pp qb). Add in Hronek. Move Myers after his bonus, sign Gavrikov, I like Dermott but let him walk Wolanin is cheaper and brings more to the table, get OEL the best off-season money can buy, sign Livingstone, put Poolman on LTIR, re-sign Bear, and we have a much better nhl d. Also a healthy Demko will make them all look good. Hughes Juulsen/Bear Gavrikov Hronek OEL Bear/Juulsen Wolanin Livingstone Brisebois Johansson With all of the injuries to Dmen, this would give us really good depth and we should miss a beat if someone other than Hughes is injured. Again, Demko will be the deciding factor as to whether they are much improved or not. A couple of years down the road we move on from OEL and Bear and DPetey/Jurmo/Johansson/Livingstone/Kudryavtsev/+new draft picks battle it out for top 4 D with Hughes, Hronek and Gavrikov.

I don't think so either, I just wondered. I am a big fan of his and have not enjoyed watching his decline this year. I hope he can come back and have a great year next year. If he is healthy and on his game, I think he and Hronek would be a great pairing.

What happens to the cap hit if OEL retires?

I am a Kelowna Rockets fan and want Cal Foote to be a success. However, he is 6.5 225lbs and is 24 but hasn't got his career going. I am not saying he is a bust, but I am not sure he brings any more than Juulsen. If we are able to land Livingstone, I think that he might have more upside. We also have to deal Myers and Poolman moreso than Garland.

I have been very impressed with Juulsen, he is very solid and seems to be a great partner for Hughes. He is a bit more mobile and better with the puck than Schenn. If Hughes likes him, then keep him. He is not a liability. I think Hughes has played his best hockey this year with Juulsen. Our right side already looks a lot better. If we can sign Livingstone, bring in Johansson, and trade Myers or teach him that he is not an offensive defenseman, we have the makings of a much better right side.

For the majority of the season, I have looked at Johansson's TOI and he has consistently been the top RHD on the Frolunda team. This despite having Christian Folin, a veteran of 244 NHL games, playing behind him as a RHD. While this may not mean he can step right into an NHL defense, he seems like a decent bet to have a strong shot at 3rd pair RHD. With Hronek and Myers, along with Juulsen, Burroughs, and with some luck Livingstone, the right side is shaping up pretty well for next year. The Left side almost looks weaker now.

I think it is important to understand the value of a defenseman in the NHL. Top line forwards average about 20 min/night, 2nd line 17min, 3rd line 14 min, and 4th line 10 min. The minutes are divided amongst 12 forwards. Adding a top forward has nowhere near the impact that a top dman has. Top 2 dmen average around 23-24 min per game. 2nd pair 19-21 min. 3rd pair around 16. All of the minutes are divided among 6 guys Those top 2-4 also go against the toughest opponents. When you add in a top 2 or 4 defenseman like Hronek you are having a huge impact on the defense. If the Canucks can find a way to add 1 more solid top 4 defenseman with Hughes and Hronek, surely between Bear, OEL, Myers, Juulsen, Poolman, Johansson, Brisebois, and maybe an NCAA F, we can put together a sold d.

Obviously I mean the pick, which obviously means Bedard.

What about Bedard, Myers and OEL to Detroit for Seider, Kasper, Raymond, 2023 1st, 2024 1st? Or Bedard, Myers and OEL to Chicago for Korchinski, Del Mastro, 2023 1st and 2nd, 2024 1st and 2nd 2025 2nd. Or Bedard, Myers and OEL to Columbus for Jiricek, Peeke, Johnson, 2023 1st and 2nd, 2024 1st. With EP as our #1 center for the next 10 years, we might be better off to get a ridiculous haul for him, clear some cap space, and set us up for years to come. Remember how many cups Philly won with Lindros?

Other than that giveaway last night, he has looked really good and has been a quiet, solid soldier for the organization. I feel comfortable when he is on the ice.

Hronek, Johansson, Bear, Juulsen, Myers, Livingstone(maybe), Poolman?, Burroughs If Foote and Gonchar can't make a decent right side out of this, they should be let go. Sign Livingstone, give him a legit shot to make it, bring Johansson over to play in Abby for a bit. Sign Bear for 1 year. Keep Juulsen and Burroughs for injuries. As Myers moves on the following year, a spot opens up for Livingstone and Johansson to fight for it.

Only 1 team wins the Stanley Cup. 29 need work. If Demko played like Demko and didn't get injured, and If OEL and Myers played like last year instead of falling apart, we would be much higher in the standings. I don't agree that our prospect pool is bad. Raty, Kravtsov, Klimovich, Johansson, Lekkerimaki, Silovs, DPETEY, Hoglander will all play in the NHL, I think. I am a Canucks fan, which forces me to be either an optimist or miserable.

Yzerman has nowhere near the team we have at this point. He is 3 years away from being 3 years away.

I am happy with the Hronek trade. Of course time will tell with every trade. There are 3 reasons for my happiness. 1. Despite the media and many on cdc, the Canucks have some world class players in all the right positions. We have 2 top 20 centers, 1 top 10 dman, and 1 top 10 goalie. We also have a strong supporting cast of forwards with Kuz, Mikhyev, Boeser, Garland, etc. so scoring is not an issue. What we lack is top 4 defensemen. OEL can be a 3-4 guy still, but needs to change it up a bit. So we need at least 2 dmen. We just go 1. 2. Draft picks and tear downs rarely work as many teams do them and rarely win the Stanley Cup. I respect Yzerman, but he has been there 4 years now and is still tearing it down. He may be successful, but the odds are against him. If he is, it will be in 4- 6 years. That's 8-10 years of trading good players away in hopes of some draft picks turning out. I did a deep dive into the 2018 draft for defensemen: Dmen taken in Rounds 1 and 2: 27 Dmen who play top pairing this season: 5 Dmen who play 2nd pairing this season: 6 Dmen who have played more than 50 games 5 years after being drafted: 14 So the 1st and 2nd we traded away have a 5 out of 27 chance of producing us a top 5 defenseman. 2 of those are Dahlin and Hughes. So outside the top 10 you have a 3/25 chance of getting a top pairing dman. The kicker is that only 1 of those, Noah Dobson, is Right handed. 3. After seeing the results of #2 I looked at Dobson as a comparison. I think we can all say that we would have done backflips if the same trade was for Dobson. So lets compare the 2: Dobson: 23yrs old, 4mil/season, 36 pts, -3, 20:48TOI, PP time 208 min, PPP 16, SH time 31 min, Hits 53, Blocks per game 4.23 Hronek: 25yrs old, 4.125mil/season, 38 pts, +8, 21:32TOI, PP time 144 min, PPP 16, SH time 97 min, Hits 97, Blocks per game 2.5 They are similar players but Hronek wins every category other than Dobson is 2 years younger, cost 125k less, and blocks more shots. 1 very important factor is NYI wouldn't have made this trade, because they think Dobson is too valuable.

So looking at this we paid market value.

I am not trying to put words in your mouth. Your original post was that the Canucks are doing the same as always and not building with draft picks and I am saying they picked up 3 great prospects so I don't see it that way.

You are suggesting the same thing as everyone else on this site, that 3 great prospects are worth a great deal less than draft picks. I would rather have Raty, Kravtsov, and Bloom than 3 more 2nd round picks. I think our team is mich deeper with the actual players.

The overvaluing of draft picks vs actual players is getting extreme on here. In the 2019 draft, 4 years ago there were 23 dmen picked in the first 2 rounds. 5 of them have played more than 50 games at this point. Do any fans or EP , Hughes, or Demko want to wait 4 years in hopes of a RHD maybe contributing in 4 years or so. I would rather take Hronek, fight hard for Livingstone, sign Severson/Mayfield, give Johansson a look, and get moving trying to win some games.

It doesn't tell the whole story, we added Kravtsov, Raty, and Bloom, 3 pretty strong prospects. I don't get the overvaluing of picks vs actual players on cdc.

People seem to think we have no prospects (my opinions) A Level (75/25 will be nhl regulars) Raty(20) Hoglander(22) Podkolzin(22) Kravtsov(23) Lekkerimaki(18) Johansson(22) Silovs(21) B (50/50 chance) Petersson(dman)(19) Bloom(19) McDonough(23) Klimovich(20) C (25/75 chance) Jurmo(20) Truscott(20) Rathbone(23) Karlsson(23) Kudryavtsev(19) Forsell (19) Clearly these are my opinions, but I think, based on current knowledge, we have a fairly strong prospect pool and we have a top 10 pick this year to add to it and possibly Jake Livingstone. We still need to improve our Defensive pool, but adding Johansson was a sneaky good move. He and DPetey might make the pool look pretty good over the next couple of years. With EP, Hughes, Hronek, Demko, Kuz, Miller, Boes, we are not as far off as some want to think.

In 2 years I could see a pretty fun line: McDonough Raty Kravtsov

Brisebois and Juulsen for me have both been very strong when called upon. I don't understand why they aren't given more time. I would be very comfortable with either or both of them on our bottom pair next year. We just need Foote and Gonchar to teach OEL and Myers that they are not trying to score, just defend. They both are trying to be too much, just use your experience, like Schenn, and be in the right place and let the young guys get the points. Hughes Severson/Mayfield OEL Hronek Brisebois Myers Dermott Juulsen

We gave up for next year Horvat 8.5 mil (never would have paid it but would have lost him for nothing otherwise) Stillman 1.35 mil Lazar 1 mil 2nd 7th We got Hronek 4.4 Beauvillier 4.15 Kravtsov 875k Raty Bloom 3rd 2 4th's So we did shed some salary, got a very good RS dman, got younger, got something for 2 expiring contracts, got 2 A prospects and a B, improved our picks a bit. This isn't a huge homerun, but I am a happier fan than I was a month ago.